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With many popular cars, it is the entry-level versions that so often have the worst survival rate. Many owners treated the likes of a Cortina 1300 Mk. II “Series One” De Luxe Estate as a humble workhorse. Similarly, the De Luxe saloon’s common fate was becoming a sub-par replica of the GT, the 1600E or even the Lotus. This is just one reason why Andrew’s 1967 “Alpine Green” example is such a fascinating machine. Another is that it recently played a very important role for his family.

In October 1966, Ford claimed ‘New Cortina is more Cortina’, and the Roy Haynes’ styling certainly looked as sharp as a Harry Fenton suit. Motor observed:

In the four years of its history, the Cortina has sold a million. It is not surprising, therefore, that Ford have not attempted to change the basic formula but rather to strengthen its strong points and reinforce its weaknesses. Externally it looks quite different, mechanically it remains much the same, internally it has grown bigger, quieter and more comfortable.

The Mk. II initially featured the Mk. I’s engines, although Ford enlarged the 1.2-litre unit to 1.3 litres. However, in late 1967 Dagenham announced a new array of crossflow power plants, as found in Andrew’s Cortina, although ‘my car still has the dynamo no fuse box of the first models’.

When Motor evaluated the 1300 De Luxe saloon, they thought it offered

much more comfortable ride – perhaps the biggest single improvement – better road holding, a higher top speed, a smaller turning circle, more back seat room and an overall impression of greater solidity and refinement. The engine is also quieter, smoother and more flexible than before and the bigger fuel tank gives a longer range.

Meanwhile, the 1300 De Luxe Estate was an almost unique proposition to the motorist of 54 years ago. The likes of the Triumph Herald 1200 station wagon were smaller and featured only two side-doors. As the Arrow-Series Hillman “Estate Car”, the Vauxhall Victor FC and the Austin A60 Cambridge Countryman/Morris Oxford Series VI Traveller, none was available in 1.3-litre form.

On the road, Andrew remarks on the sheer fascination of 1967-style motoring – ‘there is that huge thin-rimmed steering wheel, the seat backrests seem so low compared with a modern car, and you really feel the heat with no tinted glass’. It should be remembered that “De Luxe” in late 1960s Ford terminology meant ‘a heater and windscreen washers but not a lot else’.

Andrew sometimes finds that he is ‘looking for more gears, but the Cortina does bowl along’ and remarks on that ‘tappety’ note which will be instantly familiar to many readers of a certain age. ‘Above certain speeds, it sounds like a chainsaw’  To better cope with current traffic conditions, the Estate now only wears its cross-ply tyres ‘for show’, but the front discs brakes are good by the standards of the day.

The Estate joined Andrew’s family in 1997 when his father acquired it. ‘A month later, he developed heart problems, and the car was laid up. I would regularly start the Cortina up to keep the engine running, and when my parents moved house in 2014, I started re-commissioning it’.  Fortunately, the first owner had applied Ziebart for, as with many 1960s British cars, the Mk. II was notoriously corrosions-prone. ‘I owned one 49 years ago when I was 18, and it was already going rusty’.

One of Andrew’s tasks was to ‘replace everything that was rubber’, but the engine ‘ran like clockwork’. The Estate has just 21,000 miles on the clock, and today it looks as though it has newly emerged from your friendly local Ford dealership. He has attended a few shows with the Cortina - ‘out of the 400-odd cars there, from Rolls-Royces to Bentleys, it appeared everyone wanted to look at our Ford!’

And so many people can relate to the Cortina 1300 Mk. II from their first company car to transport for your next-door-neighbour. Today, Andrew’s Estate is more than a fascinating artefact but motoring history to be enjoyed and respected. And in August of last year, it led the funeral cortege for his father – a tribute and a reminder of how “everyday cars” are as significant as any coachbuilt vehicle.

With Thanks To: Andrew

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