Happy Birthday Ford Cortina
Discussion
Interesting Youtube link - 3-wheeling Mk2 Lotus-Cortinas. Original filming from 1967.
http://youtu.be/pYQKKlir6sY
http://youtu.be/pYQKKlir6sY
Edited by quiraing on Friday 21st September 22:25
Great sex in the back of my girlfriend at the time, 1964 Cortina automatic, her parents were very proud of it, however the rubber mats in the footwells at the back gave me a seriously grazed left knee !!
Great trip to Spain in Mk 2 Cortina Estate , it belonged to a mates Father who owned a Ford Garage , it was from the used car stock and we disconnected the Speedo when we arrived in France !
Great fun cruising around the surrey countryside in a fantastic Cortina 1600E , until the driver lost it on a corner in the wet and the thing slid sideways across a wide grass verge and ended lying on its side in a ditch ! There were 4 of us and we had to walk miles to find a phone box , the drivers father( the one with the Ford garage) was not best pleased .
Great trip to Spain in Mk 2 Cortina Estate , it belonged to a mates Father who owned a Ford Garage , it was from the used car stock and we disconnected the Speedo when we arrived in France !
Great fun cruising around the surrey countryside in a fantastic Cortina 1600E , until the driver lost it on a corner in the wet and the thing slid sideways across a wide grass verge and ended lying on its side in a ditch ! There were 4 of us and we had to walk miles to find a phone box , the drivers father( the one with the Ford garage) was not best pleased .
With the masking up I can only imagine they wanted to eliminate too much overspray , it does seem almost a domestic technique though ! More from the archives , some may jog your memory. A whole generation of us may have been concieved in Cortina's , my Dad's first car was a Mk1 Estate ;-)
look who's in the car - pre Consul/Granada
Even Rodney had one.
look who's in the car - pre Consul/Granada
Even Rodney had one.
Edited by RedexR on Saturday 22 September 12:14
Love Cortinas ..had loads..won't bore you all with the details at the minute, but I just wanted to say that reference the one above in Rothman's livery, I was a Carreras Rothmans Rep' in the early 70s and we had Mk3 Cortys all liveried up with Rothmans Kingsize colours, but not like the one above.
The livery was exactly the same as the cigarette packet, with a nice big gold coat of arms across the (white) bonnet.
It actually looked a bit like some of the cop cars of the time, in a rear view mirror from a distance ....which could be fun.
I wish I'd taken some pics of my old cars now.
The livery was exactly the same as the cigarette packet, with a nice big gold coat of arms across the (white) bonnet.
It actually looked a bit like some of the cop cars of the time, in a rear view mirror from a distance ....which could be fun.
I wish I'd taken some pics of my old cars now.
grahamw48 said:
Love Cortinas ..had loads..won't bore you all with the details at the minute, but I just wanted to say that reference the one above in Rothman's livery, I was a Carreras Rothmans Rep' in the early 70s and we had Mk3 Cortys all liveried up with Rothmans Kingsize colours, but not like the one above.
The livery was exactly the same as the cigarette packet, with a nice big gold coat of arms across the (white) bonnet.
It actually looked a bit like some of the cop cars of the time, in a rear view mirror from a distance ....which could be fun.
I wish I'd taken some pics of my old cars now.
ex colin bond rally car The livery was exactly the same as the cigarette packet, with a nice big gold coat of arms across the (white) bonnet.
It actually looked a bit like some of the cop cars of the time, in a rear view mirror from a distance ....which could be fun.
I wish I'd taken some pics of my old cars now.
quiraing said:
Any further info on Colin Bond rally car above?? Interested, thx.
Not a lot TBH"Chassis no. CG8A1L4836C
Engine no. N800142P
This car was driven by Colin Bond/Bob Riley and navigated by John Dawson-Damer.
It was leading the rally at Perth but failed to finish after rolling soon after leaving the city.
The Rally was won by Peter Brock and team in a Holden Commodore.
Subsequently the Cortina enjoyed an active rally and rally-cross career until it was purchased by the current owner in 1994.
Since then it has been used for limited competition and course-car duties.
The car has been partially restored but not re-shelled,
thus preserving it in significantly more original condition than many of its contemporaries.
It comes with its original CAMS logbook and various souvenirs of the Round Australia Rally,
is road registered, fully mobile and could be used in various historic rallies.
There are few works rally cars in Australia and this Ford Cortina represents a significant part of this country’s
motorsport history."
Taken from a sales ad a few years back
and from rallysportmag
With the introduction of the completely different TC Cortina in the early seventies, Ford never intended the car to be entered in rallies - they had the increasingly-successful Escort for that - so it was somewhat of a surprise when they entered three later-model TE Cortinas in the 1979 Repco Round Australia Trial.
Here was an opportunity for Ford to re-establish their image as the builders of strong, reliable cars that could take a pounding under any conditions. Ford announced their plans early - they would enter three 4.1 litre six cylinder TE Cortinas for Colin Bond/John Dawson-Damer/Bob Riley, Greg Carr/Fred Gocentas/Dave Morrow and George Fury/Monty Suffern/Roger Bonhomme.
Extensive modifications were made to the cars to withstand the rigours of the Australian outback. The Panhard rod/link set-up was replaced by traditional leaf springs, there were Bilstein gas shockers all round, 14 inch wheels, rear disc brakes and other special equipment.
The engines were purpose-built by Ford and delivered 175 horsepower through downdraught Weber carburettors. Despite the promising nature of the project, all three cars experienced problems during the event and, like every other entry, were crushed by Holden's stunning 1-2-3 Commodore victory. Bond rolled his car on the outskirts of Perth, but kept going until both he and Fury holed their cars' sumps on the same rock.
Bond retired at Darwin, but Carr continued on to finish fifth with Fury a distant 25th. It was an inglorious end to the Cortina's illustrious career and Ford went away licking its wounds.
The final chapter in the Ford Australia-Cortina episode closed in the 1979 Southern Cross Rally. Geoff Portman, having risen to prominence in his private Datsun 1600, drove the ex-Greg Carr Repco Trial Cortina in the rugged event, held around Port Macquarie.
Portman was as high as seventh at the end of the second division, but had a big "off" near Kempsey, finally recovering to finish in 9th spot, still quite a respectable achievement given the classy field that included many overseas drivers in much more exotic cars.
And a limited edition road car (Aus market only)
Thx for reply re Colin Bond rally Cortina. We didn't get the 4.1 six in UK, largest engine from factory was a 2.3 German V6 although the 2.0 4-cyl was more popular. Some specialists fitted the 3.0 litre Essex V6 or the 2.8 German V6 (almost a straight swap for the 2.3, don't know why Ford didn't produce a factory version). Interesting to see the rally car was converted to rear leaf springs.
With all due respect I think you're exaggerating (or you've read it somewhere).
It wasn't that bad IMO...maybe not ideal for rallying.
Normally just that the void bushes would get a bit soft after plenty of use, causing the back end to feel a bit wallowy.
Uprated replacements, adjustable gas shocks, stronger springs and a thicker ARB gave quite a nice handling car at not too much cost, which could manage plenty of power.
It wasn't that bad IMO...maybe not ideal for rallying.
Normally just that the void bushes would get a bit soft after plenty of use, causing the back end to feel a bit wallowy.
Uprated replacements, adjustable gas shocks, stronger springs and a thicker ARB gave quite a nice handling car at not too much cost, which could manage plenty of power.
Gassing Station | Classic Cars and Yesterday's Heroes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff