Lo.Corts that have lost their identity

[Bertil]

I have had car, well shell, just like yours. My was a coil sping facelift, genuine for sure no dount about that. The story about my car was that is was bought for parts in the UK in the 70s, shipped to sweden and imported as scrap. Got ripped for the good bits, fitted with functional but not so good bits and sold on with a Swedish GT id. The reason for that was import regulations, it was almost impossible and very expensive to import a car here before 1993.
I bought this car as a donor for my -65 coilspring LC with Vin and all. I tried to trace the id of the shell in all ways but without result.
I can very well belive the story you are telling about your car. Imagine someone having a reshelled LC and get their hamd on a genuine shell...

There is a thread about my shell here: viewtopic.php?t=5423&highlight=
And here: viewtopic.php?t=926&highlight=bertils

I also got some stupid PM's about this shell, such as "if you are sure it is a lotus cortina just register it as one". Yeah, without VIN and documents, or with a GT VIN?

[Greg inCanada]

Hi Bertil, sounds like you were in the same situation I am now in. There is an element of frustration, but I am going to just carry on gathering up missing parts and trying to bring the much abused shell back to the point where it can be considered a car . It probably will never be considered a L.C. again but at least I know it is and if I document the rebuild extensively it may add a little to the value should I some day decide to sell it. My motive is not profit , but rather just having a fun street / autocross car. For this I think a Cortina GT "official" ID. will be fine.
All the best Greg

[Steve 155C]

Theres a car on ebay now with the same issue. The guy in Ireland bought it and can't get it registered as an LC.

[Bertil]

Best thing to do for such a car must be to find a suitable logbook for it. I mean, with a gen shell that was to bad 20 years ago and robbed for parts and id but survived the crusher, what would be more right than to find a lc vin to mate it with? Reshelling with a gen lc shell cant be wrong can it? As long as it is done right, ie that the vin suits the shell.

[MLI]

Greg, if you can establish your car's original registration number (from back when it was still a complete LC), i.e. by contacting previous owners and see if they have any old photos of the car, would it be possible to check if that reg number is still listed with the authorities/on their computer?
If you can find the car's LC chassis number, I believe it should be possible to apply for a new LC title for the car.

Also, have you tried joining the (mostly) US based Cortina mailing list on www.lotus-cortina.com?
There are a good few US (Lotus) Cortina enthusiasts on there, and one of them might be able to tell you some more about your car's history?

[Greg inCanada]

Hi MLI, here in Canada things are quite a bit different than the U.K. with regards to Reg. numbers. You are issued plates that are not transferable if the car is sold. In fact if the car sat uninsured for any length of time it would often be issued a new set of plates when reinsured. In British Columbia {and a few other provinces} we have government auto insurance so the DMV and the insurance Co. are one and the same. The same car can be issued many different reg. plates over it's life.
I know the Previous owners 2 back but the I.D. was already missing at that point. He has never told me exactly where he got it from other than it was about to be scrapped and he gave it a home.
These days it is impossible to get any information out of DMV other than collision history/ did the car ever have a serious insurance claim? The new era of paranoia surrounding anyone wanting to know anything about anyone else.
As I said in a previous post, I am sure the I.D. is lost for all time. It's now just a matter of finding an I.D. off a scrapped L.C. or live with a non L.C. I.D.
All the best Greg

[SteveL]

Buy that wreck on ebay that has the vin tag .surely overseas our dvla will have no control over it?

[SteveL]

Its now £15k down from £35k

[Greg inCanada]

No one has as of yet stated how the register views cars such as mine. I know the general fall back is to produce a provenance but for many genuine cars this will be an impossibility. Here in Canada there is no legal way to access DMV ownership records. And obviously as much as I might like to have a couple of the club experts hop over and view the shell , it is not a realistic option. Just document the rebuild I suppose, and not concern myself with the opinion of the register. It is a L.C, however it will remain impossible to determine which one. Does anyone from the forum have an idea of how many cars are documented vs. how many were built ? Has anyone seen the photos of my project on Flickr ? Anyone see anything that doesn't ring true with a genuine car ?
Greg

[Greg inCanada]

Sorry link https://www.flickr.com/phhttps://www.fl ... 44155@N07/ here {I hope}

Greg

[Greg inCanada]

Try this again


https://www.flickr.com/photos/57244155@N07/

Greg

[Greg inCanada]

I know it's a total POS but I think it still has some potential. I have a complete parts car that is in much better condition. And lots of other MK 1 parts.
Greg

[SteveL]

Looks genuinely goosed.but hump and a few other bits do look right .what a sad sight.maybe its already been reshelled years ago
And thats whats left?(without re reading the thread )

[Greg inCanada]

Yes it's a heap. But I am sure worse have been brought back from the brink. Well perhaps not much worse. I have rebuilt Mustangs in about the same state, and a 1967 Shelby GT 350 that was definitely more rusty . If I didn't feel it was a Lo.Cort. I would have scrapped it years ago. I don't have a complete engine, but for this car I think a Zetec will do. The rest is mostly lots of work.

Greg

[Rick]

Greg, Looking at the pics it would seem that everything is correct for a 66 car, intrigued as to why the inside is in grey primer