It was fantastic to be back at the NEC for the Lancaster Classic Motor Show after the 2020 event had been cancelled because of the Covid pandemic.
We had an amazing position in the entrance to hall 8 and were very busy start to finish meeting old and new members alike.
As ever, it was a great way to finish up the show season. Our thanks to Adrian for organising and to Mark, Eddie and Robert for displaying their MkIIs.
We hope to see you all next year.
WNO 786F
Mark Richards’ 1500 Deluxe
When the MkII Cortina was launched in October 1966 there were just three models in the line up with both two door and four door versions of the 1300 Deluxe, the 1500 Super, and the 1500 GT. They were all running upgraded versions of the pre-crossflow engines that had previously been seen in the MkI Cortina. However, one of the options for the Deluxe was for the larger 1500 engine to be fitted, something that was to benefit this particular MkII.
When Mark found the Deluxe in 2015 it had not long been through a light restoration. Repainted in the original Spruce Green by Cortina guru Colin Ginn (and then reassembled by Nigel Eaton) for previous owners, WNO had ended up for sale near Mark at Trojan Cars in Southsea, Hampshire. It still had its green interior but sometime earlier the 1500 engine had been taken out favour of a later 1600 crossflow unit that was fitted with the head and carburettor from a XR2 Fiesta. An electric cooling fan had been added too and though the original gearbox and its long wand gearstick were also still fitted it had been rebuilt with a 2000E gear set.
With these changes already made, Mark made the decision to take things further and has gradually been adding more and more parts from the early GT MkIIs. This has included changing the gearbox to a complete GT unit with the remote change gear stick, the early period correct GT style dashboard with the extra dials in a raised pod, a black GT interior with XR2 front seats re-trimmed to suit, larger brakes all round also from the GT, not to mention moving the battery to the boot and adding GT badges to the rear quarters. It is definitely a work in progress and Mark plans to add the GT style umbrella handbrake system just as soon as he has finished collecting all the parts together.
Not long after buying the deluxe, Mark brought it along to our MkII 50th birthday party in 2016 where we were honoured to have been joined by the cars’ chief stylist Roy Haynes and his family. Roy’s granddaughter had never seen a MkII before and took great delight in having a sit in Mark’s Cortina.
RRX 984H
Eddie Newman’s 1600 GT Crayford Cabriolet
In his role as our club Chairman, Eddie has always preferred to put members’ cars on display here at the Classic Motor Show but with 2021 being the 40th anniversary of when he last had a car on display at the NEC, and with this being his last year as Chairman we persuaded him to bring along his latest MkII restoration this time around.
RRX 984H is a very unusual 1600GT Crayford Cabriolet (not to be confused with the more common but still pretty rare Convertible!) which had been found by good friend and fellow MkIIOC member Brendan Sandiford back in 2013. It needed a lot of work and Brendan wasted no time in getting Eddie involved with a few jobs on it.
Some great progress had been made when Brendan found and then bought another MkII Crayford Cortina and not having enough room to keep them both he offered the Cabriolet to Eddie late in 2019, the rest as they say – whoever they are!! – is history. Having nothing better to do during the first coronavirus lockdown period Eddie got himself busy and had the restoration finished by August 2020. He did all the work himself apart from the making and fitting of a new mohair hood.
There were very few Cabriolet MkII Cortinas ever built by Crayford Auto Developments, they cost a great deal more than the Convertible examples and no more than a handful are known to survive today. The Convertible roof sits on the rear parcel shelf when lowered but the Cabriolet roof folds down into a space within the cabin area made available by a narrower rear seat and extended rear scuttle panel. The changes also required extensive internal modifications to the car’s structure leading to the much higher price.
The main advantage of the Cabriolet over the Convertible is the simplicity in which the roof lowers. The Cabriolet has a full frame similar to a MGB or TR4 allowing the roof to be raised & lowered in just a few seconds once the two catches have been released. “A huge bonus over the convertible” Eddie tells us having been caught out in a sudden downpour with both types of MkII Crayford.
FLC 848J
Robert Armstrong’s 1600E
Registered on 7th August 1970, Robert’s 1600E is one of the last MkII Cortinas built at the Ford factory at Dagenham.
Robert bought FLC 848J in October 2014 from its 5th owner and immediately set about making it his own.
The restoration saw the colour changed from the original Fern Green to Aquatic Jade – another of the all new metallic paints Ford had introduced during the MkII Cortina production period – together with a number of subtle changes and upgrades that has brought many modern features to the car all designed to make it more usable on today’s roads.
Mechanically, the engine was balanced and rebuilt with high torque camshaft, new bearings and piston rings and a new custom built stainless steel exhaust system replaced the original.
Behind the engine now sits a 5 speed gearbox which makes use of a concentric clutch release mechanism and quick shift gear lever, and the differential was replaced with a rebuilt 3.77:1 set.
The electrical system was fully fused and a Dynamator, electric cooling fan, a high torque starter motor were all added not to mention improved lighting and a powered screen wash too.
The complete braking system was renewed with new callipers and cylinders, and upgraded with a booster servo too. For safety, head rests were added to the front seats and to finish off, electric power steering was fitted. This was something covered in a full “How to” feature article in Classic Ford magazine in May 2017.
All in all, a very usable car that Robert recently took to Scotland on the NC500 and plans to take to Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy next year on our “Cortinas to Cortina” road run in celebration of 60 years of the Ford Cortina.
It was a real surprise to find the MkII Ambulance on display at the show.
It was owned for many years by club member Steven Prince who has been a regular attendee at our National Rally for as long as we can remember but it is now part of the collection at the Great British Car Journey museum.
See HERE for details about the museum.
All photos © Cortina MkII Owners Club LTD.
