I'm afraid to say that you've missed your sales target this year...

[cort16]

Mk4 and mk5 cortinas don’t get crazy money You can still get nice ones for 2500 3000 quid.

[danthecapriman]

How hard would it be to convert one of those Granadas to right and drive?

I know you'd need the parts and dash I assume the holes and stuff are already molded into the bodywork for either side drive.

Not straight forward sadly. I've already checked!

 

The bulkheads are mirror image of each other LHD to RHD so you'd have do a bit of metalwork to make it go.

You could cut the bulkhead out of a rotten RHD car and use it to weld into the LHD shell but it's a fair bit of work. LHD isn't a worry though really, just live with it and leave more space when overtaking etc.

 

 

^^ Dan.

Would make a good future project. Check with owner first if you can take pics. We had PSO 520L, a daytona 1600GXL with black cloth interior, from early 1975 till late summer 77. For some reason which we can't remember a 2000cc was swapped into it in 1976, still with the 1600 diff. It would have been a major engine failure of some kind rather than just an upgrade.

This ones black inside. Paints like a blueish grey solid colour, can't remember the name of it now.

It'd be a lovely car to restore though...

[AlabamaShrimp]

Sounds like too much work and I'm not against lhd I'm just weird and think it's better on the normal side.

 

I'm sure once used to it it's not that difficult driving the wrong* side here.

[danthecapriman]

Sounds like too much work and I'm not against lhd I'm just weird and think it's better on the normal side.

I'm sure once used to it it's not that difficult driving the wrong* side here.

Doing exactly what you were thinking was a plan I was hatching a while back.

I wanted a mk1 2 door saloon, prices are generally cheaper for them in Europe too. Then bring it here and swap to RHD from a rotten donor car.

Given what's involved I'd suggest it's really not worth bothering tbh.

 

LHD is fine over here. I've got used to it with my yank and that's both LHD and huge and it's no bother as long as you leave more space when passing parked vehicles, buses etc as you can't see past them so easy. Also need to have a good look over your shoulder aswell as the mirrors when joining at slip roads etc. It's easy really though.

[bunglebus]

 

 

 

Also,

 

You knew what I meant, smart arses! 

[bunglebus]

My dad's 2.0S looking sorry for itself, this car lasted no more than 10 years although it was on at least its second trip around the clock by then, rust killed it by 1988 when he got a Saphire 2.0 GLS. The 2.0 out of the Cortina went in a Sierra minicab apparently.

 

Image 45_zps9bkuynfa by RS, on Flickr

 

Prior to the MK4 he had a 1600E MK2 in Aquatic Jade that never left the garage throughout my childhood, and got sold to be restored in about 1989. Never been taxed so I assume that's dead too.

 

MKCortina by RS, on Flickr

[Junkman]

My '78 Taunus with the 2 litre V6 was such a hateful piece of shit in every aspect that I'd rather have no car at all.

Thanks God that thing shat its diff in Italy, giving me a reason to watch its on the spot cubing with relish.

The Cortinas must be a lot better, otherwise I'd completely fail to understand any enthusiasm for them.

[Captain Furious]

Not tina related, but it’s spiritual successor. I had a dream last night that I’d bought a Sierra 4x4 estate. One of those really vivid dreams where you have to stay in bed to find out what happens next.

 

Got up and thinking it was more of an instruction than a dream, had a quick look on eBay. F**k sake when did sierras quadruple in price? I remember someone on here struggling to shift a really tidy one for about 600 quid, now it’s well over a grand for some ‘ideal project’ basket case and more like £3/4K for anything on the road.

 

The bAsE suddenly looks like a shrewd investment

[Bren]

I like the cortina very much. The wallowy ride, rear seats that are like sitting in quicksand (ours were so knackered that your feet were almost behind your ears) and the thrum of the ohc engine are treasued memories.

 

I would have a 2 litre manual or a 2.3 - the rest are a bit slow and an automatic car will be slower than brexit.

[Junkman]

Deffo different from Taunus then. There was nothing wallowy about those.

They were neither safe nor comfy, just awful.

[Datsuncog]

I bloody loved MkIV Cortinas as a kid - probably because I had the Matchbox model and it was my favourite toy. On my walk to school I would go past a totally rotten 1.6GL in Jupiter Red with a black vinyl roof dumped down the side of a house (UKS249T) and, to my weird 11-yr-old self, it was the best looking car ever ever ever. I schemed about how to procure it, but then one day it was gone.

 

Five years later I bought this for £80. A 1.6L, in Meadow Green. It wasn't a MkIV, but it was the best I could manage. My parents were very understanding.

 

 

Unsurprisingly it was a massive rotbox, but did allow me to learn a bit of spannering (and also the stupendous lie behind the phrase "reassembly is the reverse of removal). Sacked it off when a cheap Viva HC came up, which was more likely to see the road and be insurable.

 

Fast forward twelve years and this Crystal Green one came up on C&C, in Glasgow.

 

 

I fancied a good load carrier and this one didn't have the broken-arsed stance some shagged Cortina 80 estates seem to display. The history file suggested it had started life as a company car down Birmingham direction before retiring to Devon, so it could well have been fitted with the Business Pack discussed above.

 

Even though the vendor was careful to inform me in advance that "the photos do flatter it a bit", having flown over from Belfast on a one-way ticket I drove it home. As well as a bit of crust it ran horribly, and I drove it horribly. I thought the cracked manifold was the cause, but after replacement of the entire exhaust system it was worse if anything. Then some wee sceb tried to thieve it a matter of hours after I finally sorted the clutch problems, and did rather a lot of damage. Repaired, I tried to sell it on but only got insultingly low offers, so continued to smoke about in it while trying to ignore the growing blebs and its reluctance to go up hills.

 

Fearing that its frequent FTPs meant big bills were looming and with a house move imminent, I sold it on for a couple of hundred quid. On the test drive, the buyer asked me if I realised the timing was massively out. No I didn't, as I was stupid. None of the garages it had passed through had thought to share that nugget, either. It later appeared on C&C eighty miles away, without the Hella grille but with a weird coachstripe up the side, at about four times what I'd sold it for. Then it vanished.

 

Mk IV-wise, this is the nearest I get these days. Same look as my first love (though it wasn't a Ghia) At least it doesn't rust as much.

 

 

Oh, and I get to play with this some weekends too - friend's Mk3 1300 2-door. Boot badge says Décor so seemingly a Contenental-build strikebreaker special, but it's a bit of a mongrel with a somewhat patchy history (bought unseen after a cursory check by a club member in London, shipped over to Northern Ireland and quite a few bits missing from the sales pics...). Probably will not be staying like this long-term. Would have looked nice on the original Damask Red paint, which is still there in the engine bay.

 

[Youngsod]

Well it turned out that base 1.3 wasn't quite the runt of the litter, it went for £4,770

 

https://angliacarauctions.co.uk/en/classic-auctions/latest-classic-car-catalogue/saturday-27th-january-2018/1975-ford-cortina-1600-xl-mkiii/

[AnthonyG]

I had a Mk4 1300 L 2 dr as my first car, obviously looking back on it it was pretty slow but you don’t mind when it’s your first car! Didn’t have it long as my neighbour was really keen on it (he liked old Fords) and I sold it on to him after a few months. Looking back, as the body was pretty solid, I should have kept it and installed a 2.0 engine and Sierra 5 speed box.

 

A few years later I had a Mk4 2.0 GL in Roman Bronze with a black vinyl roof, it looked great but wasn’t brilliant to drive tbh. I think the various more modern cars I’d had in between made the poor old Cortina feel a bit vintage. It was sold to a friend of my dads, and survived until about 2006 I think. This friend said later that the car’s timing had been retarded for some reason, possibly related to using unleaded, and once he had set it back to how it should have been it felt a lot more lively. I wish I’d known that when I’d had it!

 

Would love to have another Cortina of any generation but until I have access to somewhere very secure to keep it it’s not going to happen.

[cort16]

I've had 4 over the years. My first car was a 1980 1.6l that had already been in the family about 7 yrs.

A couple of years later i had a 1.6 crusader that cost 150 quid and was much quicker than original one.. Then 10 yrs later I had a 2.3 mk4 auto that was horribly baggy. It got restored by the next owner and I see it up for sale now and again then this 2 dr.

The 2 door has -1 springs and polybushes so it's quite hard. I'd like an original early mk5 to go with it.

[alcyonecorporation]

 

Spotted this Taunus at Esbjerg docks a few years ago.

[stormee]

Deffo different from Taunus then. There was nothing wallowy about those.

They were neither safe nor comfy, just awful.

(Taunen waren der letzte Schrott) My mom had a 1982 Taunus 1,6 festival and it was really awful. In everyway, the haptics, the noise, the overall feeling... NO!

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

I must be alone in preferring the look of the 4 door Tincorner. Mind you that two door Ghia gave me want face for rarity value!

 

My 3 door Sierra was cool, in 1.6L spec was AFAIK the highest trim level available in the UK, unlike our European counterparts who could have almost anything as a 3 door.

You’re not alone. Escorts look shit as a four door, Cortinas the opposite.

[New POD]

Although (as pointed out already) there were 3 door sporty models like the XR4i, it's true that 1.6L was as high as you could go otherwise, there were no 3 door GL or Ghia models.  

European markets got facelift 3 door Sierras, as well as a bigger range of trim levels.

 

A bloke I knew in Rednal Brum, had a Beige 1.3 auto 3 door Ghia on a Y plate IIRC (might have been a B plate)

[danthecapriman]

A bloke I knew in Rednal Brum, had a Beige 1.3 auto 3 door Ghia on a Y plate IIRC (might have been a B plate)

1.3 auto! Jesus I bet that was a hoot to drive!

[stormee]

How weird was the Cortina range, 1,3Ghia? Wtf

[bunglebus]

A bloke I knew in Rednal Brum, had a Beige 1.3 auto 3 door Ghia on a Y plate IIRC (might have been a B plate)

I will believe both the 3 door Ghia and 1.3 auto statements when I see it in the metal.

[Felly Magic]

Bearing in mind that there has never been a 3 door Cortina, that was the Capri

[stormee]

I will believe both the 3 door Ghia and 1.3 auto statements when I see it in the metal.

Taunus 2-door were quite common and I do believe that there are Taunus 1.6Ghia. But a beige 2-door Cortina 1,3Ghia is more than questionable even more in automatic version, quite absurd as it would have puzzled up the entire range and its pricing.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

The Cortina badge was only used in the UK, Australia and Eire. Everywhere else in Europe it was Taunus. Although Cortinas with RHD were built in Cologne and Belgium, they were built to UK market spec - 1300 Kent, 1600/2000 Pinto and 2300 Cologne . No 1300 2 door Ghias.

[adw1977]

How weird was the Cortina range, 1,3Ghia? Wtf

1.6 was the smallest engine offered in a Cortina (or Sierra) Ghia, in the UK at least.

[ProgRocker]

When looking for sensible 'low insurance' student transport in 1997 I considered the possibility of a 1.3 Cortina or even Capri. Quick acceleration didn't bother me so long as it did 70 mph.

[danthecapriman]

The Cortina badge was only used in the UK, Australia and Eire. Everywhere else in Europe it was Taunus. Although Cortinas with RHD were built in Cologne and Belgium, they were built to UK market spec - 1300 Kent, 1600/2000 Pinto and 2300 Cologne . No 1300 2 door Ghias.

You could have both Taunus or Cortina badged ones over in Cyprus, RHD on both, until sometime during the mk5/80 production when it seems to be Taunus only from what I gather.

Although there's a very good chance the Cortina versions could well have been UK imports from New for/by RAF servicemen at Akrotiri as they were heavily discounted for them back then. My Grandad got a new Marina in about 71/72 this way.

Seems odd they'd sell Cortina and Taunus badged cars alongside each other for any other reason?

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

1.6 was the smallest engine offered in a Cortina (or Sierra) Ghia, in the UK at least.

 

 

1600 GT in the Cortina, 88 bhp with the 32/36 Weber. It was a nice power unit as well. The Sierra had the stock VV motor iirc.

[binbag]

You could have both Taunus or Cortina badged ones over in Cyprus, RHD on both, until sometime during the mk5/80 production when it seems to be Taunus only from what I gather.

Although there's a very good chance the Cortina versions could well have been UK imports from New for/by RAF servicemen at Akrotiri as they were heavily discounted for them back then. My Grandad got a new Marina in about 71/72 this way.

Seems odd they'd sell Cortina and Taunus badged cars alongside each other for any other reason?

 

 

This is because Ford of Britain and Ford of Germany were competitors until Ford of Europe was fully formed.

 

A Mk 1 Cortina and the equivalent Taunus share no common parts but a Mk 5 Cortina / Taunus are virtually the same car.

[JeeExEll]

Short 1 minute promotional vid for the new Mk3.

 

Check out the tawny 2-door with sliding steel sunroof!!! Wow.

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RLwu38Tl3vU