Ford Cortina News

With the chances of ever seeing the Santa Cruz and Maverick – or the conceptually similar Honda Ridgeline also from America for that matter – in Australia remote at best, it’s time we take a look back at the rollcall of other car-based, unibody utes and pick-ups that were dropped before they ever even had a chance to carve out a life in the lucky country. Could they have been legends alongside th

   

The Novocastrian, who is a panel beater by training and landscape gardener by choice, has just finished his latest effort, a 1964 Mark 1 Cortina. "I saw the Cortina at a swap meet and liked the look of it", he told us. "It had been just a shell for about six or seven years .Someone had started the restoration and painted it purple". The car is now a brilliant white and the quality of the restoration is first class. "I did most it myself, though I had it sandblasted by Peter Cox in Newcastle. I figured that if I'm going to restore it I'll do it properly" Brett observes. To get it the way he wanted it Brett replaced the sills and door bottoms, welding in new metal to replace the rust. The four door sedan is not strictly stock. Says Brett: "It's a 1500 Deluxe model with a touch of hot rodding. The 1.5 litre engine is out of a Mark II Cortina GT and so is the differential. This increases the power and strengthens the drive line. I've also fitted wider wheels and tyres, but I still have the original wheels in storage." The black interior has been refreshed and a Lotus Cortina split front bumper bar replaces the single bar. Other than those changes the car is as basic as it came from Ford. Some owners of classic cars keep them off the road and hardly venture out in them at all. Not so Brett. He is of the view that classics are meant to be seen and driven as often as possible. "I just like driving it, so I try to go everywhere in it, "he says. Brett's car was built just before Ford switched to flow-through ventilation in late 1964. In many ways the Cortina was the UK version of the American Ford Falcon. A simple design which was inexpensive to make and operate they appealed to many first time new cars buyers. Although not as technically innovative as the Morris 1100, their main competitor, the Cortina rewarded owners with years of trouble free motoring. Cortinas are an ideal choice for those wanting to acquire their first classic car. Good examples can be had for less than $5000 and spare parts are plentiful.  

If you are looking for a reasonably priced British classic cars, then don't overlook a Vauxhall, especially the Detroit inspired "PA" models from the late 50s and early 60s and the mid-sixties Mark II Ford Cortina. Compared to Holdens and Falcons of the same era, the Vauxhalls were way ahead on luxury, equipment and power. They were also way ahead on styling. Make no mistake, these cars stand out. With severely wrapped front and rear windows and tail fins rising from the rear mudguards, the PA Vauxhall was right in tune with contemporary American styling ideas. There were two models in the range, which were sold through Holden dealers: the basic Velox and the more upmarket Cresta. Whilst the Velox made do with vinyl seats and rubber floor mats, the Cresta gave buyers the option of real leather or nylon seats combined with carpeted floors and extra bright trim. The pre-1960 versions had three-section rear windows which also featured on the 1957 Oldsmobiles and Buicks. They come with 2.2 litre six cylinder engines and all-synchromesh three speed gearbox. Post 1960 cars have a 2.6-litre engine. The three-speed manual transmission was standard. What made them attractive on the local market were the options of the Hydramatic transmission and power-assisted front disc brakes. In short, the Velox and Cresta filled the marketing space above the Holden Special until the Premier was released in 1962. Spare parts for these cars are simple to obtain, mainly from the UK and New Zealand, where there are websites and parts sellers devoted to the PA models. Prices vary given the condition of the cars, but no one ought to pay over $10,000 for one, and reasonable examples can be had for around $5,000. The lower the price, however, the more likely there is rust. PA Vauxhalls have many nooks and crevices into which water and dirt finds its way. Meanwhile, if it is a classic Ford you desire, and do not wish to spend big money, then think about the Mark II Cortina. The second incarnation of the popular Cortina was launched in Australia in 1967 and was produced until 1972. These sprightly, four cylinder cars are gaining in popularity because they are well built, parts are plentiful and the cost of buying and owning one is within reach of those wanting to get into the classic car scene without spending much money. About $3,000 should see you into a high calibre Cortina 440 (that's the four door). The two door 240 goes for the same money. Cars requiring a little bit of rust repair and a paint job can be found for about $1,500. The Hunter British Ford Group is one of a number of growing groups dedicated to Cortinas, and other Fords of UK origin. Retroautos.com.au  

His 1973 6 cylinder XLE Ford Cortina cost him less than $1000. Since buying it a couple of years ago he's refreshed the paint, replaced the vinyl roof, fixed some rust, rebuilt the engine and automatic transmission and given it a new interior. But that's it. He reckons he's not got a nice daily driver for well under $4000.And he's right. It is one sharp automobile. "I used to have one back in the day. It was a three speed manual, with the `small' 3.3 litre six cylinder motor. It was my first car. I bought it new," he says.Greg's Mark III Cortina is rare car for three reasons. The first is that it's a top of the range XLE, and few were sold to begin with. Second, not many of the mid-sized car have made it through to the 21st century. The third is that it is the only Australian built Cortina to be featured in Russell Hayes new book `Ford Cortina: The Complete Story.'Haynes' tome has just been released to celebrate 50 years of Ford Cortina and is a must have for fans of the British marque .It is crammed with facts, figures ,images and behind the scenes stories about the development of all five of the Cortina series and its lesser know German "cousin" the Taunus.Some of the best images are of the various styling proposals which Hayes has sourced from, Ford's archives.Greg's Cortina is featured as a perfect example of Australian ingenuity. While South African Cortinas were offered with a choice of 2.5 and 3 litre V6 engines, Ford Australia opted for the straight sixes out of the Falcon.Needless to say, the insertion of such a large and long lump of metal into an area intended for a four cylinder motor was not without its impact on the handling and steering characteristics.But Ford Australia needed a quick and inexpensive offering to counteract Holden's range of four, six and eight cylinder Toranas, which were selling up a storm. So, the Falcon engines were given the assignment.Greg endeavours to drive the Cortina at least once a week." "The joy is in driving it. It is not a trailer queen and I drive it in all weather".Retroautos.com.au 

It was Britain bestselling car from 1972 through 1982, when it was replaced by the Serria. All up, Ford sold over four million Cortinas worldwide. That concept of the Cortina was for a simple, basic car that was easy to maintain and cheap to build. On this platform they built two and four doors sedans and wagons, in various guises, from poverty pack through to a sports /luxury "GT" model. When the boys at Lotus got a hold of the GT they turned it into a legendary winning race car. Even the Formula One jocks such as Jim Clark strapped into Lotus Cortinas for a bit of Sunday afternoon hi jinx against the Mustang of yet another Formula One star, Sir Jack Brabham. A Lotus Cortina was used as a getaway car in the 1963 Great Train Robbery. The exact car used by Ronnie Biggs and others in the famous heist is now owned by a car collector in Exeter, UK. In Australia, the Cortina was Ford's entry into the "mid-sized" market, sitting below the Falcon in size and price. Locally, Ford followed the British market strategy, with inexpensive two door price leaders enticing the buyers to dealerships and the top of the range "GT" as the eye candy. Harry Firth was given the task of making the GT a race winner and the car dominated the (then) Bathurst 500 in 1963 and 1964. For the 1965 race Firth and Ford developed the GT500, essentially a local Lotus, and it won again. The Cortina went through four more series in Europe and in Australia. But there the similarities end. In the UK and Europe Ford stuck with four cylinder power, while in Australia, the success of the Torana 6 and V8s motivated Ford Australia to shoehorn in its 3.3 and 4.1 litre sixes into the tight confines of the engine bay, in addition to the four cylinder engines. The result was plenty of power and torque. The handling characteristics were what most motoring writers focused on. As with so many classic cars, the six cylinder Cortinas might not have been widely popular when new, but they are sought after now.  Ford Australia finally pensioned off the Cortina in 1982 when they cloned the Mazda 626 and labelled it Telstar. In July this year, to mark the 50th anniversary, the first Cortina Nationals will be held in Albury. We expect a big roll up. Retroautos

"I didn't want to have to rebuild later, so I've done a proper job first time."  His 1969 Ford Cortina GT Mk 2 is painted 1968 zircon green and is a shining example of committed restoration. Firth, 62, has moved to Brisbane from Port Macquarie after selling his child restraint fitting business and now plans to semi-retire and spend more time driving his GT.  "It is the first car I've ever restored and probably will be the last," he says. "It's not a concourse car because of the non-original parts. It's just for fun. I just want to enjoy it."  But that's not entirely true.  A year ago — just one week after he got it on the road following a laborious and expensive seven-year restoration job — Firth took it to a Baby Boomers Week car show at Forster. "I just parked it and left it to look at the other cars and when I came back I found I'd won a couple of trophies for best British car and sponsor's choice," he says.  "Then I won another trophy in Port Macquarie a month later. "It's done its show bit and now we just want to enjoy it."  Firth bought the Cortina in 2001 for $1500."It was a bit of a mess," he says.  "It wasn't registered. I think 64 people had had a go at restoring it and given up in disgust. "There was a lot of rust in it and it needed a fair bit of surgery on it.  "I cut the boot off and grafted on another one from another car, replaced all the door sills and just kept at it and did something to it each weekend."  The GT is powered by a 69 kilowatt 1600cc cross flow engine, but not the original. "I suspect it came out of a Capris like the gearbox.  "I know that because reverse is up beside first while the Cortina had it beside fourth."  Firth says it may only have 69kW, but it more than makes up for it with loads of torque. "My wife has a Honda Civic Sport and I have a VW Caddy van, but the torque of this old Cortina motor is so much better than the high-revving engines of modern cars," he says.  "There are a couple of hills out here and it just accelerates up them in top whereas the others I have to drop down a gear or two." The GT has a dual-throat down-draft Webber carby, GT disc brakes on the front with drums on the rear, Stratos seats, inertia reel seatbelts, adjustable strut tops, Koni shocks and 13-inch Cheviot Turbo 6x13 alloys replacing the original steel wheels. "I`ve spent an undisclosed figure on it because my wife is within earshot," he says.  "We just wanted to make it a bit more comfortable so we can drive it around," he says.  "The only thing I haven't got around to yet is the diff, but I've since got hold of a 3.5 ratio out of a two-litre Escort and that's a job I will get on to. "The standard ratio is 3.9, so I just wanted to go down for quieter highway cruising which is what I built it for. It's not going to be a race car."  Firth has a long history in motorsport having been a member of the Thornleigh Car Club in Sydney since he was 12. "My sister and her husband used to run around in motorkhana and I used to hang out the window and do the flag pick-up," he says.  He has mainly competed in club events and hillclimbs, worked on his son's motor racing ventures and plans to go to Bathurst for the 12-hour race next weekend (FEBRUARY 12-14) to help his friend and race driver Andrew Miedecke. Firth's first car was a 1962 Austin A40 Farina, followed by a Morris 1100, a series of Hillman Imps "during the funny era of cheap motorsport" and a Cortina 440 Mk 2.  "I had about nine Hillman Imps over two or three years. People used to give them to us and we'd play around with them and get the parts we needed and throw the rest out. "We had one working road car and one working race car and the total cost was $250."  He decided to restore a Cortina because he thought it would also be cheap.  "All the mechanical parts are still available but the body parts are actually hard to come by," he says. "It was just something to do after our son decided to sell his race car.  "I thought it wouldn't take long and cost much, but seven years and a truck load of money later ... Nevermind. I'll keep it another 40 years and the kids might recover what it cost to build it, so that's their inheritance."

Previous Bathurst 1000 Winners 1963 Harry Firth/Bob Jane Ford Cortina GT 1964 Bob Jane/George Reynolds Ford Cortina GT 1965 Bo Seton/Midge Bosworth Ford Cortina GT500 1966 Rauno Aaltonen/Bob Holden Morris Mini Cooper S 1967 Harry Firth/Fred Gibson Ford Falcon XRGT 1968 Bruce McPhee/Barry Mulholland Holden Monaro GTS

 Organisers of the Super Cheap Auto Bathurst 1000 are predicting the massive crowd generated last year by the death of Peter Brock will be overtaken tomorrow week.More than 193,000 spectators, a rise of almost 30,000 on 2005, turned up over four days at Mt Panorama in 2006 as the tide of emotion following nine-time winner Brock's untimely death a month earlier descended on Australia's most hallowed motor-racing venue.“We are on track for the biggest Bathurst 1000 ever,” V8 Supercars Australia chairman Tony Cochrane said.“Many people thought with the death of Peter Brock last year those crowds would never be repeated.“More than 80,000 advance Bathurst ticket sales had been made before the Sandown 500 last month.“We are further ahead with grandstand sales than we were last year.”Special celebrations have been organised for the 45th running of Bathurst that will include a parade of some former champions and their cars.The legendary Harry Firth and tyre king Bob Jane wrote the first chapter in the Bathurst story when they shared a Ford Cortina GT and won what was called the Armstrong 500 Mile race in 1963.Firth and Jane's Cortina will be one of several former winning machines which will be honoured in a special parade of champions before the 161-lap marathon next Sunday.The traditional race start of 10am will be pushed back to 10.30am to make way for extended pre-race hoopla.Series broadcaster Channel 7 will showcase each of the 31 cars in the race, showing them on individual laps immediately before they grid-up and informing viewers of their progress since rolling out for the opening practice sessions on Thursday.The Bathurst bangers will go off on presentation laps at about 40-second intervals which will add about 20 minutes to the pre-race hype.Channel 7 has committed an unprecedented 21 hours of live coverage over three days from next Friday to Sunday.Even if bad weather and safety cars conspire to slow the race, Seven has given an assurance that it will bump its 6pm news back if necessary to show the race in its entirety.The later start gives organisers some breathing space to help spectators filter into Mt Panorama and there is now time for two support races prior to the Bathurst 1000 starting.“The later start helps from a point of view of filtering traffic into the circuit precinct, easing the pressure on day-trippers from Sydney and has made way for two support events (Carrera Cup and Touring Car Masters),” V8 Supercars general manager of special events, Shane Howard, said.There are modifications to the movement and consumption of alcohol in response to a tightening of NSW liquor laws at major events this year.An insignificant number of punters have requested refunds in light of the changes.“Let's deal with the truth . . . we are approaching over 80,000-odd advance ticket sales,” Cochrane said.“We've had 20 — two-zero — requests for refunds.”Alcohol can still be brought into and consumed in the camping areas but it is prohibited to take alcohol into or out of the licensed areas, defined this year at the bottom of the circuit.The bottom of the mountain from the Chase through to Pit Straight and Harris Park and up Mountain Straight will be fully licensed.“We don't have any choice in that these are the terms and conditions of operating a major event in NSW,” Howard said.“What we can do is negotiate with our caterer to ensure that alcohol prices in the venue are as low as the caterers can operate to.”More than $750,000 is being spent on beefed-up police and security.There will be 160 police at the circuit, double that of last year and there will be tougher searches at the entry points for fireworks and other contraband.Great Race highlights1963 Legendary Harry Firth and Bob Jane claim the first Bathurst enduro, the Armstrong 500, in a Ford Cortina GT.1966 It was the year the mighty Morris Mini Cooper S conquered Mt Panorama with Rauno Aaltonen and Bob Holden sharing the wheel.1967 Firth claims his second Bathurst win with Fred Gibson in a Ford Falcon XR GT.1972 A youthful Peter Brock won the first of his nine victories at the mountain with a brilliant solo drive in a Holden Torana LJ XU1.1981 A star was born when Dick Johnson and his co-driver, Brisbane car dealer John French, steered a Ford Falcon XD to victory a year after the well-chronicled “rock” incident.1995 After suffering a puncture on the opening lap, Larry Perkins and Russell Ingall came from a lap down to win.2002 The decorated Jim Richards claims a seventh title as co-driver to Mark Skaife in the lead Holden Racing Team Commodore.2006 Peter Brock's understudy Craig Lowndes takes an emotional win with Jamie Whincup a month after the legendary racer was killed in a tarmac rally in Perth.