Ford Cortina 1964 News

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.  

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