This car was the immediate economy car predecessor of the Ford Pinto. It was sold in Canada only (none in US after 1970), and extremely popular as the Mk 3 Cortina in the UK.
There was a 2 door GT model. The last time I saw one advertised was a 2 dr GT in a local Nova Scotia publication in about 2001. I wonder if there are any survivors out there, in any body style or condition?
No, I haven't seen any for sale or on the road in a long time.
A good friend was looking for a cheap car back in the late 70's and went to a Ford dealership in Wyoming, Ontario and there was
a 2 door GT model that was just traded in. The shop wasn't really interested in it and couldn't get the hood open (didn't try too hard).
My buddy made them a ridiculous offer to take it as-is and they accepted. We worked on that car for a couple of days and got it running and safetied
and man, was it fun. Sporty, peppy and very unique. It was his daily driver for about 3 years. Never had a problem. Would love to see one again for nostalgia.
Wow have not seen one of these for a long, long time. My good friend who I batched with and was later my best man had a new one and was mentioned it was peppy for the cars of that time. The one problem it had was when the temperature dropped some in the fall and early winter getting down to near freezing it was terrible for starting. He would come back in the house very upset and ready to sell it for a dollar.
I recall seeing one some time ago, but can't remember the details. They have all but disappeared from the landscape along with other Big 3 imports like the Firenza, Colt/Cricket, etc.
Wasn't the Cortina engine the basis of the Formula Ford road racing class?
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The Mk 1 is the iconic Cortina especially in Lotus livery. I also like the Mk2 (mother had one but the automatic trans never worked). But I like the styling of the Mk3 best of all.
Of course I also like this vintage of Toyota Celica & Corolla, Datsun 510, 240Z, Dodge Colt, VW Type 3, Porsche 914, etc. I don't see many of these either, except for the 240Z which is expensive when in good condition.
These were the cars that people had when I first started driving.
They were also a fun car to drive with the 4sp. The kid isn't me, sadly I was a couple years older back then. (don't do the math.... reveals that I am nearly a senior)
-- Edited by 1965CS on Wednesday 26th of August 2020 12:35:02 PM
Saw a 70s Capri when I was in Mahone Bay today. A real nice one.
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63 Parisienne sport coupe (The Big GTO), black, maroon interior, 409 4 speed; former owner of a 59 El Camino, 63 Corvette SWC, 62 Chev Bel Air SC. 1963- Pontiac top selling car in Canada
Mahone Bay, NS Still not old enough to need an automatic
looked like the green 73 on wiki, made in germany, always liked the styling. Guy by the name of
goodyear used to race one at Argentia air base, a road course. He also raced a mini.
-- Edited by DonSSDD on Wednesday 26th of August 2020 03:28:55 PM
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63 Parisienne sport coupe (The Big GTO), black, maroon interior, 409 4 speed; former owner of a 59 El Camino, 63 Corvette SWC, 62 Chev Bel Air SC. 1963- Pontiac top selling car in Canada
Mahone Bay, NS Still not old enough to need an automatic
A high-school classmate owned a 1973 Cortina GT back around 1979/80. It was in original grey metallic and had the 5-mph front bumper & 2½-mph rear. Unlike the '72 GT which Rostyle wheels (like the MGB, Midget & Capri), the '73 had the wheels like the one shown here which also came on some Capri II's:
Back in 1974 on Hamilton mountain long Stonechurch Road near Upper Paradise there was a new Cortina like the one above but in dark brown with a black vinyl roof cover. Definitely a privately imported car, back when it was a piece of cake to do so. I remember it had the rectangular halogens & the tail lights had amber turn signals <Edit> It was actually a Ford Taunus.
Also a classmate's mother had a dark brown '72 Cortina back around 1975. Other than that I can't recall seeing one in a long, long time.
Did you know that the "new" Cortina made it's debut in the U.K as a 1971, but in Canada they took the lot of leftover 1970 Cortinas and re-designated them as 1971 models? Ford of Canada got sued over that. Funny, I didn't recall the same reaction when the Nash Metropolitan was still being sold new as a 1962 model when they hadn't actually built any since 1960!
-- Edited by CdnGMfan on Thursday 27th of August 2020 12:16:43 AM
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67 Chevelle Malibu Sport Coupe, Oshawa-built 250 PG never disturbed.
In garage, 296 cid inline six & TH350...
Cam, Toronto.
I don't judge a man by how far he's fallen, but by how far back he bounces - Patton
I don't recall seeing many of these cars in my area at the time, but I know they were here and were sold until the Pinto started to become popular.
I do remember the Vauxhall Firenza, of which my brother had a 72 4 door sedan that was provided by an aunt. It wasn't a bad car but I recall it leaked a lot of auto trans fluid.
Eventually these were displaced by the Pontiac Astre.
I thought the Vega and Astre were great looking little cars but I know the engines were crappy. My sister had a 74 and we could barely get it to run.
I remember far more of the earlier Cortinas. Starting three doors up from me in the 1970's the lady Doctor owned a lime green 1970 Cortina GT, complete with genuine wood dash with gauges & leather shift boot, radials tires, plus a blacked out grille & back panel. It got traded in for a new '75 Mustang II 2+2 4-speed. When trying to teach her daughter to drive a manual she would say, "When in doubt, both feet out".
The Lotus Cortinas were cool little DOHC screamers for their time. Typically they were mid-1960s that continued and made the jump to the new styling in '67.
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67 Chevelle Malibu Sport Coupe, Oshawa-built 250 PG never disturbed.
In garage, 296 cid inline six & TH350...
Cam, Toronto.
I don't judge a man by how far he's fallen, but by how far back he bounces - Patton
I remember far more of the earlier Cortinas. Starting three doors up from me in the 1970's the lady Doctor owned a lime green 1970 Cortina GT, complete with genuine wood dash with gauges & leather shift boot, radials tires, plus a blacked out grille & back panel. It got traded in for a new '75 Mustang II 2+2 4-speed. When trying to teach her daughter to drive a manual she would say, "When in doubt, both feet out".
The Lotus Cortinas were cool little DOHC screamers for their time. Typically they were mid-1960s that continued and made the jump to the new styling in '67.
Agree. There were more of the 67-70 cars around. We even had a 68 2 door that my mother drove (when the auto trans worked).
The Lotus powered cars are the ones in demand but I like them all.
As to the 74-78 Mustang II, I really like them too. If you tuck in the bumpers the fastback looks really good, and it could be had with small block Ford power. Pretty cool for its time IMO.
My dad bought a 1973 cortina GT brand new in Saskatoon. Had it for a year and sold it there, so there is likely one in saskatchewan if you can find it lol.. It was red with a black interior and a black vinyl roof. Stickshift. Great little car, very snappy.
The traditional British Ford fours of 1300 & 1600 cc were the Kent (England) engines. Those were in the early Cortinas, but the 72 / 73 offered a 2000 cc. The OHC 2000 & later 2300 was a Lima (Ohio) engine, though I think it started in Brazil and went on to be perfected there, powering SVO Mustangs & Mercury Mercur (Ford Sierra).
Come to think of it, I remember a lot of British cars in Ontario in the sixties. My neighbour had an Anglia, there were 3 Morris 1100 sedans in the neighbourhood and another by my school. There were Sunbeams, Hillmans, Austins, Vauxhall & Epic. MGA, MGB, Midget, Sprite, Big Healies... Triumph TR-2-3-4, Spitfire, 250 & TR6. As for the French, they also used to assemble Renault R8 & R10 models in Quebec and were not uncommon. Another neighbour had a Renault Dauphine. The Citroen DS-19 & 21 were way ahead of their time and you would see them around occasionally, but that was the end for Citroen in North America after that.
1973 saw the Plymouth Cricket start out as a British Chrysler Avenger but made a running change to a Mitsubishi Colt. Miraculous! GM had dumped the Firenza & replaced it with the Astre. As the seventies progressed, British labour was angry and they were taking it out on the the product they were producing with malice. MG was immune. I don't recall any horror stories on Cortinas either, other than passing off unsold 1970 models as 71s. I do remember a Jaguar XJ-6 sedan that a friend's father had (actually he owned two, a 72 & a 76). The 76 had all kinds of random holes drilled in the trunk floor left unfinished, it was bad. The 72 was fine, and another friend's 77 XJ-6L was beautifully finished. Random I guess.
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67 Chevelle Malibu Sport Coupe, Oshawa-built 250 PG never disturbed.
In garage, 296 cid inline six & TH350...
Cam, Toronto.
I don't judge a man by how far he's fallen, but by how far back he bounces - Patton
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