Beschreibung
EMERGING into the light today is an incredible 1976 Ford Cortina Mark 3 2. 0 XL estate with just one owner from new and just under 19k miles on the clock. The owner informs us that the mileage is totally correct and that it has spent its entire life in his personal car collection. Recently re-commissioned after lengthy hibernation, I have put a few miles on the old girl this morning and what an absolute pleasure it was. It sounds and drives like an almost new car!
Re-commissioning after long term storage included new cam and lifters, new cam belt, new water pump and new tyres. There will have been more to include the likes of brakes, clutch etc. She sounds just superb.
Now to the condition. Well, again quite amazing really. Showing no obvious signs of any welding, she was rust proofed at new (the Protectol sticker remains in the rear window alongside the supplying dealer, The Cowie Group). She was also treated to the black stuff at new along both outer sills, the tips of the rear panels and both front and rear valances. Although some of this is looking a tad ragged now, I have discovered that it is all orange body colour underneath it and thus a good weekend's graft would remove it all with some thinners and the new owner's patience! Other surface imperfections here and there are mostly a result of long term storage. The car still wears its original paint and, if it was to be my choice, I would leave it as it is. But then, each to their own!
Opening the rear tailgate was another pleasure. It is from that standpoint that this late Mark 3 instantly smells of a 70s Cortina. Don't ask me how that happens, but with certain cars it just does. The rear load bay is perfect as is the original boot carpet. Remove it and you reveal a perfect (again) orange boot floor. Beneath that, looking into the spare wheel well, you note the original factory primer. I am told that the company left those wells like that at new.
This amazing old Cortina also boasts a fabulous interior. Even if you didn't know the mileage, you would have to have a guess at it being remarkably low due to the condition of the XL interior. Lovely dash, great seats, super headlining and carpets (they are more than likely original too!)
Oh, and just one more thing. The time clock works!!!!
This description is based on my opinion of the vehicle, the paperwork that comes with the car and anything I have been told about it. The vehicle is 48-years-old and this cannot be taken as a definitive statement for obvious reasons. As with most classic cars, there may be faults and quirks whilst, almost inevitably, some degree of tinkering and care will always be called for. Such are the joys of owning an antique vehicle and they must be taken within their own context and not compared to modern day cars. They are sold as old, mainly out-dated machines and come without any comeback whatsoever. They are my terms and conditions.
My classic cars are motoring antiques. This car, for example, is 48-years-old. It's not two, five or even ten-years-old as your own everyday car may be. It has been in service for almost half a century and so will have quirks and faults in there somewhere. However, faults on these old girls are not always apparent when buying and selling classics which is what I do. I do not restore them, nor do I pretend that they are concours cars. The majority of them go out as they came in, and I continue to enjoy finding more - a skill which is becoming increasingly difficult as many of you will be aware. They deserve to be taken on as "family pets" and cared for through thick and then. They don't make them any more and demand now out-strips supply. Please bear all this in mind, and enjoy your classic car. I can also assist with delivery and so please ask for a quote.
I have now been established as a one-man band classic car dealer for 25 years and pride myself on my buying prowess and - due to small margins - my prices which I firmly believe are up there among the very best in the UK classic car marketplace.
Thanks, Martin. the details below
