Happy 50th Birthday Ford Cortina

[Kingsley]

Originally Posted by RASER

Ahh yes another nonsense folklaw

Well the privates maybe, and thats *just* a maybe!

Ford Motorsport was run out of Lot6 Mahoneys Rd. [nothing like hearing a Clevo reving its tits off @ 7000RPM late into the night, during development!] Moffats and other factory raced vehicles where hand built with unlimited budget at that location, the factory Holdens and Chryslers of the same era where also hand built with unlimited budget, most times a arms length away from the factory operation, or by fully funded "private" teams ie read brock.

Moffs weapons might've been built at Lot 6 Mahoney's Rd. But since we're talking Cortina's, your a few suburbs off.....
In the period of the early Cortina's to the XT GT Falcon and including the early development of the XWGTHO, all work was done at Harry Firth's shop at 35 Queens Rd Auburn (Vic). Read 'Ford and I' by Harry Firth...

Happy Birthday to the Corty!!

[malazn mafia]

Originally Posted by 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.

Falcon had it's 50th in 2011 because it was in production for 50 consecutive years. But just curious about how to wish a car happy 50th birthday when the car nameplate is no longer in existence? it's a bit like wishing Elvis happy 80th?

They should come up with a neat little book called 'My Dad's Falcon', where the car's story actually reminds you of what happened with the Falcon. It was a solid car with a big trunk, it sold well for forty-five years, but it became dated and the buying public had more interest in other types of vehicles.

[chookaradley]

TE Cortina Ghia with a 4.1 crossflow. The car to have when I was 18 for a Ford fan. Off course the power to weight meant you couldn't drive one on your p's in Vic. Could drive an XC with a 302 tho

[DJR-351]

Originally Posted by CyberWasp

Happy Birthday Cortina !!!!!!!!!

I learnt to drive in a 1970 Mk2 Auto with a 1600 Engine. Fond memories indeed.

It's 52 now......

[csv8]

I had a TD XLE in bronze with ginger trim black vinyl roof

[2011G6E]

Here's two that I owned...like other people, I really wish we'd have had better cameras back then than 110 instamatics or old 35mm ones. Now all that's left are scans of scans usually. For instance, the photo of our white Cortina there is only really about two inches by three inches and not very good...needed a fair bit of retouching as some old photo albums weren't kind to pictures when they sat in them for ten years or more...


I should never, ever have sold that one...it was a great car.


This one was a bit of fun...we owned it for quite a few years. Was a great family car and good on long trips. It was a TE Rally Pack with the 4.1 iron head x-flow and a four speed. Fair bit of work done to the motor.

The...erm...exhaust used to smoke...a lot...officer...

That fastback Lotus Cortina was interesting. In Bundaberg back in the early eighties there used to be one...and only one...wagon of that model. Apparently he was always getting big offers from people to buy it, but he'd always say no and you'd see it toddle around town now and then. Love to know whatever happened to it. They're pretty rare apparently.

Just found a half decent photo of them together...

God I miss those two cars...I mean, not as much as my Charger...but still...

The reason for the "lead tipped arrow" feel of them sometimes in corners was simple (if usually said by people who hadn't actually driven and lived with one for a while...it wasn't that bad). In England, a "big" engine in a Cortina was a 1.6 Kent engine (even up to what we called the TE and TF Cortina). Usually though they had the 1.3 Kent in them. Maybe if you were feeling flash you could opt for the "big" two liter SOHC engine, but that's just showing off...
It was only Australia and South Africa who shoved six cylinder engines in them. I think SA versions used the same V6 that the Capri had fitted to it if I'm not mistaken.

[Mechan1k]

Parents bought a demo TE X-Pack 4.1GL 4-speed manual back in 1980 ... great memories as a kid in it on driving holidays.

Was silver with the vinyl roof ... bumper overriders, factory Hella foglights on the front ... cloth trim ... chunkier black steering wheel. Still had the 13" steelies on it from memory with the back centre caps. Also had the red/orange stripe pack around the sides of it.

Was my Mum's daily driver ... she used to give it a hiding back in the day ... used to go very well in a straight line.

Would love to get one again as a project ... trying to find a decent one on the other hand was near imposssible.

Rego back then on it was KXA 085

Found old pics of it a while back when I was a little kid ... boy how times have changed.

[Mechan1k]

Pretty much identical to this:

[2011G6E]

With our TE, at the same time a friend of mine owned a Ghia with a stupidly worked 4.1 x-flow and four speed. God damn that thing was quick!
His Ghia had the "chunky" four spoke steering wheel you speak of and I actually searched wrecking yards for a couple of years until I finally sourced one for our Cortina (which had a sports wheel fitted when we bought it). Very comfortable and grippy wheel, which also allowed you to see the full instrument dash properly as well, which most smaller sports steering wheels didn't.

[krypto71]

I too had a Cortina in my younger days.

Went from a Mini to a 79 TE Ghia, 250/4sp man combo. It has 220,000kms when I bought it, and more than 400,000 on it when it went to a wrecker 12 years later.

Still wish I had it really.

[2011G6E]

Looking back (and not through rose coloured glasses), a few things really stick in my mind about the '79 TE we had.
It was roomy...I mean not as much as a Falcon, but certainly plenty of room for the two of us and the two kids we had at the time. Mates used to pile in as well on speedway nights to go out and watch. The dash was comprehensive...the Rally Pack had the full instrument dash and it was great. It was relatively quiet on the highway (ours had plenty of work to the engine, extractors, and a free flowing 2-1/2 inch system), and was actually fairly economical as the engine didn't have to work hard.
It was easy to park, handled quite well (lowered slightly and with gas shocks and new springs and bushes), and went really hard.

A friend had a two liter TE wagon at the same time we owned ours and my other friend had his six cylinder TE Ghia sedan. It had (very expensive at the time) twin sidedraft Webers and a lot of head work, hot cam, with a decent exhaust. It was very nicely balanced...probably a lot better balanced than the six cylinder ones of myself and my other mate. It was handy being able to swap around and directly compare each others cars. Even though it was a wagon, it still handled nicely and you could really notice the lower weight over the front end. At the time my brother-in-law also had a TF Ghia sedan...a two liter auto...and it too felt very different in corners with the lower front end weight.

The only reason we got rid of our TE was severe rust in the rear subframe rails...big, long holes. Apart from the body being somewhat prone to rust in a few areas (behind the rear wheel arches, behind those little "vents" on the rear C pillar, etc), it was reliable as anything and parts were cheap as chips. I will say that it was plagued with the exact same fragile door handle problem that Falcons had at the time.
Cortinas were a very popular car back then for smaller families and people who didn't really want or need a "big" car like a Falcon...probably the same as people who bought Toranas instead of Kingswoods, as the Torana was a direct competitor for the Cortina.


I would imagine it is a little like the Mondeo/Falcon duo these days.

[Thunderchild]

My brother had a TD XLE, luxurious for its day and plenty of power with the 250 and going by the all reports of its abysmal handling I should never have survived the many trips in the burringbar ranges I did in it in my younger days.
Happy birthday Cortina

[66GT]

Hi GT6, I don't suppose you used to live in Inala ,Oxley area during the late 80's early 90's. I ask as I used to admire a mk2 GT the same as yours quite often out & about. If so I was most likely in a mk2 escort 2 dr crappy red with Globes.

[rodent5l]

My first car was a 1980 TF Cortina manual 3.3L Alloy head 6 Cylinder.
I still have very fond memories of this car. I think the only way it could have been better was if it had air-conditioning.

I still notice them around sometimes and think of times past.

Happy 50th Birthday Cortina!

[ebxr8240]

There were many engines in these cars worldwide..
The 2.5 V6 Essex was a crap engine.. Smaller engine to V6 Capri..
This engine wasn't released in Aust .. Other than a few Mk4 Zephyrs..
Then there was the 1300cc on order from Gov depts. Like nurses etc..
The body panels TMK were pressed in UK and assembled here..
Which left much to be desired at the time..
Most the bad stuff written was was the early Mk3 with there under
engineered front suspension..Rubbish V6 until the German V6 Cologne] arrived..
The Sigma was its competitor [in 80's] and there's not many of them around either..

[unkey]

The MK5 Cortina was my first car,a brand new one which I loved,and had for 6 years...in South Africa.
It was an extremely popular car,and was top seller for many years,probably because it was very well sized,and had been well priced and looked good.
Was replaced by 1984 with the Sierra,which drove customers away in droves who flocked to Volkswagen Jettas and Toyota Corollas and Cressidas,as the fleet market in particular wanted sedans,not hatchbacks mid sized.
The MK4 AND MK5 were sold in Europe ,where they were badged as the Taunus.

[ZGM86]

I learnt to drive in a 1974 TC Cortina XL 2 litre manual - was my Xmas present when I was 12 years old and was my bushbasher. That old beast took all the punishment I could throw at it and just kept going! This TC was more unbreakable than any Hilux (it took a bushfire to kill it in the end). There were many crazy moments in that old thing with my mates - doughnuts, blasting through flooded trails, getting airbourne, getting bogged so deep in mud the wheels aren't visible, fixing damage with bush mechanic tricks...good times!

My first road car after getting my P plates as a 17 year old was a 1978 TE Cortina GL 4.1 litre manual wagon. I really wanted an XB Falcon at the time, but the parents said that would be 'too big' for me, so we agreed that the Cortina was a good compromise. It worked out well in the end. I drove that one more carefully and with more respect than the bushbasher, but it went pretty damn well! I couldn't bare to part with it, hence why it's still in the garage. I'll get around to restoring her one day (after the Fairlane is finished though).

[GCRXR6]

[QUOTE=2011G6E;5145711]Here's two that I owned...like other people, I really wish we'd have had better cameras back then than 110 instamatics or old 35mm ones.

image
I should never, ever have sold that one...it was a great car.

That one looks like a 68 MK 2 1600 GT. Is that correct?. I had a 67 MK2 1500 GT...identical, but minus the GT stripes. Great cars.

[Moby Vic]

Originally Posted by malazn mafia

Falcon had it's 50th in 2011 because it was in production for 50 consecutive years. But just curious about how to wish a car happy 50th birthday when the car nameplate is no longer in existence? it's a bit like wishing Elvis happy 80th?

They should come up with a neat little book called 'My Dad's Falcon', where the car's story actually reminds you of what happened with the Falcon. It was a solid car with a big trunk, it sold well for forty-five years, but it became dated and the buying public had more interest in other types of vehicles.

But it outlasted the Cortina and the Crown Vic.