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Back in 2005 Michael Spink was presented with one of the finest wedding presents for any car enthusiast - his wife had commissioned the restoration, ‘in secret’, of his 1965 Corsair GT Convertible. He had actually acquired MML 443 C in 1988, but it was garaged in 1996 following transmission issues. Incredibly, the refurbishment process took just 12 weeks, and today the Ford looks fit for a journey to Carnaby Street, preferably accompanied by the sounds of The Yardbirds singing For Your Love.

Ford devised the Corsair as their replacement in the “D Class” saloon category for the Consul Classic. In essence, it was, as Sir Terence Beckett put it, ‘an extension of the Cortina formula’ with “Project Buccaneer” employing the same door framed and windows, plus an elongated floor pan. In October 1963 the “Consul-Corsair” also became the first car produced at Halewood.

Ford marketed their latest model as ideal for ‘the man who still enjoys a sense of adventure’. Naturally all ambitious sales executives craved the GT with its remote control gear change, servo-assisted brakes and tachometer designed to be read by the driver’s left knee-cap all for just £840 7s 1d. The 1.5-litre engine was shared with the Cortina GT, but the Corsair had a slightly more upmarket image. Autocar thought it would ‘capture the imaginations of many who would normally never aspire to being anything but staid family motorists’.

The Consul pre-fix was dropped in late 1964, and in the following year, Crayford unveiled their drophead conversion of the Corsair GT.  The Westerham firm was founded in 1962 by two ex-Lambretta employees David McMullan and Jeffrey Smith. In 1964 they introduced the Cortina Convertible while the Corsair looked even more splendid; Crayford employed MML in their publicity photographs.

Michael believes it to be ‘the only surviving `1500 GT convertible’, for in late 1965 Ford introduced the Corsair V4. It is also ‘the only one in black’. Crayford based their conversions on the now very rare Corsair two-door, a version that was mainly destined for export markets. Fifty-five years ago, a GT Convertible had no direct British rival, for the Vitesse 6 drophead was a somewhat different form of motor-car. The Triumph was an open-topped four-seater for a Goodwood visitor as opposed to the Ford’s scaled-down ’62 Thunderbird.   

In November 1965, Bill Boddy of Motor Sport noted ‘the soft-top allowed what remained of the body structure to shake a good deal, and the top drummed a bit if the windows were open. But this was a notably lively car as well as a means of having a Corsair that opens’. Of course, the prospective Crayford owner would need to be on good terms with his/her bank manager as the price of the Convertible was £235 more than a standard model.

The Crayford Convertible Car Club believes that ‘today 75 of the 100’ are on their register and when Michael came by his GT, it was languishing in a garden. At that time it was also painted white, in addition to suffering from the effects of a sub-par restoration. And so Michael became ‘the second name on the logbook’.

On the roads, Mr. Spink finds that convertible bodywork ‘makes no difference to the handling’. In terms of recognition, the Corsair is naturally admired by virtually all who see it, but the model itself is familiar ‘only to older people; younger people do not know what it is’.  Looking at the handsome profile of MML, it is easy to agree with Michael’s opinion that ‘it is one of the best things Crayford ever did’. As for his plans, he has purchased two other Corsairs for restoration – a 1969 Abbott’s of Farnham Estate and a 1964 four-door GT. But that is another story!

With Thanks To: Michael Spink and The Crayford Convertible Car Club - https://www.crayfordconvertibleclub.com/

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