There once was a time when Cortinas were everywhere. Your dad had one, your uncle had one, your mate’s dad had one – you couldn’t turn a street corner without being met with the best-selling car of the 70s.

Five generations and 4.3million cars later, production finally ended in 1982 – but the British love affair with the Cortina still hasn’t gone away.

We’ve been exploring the history and cult status of the Cortina to find out just what has made it such an icon.
You can read our article over on the new Cult Classics website, along with articles about some of our other favourites from years gone by:

https://www.adrianflux.co.uk/cult-cl.../ford-cortina/


Did you or your family used to drive a Cortina? Do you still drive one today? Share your memories and pictures below!

 

My old man had a white mk4 on Ross Style wheels and then later had a mk5 reg DOU 625W in burgundy. My grandad had a mk3.

My uncles had granadas.

Love the old fords.

I still have my dads Sierra from when he bought it new in 1991

 

I would have a mk2 tina over any other old skool ford in a heartbeat

 

It's amazing how we still remember car registrations from years ago!

We didn't have a 'Tina but we had a Sierra Ghia in light blue with the pepperpots.. Can't remember the whole reg but it was B***XAV. Sat on the drive for 2 years with a seized gearbox before being scrapped!

 

Remember our family cortina like it was yesterday, took us everywhere as a family of 5, it was a mk5 in beige 1.6L with a brown interior reg SCK 503X, was pretty rotten when we traded it in, passenger foot well and bottoms of all doors, very reliable car and cheap to run compared to the Austin princess it replaced, we traded the Tina for an A reg Sierra 2.0L GL A677 YTN which was also a great car.

 

Old chap had a red mk4 Cortina... Eventually upgraded in 1985 for a 3 year old mk2 Granada Alm 693y...
Proper cars back then...

 

we traded the mark 5 tina in for a black mk1 Sierra 2.0iS C314 RPH - this is where my love for the sierra was born

 

Did you see the very rapid black mk2 Cortina wasting the modern Fords at the Pod on Sunday?
I had an ex London to Sydney rally 1600e when I lived in Adelaide, put a stage 3 1760cc cross-flow in it.Loved the sound the twin side draught Webers made!
Had a genuine Uren 1600e Savage and also a mk2 Lotus Cortina which I put a big valve Elan 2+2 engine in and electronic ignition which was just coming out.
Sold them for peanuts in the 80s to what they would be worth now!

 

Sold a Sports car as a house deposit in 1972 took a mk1 Cortina GT in Lotus green/cream in PX. Allowed the guy Ł80 for the GT. Sold it on for Ł85 a month later it was not a good or bad car just not for me.

 

See the previous article was about the Porsche 912, I actually sold my MK2 1600 GT about 10 years ago to buy a Porsche 912.

The MK1s and 2s were such a pretty car, think if I was to have another, bonkers priced lotus' aside it would have to be a 1600 E for me in mustard colour!

 

My dad had a mk4 and mk5 cortina when i was really young.

The mk5 cortina got pinched from where my mam used to work and was found 4 days later sat on waste land with no wheels on it and they had nicked the radio and speakers.

 

I still want one, my dad owned a mk1 4 door in his youth, was a blue 4 door with a gold stripe, was written off when someone overtook a car over a brow in the road and side swiped it.

 

yes mate it looked awesome, I had a savage last year which I took in p/x when I sold my rs3.1 capri after 31 yrs of ownership but a mate made me an offer I could not turn down, and the only other mk2 I had was in 1984 but swapped it for a rover P6 V8, I will find another one day

 

Picture of my mk2 2 door from the weekend and my dads 1600gt estate.

 

Does anyone remember the matt black one that used to destroy most of the other cars at the Pod a few years back, I think it was a mk3 with a cossy lump in it.

 

Yep owned by Mick Rogers. 10 second car that one.

I still have my cossie powered mk3 and one day it will emerge lol owned it since 95.

Paul

 

Awesome mate, they look fantastic

 

My grandad had a mk11 cortina gt. My dad hated it,said it was slow......





But then he did have a volvo 343 gl. .............

 

my first car when I passed my test in 1987 was a Cortina mk4 1.6L NWG 777R.
was finished in baby shit green! paid 175 quid for it.
was a great car, traded it in for an a reg mk3 escort a few months later.

 

Never seen a MkII GT estate until a couple of weeks ago when a dealer put a red one on eBay. Now there's Jamie's dads'. Can't think that I ever saw one on the road back in the day...weird how they have the GT badge higher up than the saloon.

Jamie's black one is just a dream. Old Skool but up to date if that makes sense.

I started with a 1600 Super, then built a 3.0 V6 1600E then, in 1990 bought an F reg Mk11 Lotus in red which been restored. But the engine was a dog so sold it on after a few months for about a grand.

 

My Dad has had is Mk2 estate since 1970 ! it was the family car, was only 4 weeks old when we did a 4000 mile around trip to the south of Italy in it (a trip i just took myself 3 weeks ago).

He still uses it regularly, i was only talking about on Tuesday as he is taking it for a Mot next week.

Will try and get some photos of it.

 

My dad had a cortina estate, can't remember what mk it was but looked like a smaller version of the Granada of the time. Think it was a y reg. I had a mk2 1600e many years ago and sold it for ÂŁ175 lol, no one wanted it back then

 

Had a few MkV Tina's over the years as a lot of people know.


VLP342X was my first one. Started off as a 1.6 Base model but ended up with a Crusader trim a very rapid 2l pinto and 5 speed box.


If I could find another 2dr MKV I would out the 3dr for one.


Steve

 

Your car was very quick on Sunday ,what engine,gearbox etc do you have in it?

 

My old Savage OUA411F is still on the road in Southampton and I think he paid around Ł13,000 for it, I sold it in 1982 for Ł2,500!!!

 

Who'd have thought 35 years ago that the modern version, although called Mondeo, would look like an Aston Martin ?

The conversation would have gone like this, whilst working on their Cortina....

"Here Dave, been thinking and I reckon Ford will make all their cars look like Aston Martins in about 30 years."

"Fuck off Kev, you twat, pass me the void bush remover."

"I just hope they re-design these cunting void bushes as my car fails its MOT every year on the fucking things."

 

Thanks its a YB & T5

 

hell yeah nice😎

What was your times and terminal?

 

From this Sunday,


12.87 @ 110
12.65 @ 113
13.33 @ 111
12.71 @ 111


Variation seams to come from my starts, going over the line at the same rev's each time I have worked out a 1.5'' taller tyre should take me up to 120+ at the same rev's and hopefully just in to the 11's which is my goal.


Or I could go on a diet and loose 10st and properly achieve the same thing

 

Good times what power u running.

Always found the tina puts the power down better than my saff. Gotta love a proper axle and diff.

What ratio u running? I have a 3.44 in mine.

 

The engine was dyno'ed at 389 when built, its running a atlas with a 3.75 I started out with a 3.44 but got talked in to changing it when I smashed the drive shafts and had the axle rebuilt.


The 3.75 I think is to high a ratio for me it screams on the road cruising at 70, currently doing 6800 rpm when crossing the line and always around 111-113mph, if I don't get where I want to be with the tyre change I will go back to the 3.44 with a smaller tyre.

 

3.44 is a good all rounder imo. 390 must be fun. mine was 328 in a mk 3 which was Great fun.

Got anymore pics?

Paul

 

These where the single piece shafts after 250 miles running in driving.

 

Oh yeah i remember that one now.
Very nice. Was that a standard shaft.?

guess i have been lucky with my shafts.

 

Now thats a cool track car. Does it handle well then.

 

never been a fan of cortinas, of any Mk! But after the Pod last weekend, i for some strange reason want a Mk2


Still will probably never get one, as a mk2 fiesta is on the cards for me

 

What i would like to see a mk6 cortina with a full on yb conversion now that would be funny......

 

That explains why its so quick!! Nice conversion, very neat and tidy.