Random # 332: Cortina Mk2 GT

We at Upper Middle Petrol Head are huge fans of souped-up versions of mainstream small cars like this late '60s Cortina Mk2 GT. It's something that Ford, in particular, did very well, offering some ripper motorsports / "fast road" variants of what were sometimes quite prosaic vehicles, including sporty Lotus and GT Mk1 and Mk2 Cortinas, the luxo-sports Cortina 1600E, and Escorts in various high performance guises - the Mexico, Twin Cam, GT, RS1600, RS1800 and RS2000, as well as the Aussie Super Roo.

Today's immaculate car is a great example of Ford breathing a bit of life into their regular offerings, taking an everyday four door sedan and equipping it with a slightly larger engine - a cross-flow 1600 cc unit -v- lesser Cortinas' 1.2, 1.3 and 1.5 litre power plants - with a modified cam and head, extractors and a 32mm Weber carby. There were other upgrades, too; the split front bumper, quartz halogen driving lights (unlikely to be Narvas in period), grille and bonnet black-outs, side stripes and GT badges all signalled Ford's sporting intent, while lowered suspension and wider wheels (replaced with Superlites on this example) shod with radial tyres aided handling.

The GT's interior was also given the sports treatment, featuring a leather-wrapped three-spoke steering wheel with the then mandatory "speed holes", full instrumentation, a centre console and bucket seats. According to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Cortina), the same package - albeit blinged-up wth some wood veneer - was offered on the more luxury-focused 1600E, which, as best as Team UMPH can tell, wasn't offered here in Australia. (If you're interested in Jeremy Clarkson's take on the 1600E and other Cortinas, it's available here: https://youtu.be/tifJ3BriD6w.)

Did you enjoy this article? If so, why not browse the rest of the uppermiddlepetrolhead site? There are loads and loads of classic, sports and performance vehicles featured, as well as stacks of car shows and motorsports events. For example, there's this Lotus Cortina replica (https://uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com/2019/01/mk-1-lotus-cortina-replica.html), which you're likely to find interesting, given you've just read about a Mk2 GT. Even better, you can follow either the 'blog itself or do so via Upper Middle Petrol Head's Facebook page. And please do feel free to like and share!

U M P H

(uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)

iPhone images.

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Random # 301: Nanna-Spec KE36 Corolla

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