It's the new Mark 4 Cortina!

[sierraman]

My favourite matchbox car as a kid was a light metallic green Cortina 2.3. Ultimate one for me would be a yellow Cortina 2.0 S. Or at the other extreme a 1.3 base in beige.

[sierraman]

Weren’t the 2 door 1.3 and 1.6 autos the first motability cars?

[rovamota]

There was only two things the Cortina did well. Sell and rust. It was pretty mediocre but it suited the less discriminate buyer of the time who put ownership and running costs above all else. Ford's marketing dept. was bloody brilliant. 

[Captain Furious]

Weren’t things better though when your choice of trim, barring special editions and suchlike, were L, GL and Ghia which came with a predefined set of features, Arather than now where you have a couple of models and then 470 options.

 

Especially when buying 2nd hand. Far less having to compromise on your wish list because you can’t find the right car with the right options specced.

[adw1977]

Weren’t the 2 door 1.3 and 1.6 autos the first motability cars?

No 1.3 automatic version, but there certainly were 1.6 auto two door cars for Motability, or whatever it was called at the time. There used to be a website about them, sadly now deleted.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

There was only two things the Cortina did well. Sell and rust. It was pretty mediocre but it suited the less discriminate buyer of the time who put ownership and running costs above all else. Ford's marketing dept. was bloody brilliant. 

 

 

It was a pity Dagenham couldn't build cars as well as Cologne - the Taunus was a much better car for build quality and rust resistance. The Germans never really took to the Taunus, outsold by the Passat and the Opel Ascona. 

 

The Sierra was certainly a major step forward in terms of ride and handling as well as performance and economy. I ran a 1.6L Sierra directly after a 1980 Cortina and although the early Sierras were tinny, they were a better car.

[sierraman]

What was the alternative at the time though, wouldn’t have said the Mk1 Cavalier was that much better. Obviously though by 1981 the Mk2 Cavalier was a better alternative but year after the Sierra came out which I much prefer (obviously). It’s horses for courses.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

The Cav was better. But the cortina drove better than the Marina, 160B, Hunter etc, and was smooth and easy to drive.

[Spottedlaurel]

What was the alternative at the time though, wouldn’t have said the Mk1 Cavalier was that much better. Obviously though by 1981 the Mk2 Cavalier was a better alternative but year after the Sierra came out which I much prefer (obviously). It’s horses for courses.

 

 

I happen to have a 1980 copy of What Car? next to me as I type, it includes a group test of Cortina 1.6L, Cavalier 1.6GL and Solara1.6GL. Despite saying the Cavalier is better in a lot of areas, they still give the nod to the Cortina. The Talbot was a somewhat distant third....

 

 

Weren’t the 2 door 1.3 and 1.6 autos the first motability cars?

 

They were even available in Invacar blue......

 

1977 Ford Cortina 1300 Base 2dr Mk4 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

Seen at the Haynes Museum some years ago, still got T&T.

 

1977 Ford Cortina 2.0 Ghia Mk4 TNO449R by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

This Mk4 always appealed to me. As well as being a Ghia in Roman Bronze, I recall it had been fitted with a Sierra 2.0 injection engine and 5-speed 'box, which seemed like a very sensible upgrade (clear indicators less so). IIRC, Affordable Classics had it for sale at something like £1500 in the '00s, even then that looked like decent value. It was someone's daily driver after that, as I used to see it every morning on a local building site. Has apparently since been scrapped after the owner lost storage, it was parked outside and the A-posts went (to be fair it was getting MoT failures for corrosion even before then).

 

Look at the difference between the Base model and the Ghia, Ford really knew how to play the trim level game back then didn't they?

 

Edit: Could always do this with a 2dr:

 

Motorvation Cortina Mk4 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

[cort16]

My 2dr was originally a 1.3 in baby poo beige

[CortinaDave]

 

I happen to have a 1980 copy of What Car? next to me as I type, it includes a group test of Cortina 1.6L, Cavalier 1.6GL and Solara1.6GL. Despite saying the Cavalier is better in a lot of areas, they still give the nod to the Cortina. The Talbot was a somewhat distant third....

 

 

 

 

They were even available in Invacar blue......

 

1977 Ford Cortina 1300 Base 2dr Mk4 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

Seen at the Haynes Museum some years ago, still got T&T.

 

1977 Ford Cortina 2.0 Ghia Mk4 TNO449R by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

This Mk4 always appealed to me. As well as being a Ghia in Roman Bronze, I recall it had been fitted with a Sierra 2.0 injection engine and 5-speed 'box, which seemed like a very sensible upgrade (clear indicators less so). IIRC, Affordable Classics had it for sale at something like £1500 in the '00s, even then that looked like decent value. It was someone's daily driver after that, as I used to see it every morning on a local building site. Has apparently since been scrapped after the owner lost storage, it was parked outside and the A-posts went (to be fair it was getting MoT failures for corrosion even before then).

 

Look at the difference between the Base model and the Ghia, Ford really knew how to play the trim level game back then didn't they?

 

Edit: Could always do this with a 2dr:

 

Motorvation Cortina Mk4 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

The brown Ghia TNO was banger raced. I remember being sad about it at the time as I'd always quite fancied it myself.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Weren’t things better though when your choice of trim, barring special editions and suchlike, were L, GL and Ghia which came with a predefined set of features, Arather than now where you have a couple of models and then 470 options.

Especially when buying 2nd hand. Far less having to compromise on your wish list because you can’t find the right car with the right options specced.

100%! This is how I'm driving 2,000 miles a week in car with no bloody cruise control.

In the past everyone knew which model got a sunroof or electric mirrors etc and there was a nice little badge on the back so the neighbour's, or more likely, work colleagues knew too.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

What was the alternative at the time though, wouldn’t have said the Mk1 Cavalier was that much better. Obviously though by 1981 the Mk2 Cavalier was a better alternative but year after the Sierra came out which I much prefer (obviously). It’s horses for courses.

In 1982 I used to regularly find excuses for work to get me a hire car , in fact for my 18th birthday I didn't have a party I had a Sierra 1.6 L rental for along weekend and drove it for almost every minute( I was as strange a teenager as I am now)

Anyway, Cortina Crusaders, in saloon or estate form were what I usually got and they were great, after reading CAR since I was 11, I was expecting them to be unrefined, ill handling, slow rubbish. Sure, Mk3 Escorts felt a lot more modern and sporty and Sierras were almost Granada like( boss had 2.8 Ghia X I drove a lot) in their silence and refinement.

Never drove a Mk1 Cav new, but had aCarlton estate a few times and it wasn't any better than a Cortina, when the Ambassador was first launched I got a 1.7 HL auto, which was lovely on the motorway but desperately slow and somehow felt old fashioned compared to the Cortina that had just gone out of production.

The big revalation was the Mk2 Cavalier but that was the Sierra's problem not the Cortina's

[Rusty_Rocket]

I'm amazed there are any Mk4 Cortinas left.  Rust did them after 8 years and gentlemen* racers killed the survivors.

I know they are a 70s car, but they just remind me so much of the 80s.  Street furniture

[sierraman]

Yeah they were everywhere. My mates dad had a 1.6 estate, it was the archetypal old banger in the 90s.

[cort16]

Our one had a black tide line on the front valance from when it was about 5 years old.

Mainly because my dad left the hand brake off and it rolled into a River 

 

right here

 

[Rocket88]

Fiat 131 was a much better car.............until it dissolved...........

[155V6]

I had one MK 4 in 1989 after a whole load of MK 3s.ENM 308T was a 2.0S in red with a black vinyl roof.It was bought cheaply(£50?).because it wasn't running properly,the seller thought it may have dropped a valve.We fixed it by putting the plug leads on the right way round   .It got an MOT with just a patch on the chassis rail & one void bush.It was then painted matt black like most of my cars then & used for nearly a year

It did get through one engine,the replacement was fitted in the front garden under pressure from my Girlfriend to get it done in time to go & see the Motley Crue gig she had tickets for   .

It was sold on when I bought my V8 Granada Coupe,& got scrapped when the MOT ran out as it was quite tatty by then.

I did like the MK 4s,but preferred the MK 3 even though they seemed to fall apart a lot quicker.

[BorniteIdentity]

The MK4 was the only Cortina that really truly appealed to me. I remember about 1998 our caretaker at school had two Cortinas (Cortini?) and the poor sod was ridiculed constantly for having such old shit cars.

 

It’s only now do I realise they were both 18 years old at the time and I have 19 year old and 22 year old cars on regular duty.

 

I’d still love one - and a MK2 Granada saloon too. Sadly, they don’t offer anything the sierra doesn’t and that probably has indefinite leave to remain.

[Dannyk]

My dad had one identical to this. , in the early  90s, He still says it's one of his favourite cars even now,

Failed the mot so was sold... And was replaced with a sierra.

Quality cars, i would.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Midnight blue, stunning colour, lovely car.

 

These were okay - once the solid axle bushes were fitted to tighten up the rear end, they drove and handled pretty well for the era. The ride was never great over shit roads though.

[Dannyk]

Yes, midnight blue,black viynl roof and a light brown? Tan? interior. I thought it was "cool" compared to all my mates parents cars. Probably why i've ended up on here.

[nisfan]

That one on eBay is tempting, it's just round the corner and is mot/tax exempt hhmm

[Parky]

This one in New Zealand is pretty tempting too. Basically halve the New Zealand Dollar value and you won’t be far off the sterling figure

 

5 days to go and sitting at £650. Even with the costs of shipping it back it’s probably worthwhile for one of these, especially if it is a 49000 km car.

 

https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/ford/auction-1817257391.htm?rsqid=0343e5d4242d4ffba6727f1010797b48

 

As your man says in his massively detailed advert, it was well looked after by the last owner. However the last owner might have died 15 years ago and it’s been thoroughly abused since then...

[sierraman]

Wasn’t onslows car a midnight blue Mk4 1.6?

[JeeExEll]

[MorrisItalSLX]

I know it's a MK5, but hey.

 

[meggersdog]

When I was at Peterborough Tech doing my motor mechanics course in 1982 there was a beige S. reg  1.6L Cortina in the workshop.It had been given to the college for all us 16 year olds to rip apart and hopefully put back together again.Don't know what was so wrong with a four year old car for it to have been given away though.

[JeeExEll]

Taunus TC2 2-door Ghia 2.0 V6.

 

 

[JeeExEll]

"Dad, can I borrow the car?".

- "Yeah, ok son. Make sure there's still petrol in it for tomorrow".