Happy 50th Birthday Ford Cortina

[csv8]

Metro Ford Facebook
2 hours ago via Blue Flame
It's hard to believe that it is 50 years since the release of the first series of the Ford Cortina, known at the Mark1.
Click Like to wish them Happy Birthday.

In 1978 I had a 6 cylinder Cortina XLE...

[flappist]

Originally Posted by RASER

A nothing vehicle

One of the WORST, if not the MOST worst vehicle to ever have a BlueOval badge attached to it.

Even SIMS Metal dont want them!

You mean the car that won Bathurst THREE TIMES IN A ROW.

[Grunter]

What is it with LPG guys? :p

I have fond memories of trips to the dump with my grandad in his Mark 1 Cortina. More often than not brought more back than he went with.

[caprispecial]

The mk1 cortina won bathurst three times in a row (63,64,65) would have been four if the rules werent changed to exclude the gt500.
The mk1 was about the best of its type and time for a practicable runabout and economical performance.

[MAGPIE]

Originally Posted by RASER

A nothing vehicle

One of the WORST, if not the MOST worst vehicle to ever have a BlueOval badge attached to it.

Even SIMS Metal dont want them!

I can think of a lot worse Fords than the Cortina


I loved my MKV Cortina, my first car. Remember driving it home from the dealer and thinking how much power it had as I accelerated up the motorway on ramp (I'd learnt to drive in a Laser) and it was so smooth and comfy too.

The only car that I've sold for more than what I paid for it.

[csv8]

Magpie..the Edsel !!! now a collectors car...

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by RASER

A nothing vehicle

One of the WORST, if not the all time worst vehicle to ever have a BlueOval badge attached to it.

A "vehicle" that got even got worse with every update

Even SIMS Metal dont want them!

Why do you even bother?

As above, it dominated tin top racing with the Mk1 Lotus, the Mk2 was still good and while I do admit it didnt get much better from there (IMO) non of the cars from the Mk3/4 era where flash anyway.

So..Mk1 awesome



Mk2..still good



Mk3...Maybe not the greatest but suits the period



Mk4...again its the XD era



Its been a great car for Ford and a really good seller, so I say change the Mondeo name to Cortina..LOL..cant hurt!

[Moby Vic]

The Mk III may be unloved, but it has been immortalized:

[Wretched]

loved the Cortinas. MK1 being my fav but i did also like the Mk3.

[Jim Goose]

Originally Posted by RASER

A nothing vehicle

One of the WORST, if not the all time worst vehicle to ever have a BlueOval badge attached to it.

A "vehicle" that got even got worse with every update

Even SIMS Metal dont want them!

Ahhh I think many would disagree with you.. and they have lol

[Geez Louise]

Why is it always at a birthday party...there is always one relative who has too much to drink and starts an arguement...

50yrs...wow, really doesn't seem that long ago..Or perhaps I am just getting old.

Cheers
Col

[Whoosha]

Happy birthday to the Mighty Corty, was pit crew for Barry Jupp when he ran his Lotus twin cam,: what a mighty litle car

[Moby Vic]

There's a neat little book about the car called My Dad's Cortina.

The car's story actually reminds me of what happened with the Crown Vic. It was a solid car with a big trunk, it sold well for years, but it became dated and the buying public had more interest in other types of vehicles.

[mik]

a couple of things stick on my mind about the early corty`s, we had a 440 with a gt engine in it, pretty nice inside for it`s day, had carpet through it when many other makes had rubber, heater/ demister, it also had child proof locks on the rear doors(not bad for 1966), ours had rubber bushes in the the steering which gave it a big car feel typical of cars from that era, also had a mk2 240 2 door, (the faster one), it went to the cross flow motor that year, also had nylon bushes in the steering , steering was very nice, driveline very simple and easy to work on, ...........happy birthday Cortina.

[Assassinbm]

Oh yeah, had a Mk1 with a hot for the time 1600 xflow, sidedraught webber, put shame to quite a number of v8's (again in the day)

[TC200six]

I now have a TC (MkIII) Cortina, but by the sounds of things, I might aswell have a Leyland P76.

Partly the reason why I wanted it back on the road was because are quite a rare car now and you never see them on the street. Since I've been driving it, I've been approached by many people saying how they were such a great car, but once you go only you see nothing but negativity. I hear alot about the 6 cylinder version having extremely bad handling, obviously they haven't driven other old cars. If you want to know a car that handles badly, go drive a full-size 1950's US sedan.

[GT0132]

I had 2 MK3 Cortinas and a MK 4 .....The second Mk3 was a 1973 2000GT model same yellow/orange colour as the post above (the GT not available in Australia but in NZ they followed the Brits in the model line ups) and like magpie, the only car I made money on when i sold it after 3 years of trouble free ownership (ignoring the rust).

[xisled]

My first car when I was 18 in 2001 was a TE cortina. 1 previous owner, picked her up for $1800, 133000 on clock. Ks seemed real at the time.

Shamrock green with a 4 sp manual 2 liter.

That car went to hell and back. Even used it for a bush bash.

Love the cortina.

[SSD-85]

Id take a 250 Xflow MKIV any day of the week! Awesome car.

[Falcman0o7]

Originally Posted by RASER

A nothing vehicle

One of the WORST, if not the all time worst vehicle to ever have a BlueOval badge attached to it.

A "vehicle" that got even got worse with every update

Even SIMS Metal dont want them!

OK......

[Olbucko]

I had a Mk 1 2Dr 1500 when I was 19, the grill blacked out to look like a GT, extractors to make it sound like one, and small GF badges on the rear flanks that looked like GT badges. Its worst features were, the steering box was flexibly mounted on the front chassis rail which could cause the most violent wheel wobble at about 35mph with radial tyres if they were not balanced perfectly, and the electrical system did not have any fuses. An electrical fire was very scary because you were unable to just pull off the battery cables off, they were bolted on to the posts. Its best feature was it's homeing instinct. It knew it's way home from any pub that I chose to go to. (This was many years before random breath testing and the responsible attitude that most of us have today)

I thought it was a great car compared to the ford prefects, triumph heralds, and morris minors that some of my friends had.

[ebxr8240]

Good cars...Her's my sons 2 door...

[Crazy Dazz]

I’ve never heard of a Mk3, 4, etc? In Australia they were the TC, TD, TE, & TF. Attractive cars, and the 4 cylinder models were IMHO better than anything else on offer.
However the big sixes were a menace, TOO much weight up front and not well implemented. Too much power for the soft back end. That said, some modified ones with lower stronger suspension were awesome. A mate had a 4.1 with triple carbs.

[wrongwaynorris]

Originally Posted by flappist

You mean the car that won Bathurst THREE TIMES IN A ROW.

Dont worry Flappist , rantings of an idiot who knows no better , Jim Clark , Graham Hill , Sir John Whitmore and hundrds of others clearly had NO idea they were driving the "Worst car to wear a Ford badge " as they literally flogged the **** of 7 litre Galaxies , 3.8 litre Jags with a 1558 cc car . All those titles they won were just an anomally obviously .

[DJR David]

I had a mark II as my first car. It was 2 weeks older than me! Bought it as a dead car for 200 bucks. Filled her up, bought a battery and hey presto she went!

[vanman_75]

Still wish I had me old corty , god that thing could drift ...maybe not racetrack balance in the te/tf but having the 250 cross flo , single rail combo would see toranas disappear behind in a hurry ,had a 4 poster steel bullbar for those roo chasing nights...in camel brown ...awesome car....happy birthday to the mighty corty

[RASER]

Originally Posted by Grunter

What is it with LPG guys? :p

I have fond memories of trips to the dump with my grandad in his Mark 1 Cortina. More often than not brought more back than he went with.

Oh the irony, dump/tip and cortina, need one say more....

[RASER]

Originally Posted by flappist

You mean the car that won Bathurst THREE TIMES IN A ROW.

Just because "a" cortina won Bathurst does not mean a thing.

The difference between a race car and what you and i buy is a ocean apart

Looks like i am not the only one, stop living in denial, its total junk, always was, always will be, if they where anygood, like say a LandRover, 911 or even Falcon the name would be living on!

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/new...4013046?page=5 [cute girls!]

ETC ETC, just google "worst cars" and cortina WINS everytime

It NEVER fails to make the list of WORST cars of ALL TIME....lol

[Jim Goose]

Originally Posted by RASER

Just because "a" cortina won Bathurst does not mean a thing.

The difference between a race car and what you and i buy is a ocean apart

Looks like i am not the only one, stop living in denial, its total junk, always was, always will be, if they where anygood, like say a LandRover, 911 or even Falcon the name would be living on!

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/new...4013046?page=5 [cute girls!]

ETC ETC, just google "worst cars" and cortina WINS everytime

It NEVER fails to make the list of WORST cars of ALL TIME....lol

AAhh... gee ... You do realise the cars raced in those days were barely modified off the shelf?

This is why the falcon GT series appeared, in order to race them.

Win on Sunday, sell on Monday.... was the catch phrase.

"Race cars" ???? hardly.. they werent race cars at all. Most drivers drove those TO AND FROM bathurst and drove those cars wearing suits and a Helmut and a lap sash seat belt.

[GT0132]

Originally Posted by Crazy Dazz

I’ve never heard of a Mk3, 4, etc? In Australia they were the TC, TD, TE, & TF. Attractive cars, and the 4 cylinder models were IMHO better than anything else on offer.
However the big sixes were a menace, TOO much weight up front and not well implemented. Too much power for the soft back end. That said, some modified ones with lower stronger suspension were awesome. A mate had a 4.1 with triple carbs.

Only in Australia...Everywhere else in the world they were MK3, 4 and so on,