Anyone drive a MK2 Cortina?

[Tranona]

The Marina 1800TC was the Citroën Saxo VTR of its day. By the time they were getting on a bit they were cheap but (comparatively) fast, and no pimpled nineteen year old would be seen without one, silencer gutted, rear suspension raised and fifteen year old girlfriend in the front seat.

Mine was the basic single carb metallic light green with poo coloured velour and cord upholstery. Special gearbox with gears in a different lever position each time you wanted to select one and a sound track like pebbles rolling down the road coming from a different wheel each time.

I remember my Brummie colleague when he saw the suspension and brake layout in the drawing office remarking that it was virtually identical to a 1947 Morris Minor - which indeed it turned out to be. No expense spared! Fortunately after 5000 eventful miles I changed employers and my new car was a Ford Granada.

i do recognise your characterisation of later owners though.

 

[DownWest]

Mate was sent down to Lisbon with a Marina to 'Announce' it there. Back then there was ferry from Southamton direct to Lisbon. The skipper decided it was all right to set off into known bad weather. Turned out to be a hurricane..
Everybody was confined to cabins and several of the crew suffered broken bones. Some heavy stuff got loose on the car deck and considerable damage caused.
On arrival, he watch dozens of cars being dragged off, including a Rolls with the front crushed flat.
Naturally, his Marina was untouched.

Some good did come of the Marina, quite a few Moggies have disc brakes off them. It makes driving one a bit less stressfull.

 

[Zagato]

I worked on this one a while ago ( rust prevention ).

I can't download the picture of the C reg Cortina.

Have to say I thought it was horrible, really tinny, the bonnet was just a flap of metal, you can see why they called them Dagenham dustbins...

 

[johnalison]

Some early cars were fun to drive, in spite of their faults. My MIL's Morris Minor station wagon would corner interestingly when loaded up with passengers. On the other hand, the nastiest car I ever drove, and only briefly, was my brother's MG Maestro. With wide tyres and no power steering, no suspension that was evident, a noisy engine and duff gearbox, I was glad to hand it back after only a couple of miles.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Some early cars were fun to drive, in spite of their faults. My MIL's Morris Minor station wagon would corner interestingly when loaded up with passengers.

I had - briefly - a Minor 1000 four-door saloon and thought it was a lovely car to drive. I was too skint to buy it a working battery, so always had to start it by hand. Ah, happy memories.

 

[eddystone]

I recall the Triumph Spitfire had an inspired piece of engine design whereby the exhaust manifold was located underneath the inlet manifold on same side of the engine; I recall driving back from Southend to London with a strong smell of petrol in the "cockpit" - stopping to investigate revealed petrol pouring out of a leaking carburettor and vapourising on the hot exhaust manifold below. Naturally I carried on driving.

 

[Tranona]

I worked on this one a while ago ( rust prevention ).

I can't download the picture of the C reg Cortina.

Have to say I thought it was horrible, really tinny, the bonnet was just a flap of metal, you can see why they called them Dagenham dustbins...

you have to remember that its competitors at the time were wonderful things like Hillman Minxes, Vauxhall Victors, Austin Cambridges etc, most of which were based on early 1950s design.

The Cortina was a revelation. All syncro 4 speed boxes, airflow ventilation (from 65), huge boots plenty of room inside etc. OK they were light but they rusted better than the others. Other new designs like the 11/1300 might have been clever but they were badly engineered and even more badly put together.

I worked for Ford in that era from leaving school until 1968 when I changed to a major component supplier. I could not believe how awful the manufacturing facilities were in for example Rootes and Standard Triumph, never mind BMC. The only one that got anywhere near Ford was Vauxhall, but the cars were rubbish in comparison.

See post#81 for my assessment of the cortina competitors. How we envied the reps who serviced the Ford account as they had Cortinas.

 

[JumbleDuck]

I recall the Triumph Spitfire had an inspired piece of engine design whereby the exhaust manifold was located underneath the inlet manifold on same side of the engine

That went for anything without a crossflow head, which was most things. It was an easy way of arranging heating of the inlet manifold.

 

[halcyon]

See post#81 for my assessment of the cortina competitors. How we envied the reps who serviced the Ford account as they had Cortinas.

Yet for 10 out of 11 years the 1100/1300 range was top selling UK car, outsold buy the Mk2 Cortina for 1 year, BMC normally had 2 if not 3 cars in the top 5 selling.

Just remembered as a Rubery Owen apprentice I redesigned the Cortina lower suspension link, it was a forging and I converted it to a fabrication.

Brian

 

[elton]

I never had a Cortina, but I've had two MK2 Granadas - the big brother of the Cortina. One was carburettor, the next was Bosch fuel injected, and went like sh*t off a stick, even though it was automatic. It had all the gadgets: electric windows, central locking, heated seats, and everything. They were lovely cars. I often fancied a MK2 2.3l injected Cortina, and fantasised about fitting a 2.8i engine, if it would fit.

 

[TQA]

The Wolseley 6/110 and Austin Westminster had the BMC 6-cylinder engine (3-litre?). It was the Vanden Plas Princess R that had a Royce engine - that's what the R means. All used the same body, similar to the Austin Cambridge/Morris Oxford but a bit bigger.

For a long time my daily driver was an Austin Westminster which had a breathed upon Healy 3000 engine with a six speed gearbox. 3 speed box with an agricultural overdrive that worked on all 3. The suspension was a little lower and a great deal stiffer. It came about because the boys at Abingdon needed something to chase around after Paddy Hopkirk et. al. It was a great street sleeper OK not off the lights but every where else.

Nowadays I ramble around in a 1978 New Bombay Trading Company Explorer 44 which is another fast old lady.

 

[JumbleDuck]

I never had a Cortina, but I've had two MK2 Granadas - the big brother of the Cortina. One was carburettor, the next was Bosch fuel injected, and went like sh*t off a stick, even though it was automatic. It had all the gadgets: electric windows, central locking, heated seats, and everything. They were lovely cars. I often fancied a MK2 2.3l injected Cortina, and fantasised about fitting a 2.8i engine, if it would fit.

Thames Valley Police used to have an unmarked white Capri 2.8i with which they would go out hunting boy racers.

 

[Stemar]

My first car was one of these



A Wolseley 4/44, just two years younger than me. My parents paid £15 for it to keep me off a motor bike. It was a (mostly) mobile course in car mechanics and seemed to be capable of long journeys, but broke down with monotonous regularity a few days after I washed it. I sold it for £15 to someone who wanted to banger race it when I noticed that the passenger footwell was parting company with the rest of the car

This was my next one:



No reverse, but it didn't need it. The whole engine and front suspension pivoted on the front bulkhead through just over 180 degrees. Handling was, shall we say, interesting. On my first trip out, I went round a right a right hand bend and it was glued to the road. Then I came to a sharp left hander, where my weight acted to reduce stability, rather than increase it. New trousers, please, as I went round on two wheels and the front bumper

 

[JumbleDuck]

This was my next one:

View attachment 74206

You jammy sod. I'd love to try one of these, having recently been reminded of them by watching "Soft Top, Hard Shoulder".

I had a Reliant Rialto for a while, which was, after my 2CV, the most entertaining car I have ever had. Forty horsepower, weight two-fifths of bugger-all, went like that stuff off a shovel. Fun fact: nobody knows what the top speed of a Reliant Rialto is because nobody, including the factory test driver, has ever had the nerve to hang on until acceleration runs out. It's certainly over 100.

 

[vyv_cox]

My first car was one of these

View attachment 74205

A Wolseley 4/44, just two years younger than me. My parents paid £15 for it to keep me off a motor bike. It was a (mostly) mobile course in car mechanics and seemed to be capable of long journeys, but broke down with monotonous regularity a few days after I washed it. I sold it for £15 to someone who wanted to banger race it when I noticed that the passenger footwell was parting company with the rest of the car

My first decent car was also a Wolseley 4/44, after a Morris van that was particularly poor. Very comfortable, built like a tank, leather seats, wooden dash and trim, but only a 1250 cc engine! Fast it was not. A friend had a side-valve Ford Popular that would out accelerate it to an embarrassing extent.

 

[halcyon]

I had a Reliant Rialto for a while, which was, after my 2CV, the most entertaining car I have ever had. Forty horsepower, weight two-fifths of bugger-all, went like that stuff off a shovel. Fun fact: nobody knows what the top speed of a Reliant Rialto is because nobody, including the factory test driver, has ever had the nerve to hang on until acceleration runs out. It's certainly over 100.

It's all about how you drive the, once chased one with our Fiesta van, it was hard to hang onto at 70 mph on sharpish bends, real eye opener.

Try this one




Brian

 

[CLB]

I never had a Cortina, but I've had two MK2 Granadas - the big brother of the Cortina. One was carburettor, the next was Bosch fuel injected, and went like sh*t off a stick, even though it was automatic. It had all the gadgets: electric windows, central locking, heated seats, and everything. They were lovely cars. I often fancied a MK2 2.3l injected Cortina, and fantasised about fitting a 2.8i engine, if it would fit.

Think you might be getting your Cortina Mks mixed up. The first to get a 2.3 was the Mk4 and even then it was not injected. The Mk4 was also the one that looked a bit like a small Mk2 Granada and was launched and sold at around the same time. (1976/77 ish)

 

[JumbleDuck]

It's all about how you drive the, once chased one with our Fiesta van, it was hard to hang onto at 70 mph on sharpish bends, real eye opener.

The 2CV was almost unbeatable on twisty country roads, because although it didn't go particularly fast (top speed about 75mph) they cling to the road so tight that you basically never need to slow down. Using the brakes is seen as a bit of a faux pas in 2CV-owning circles. Golly, I'd like to get another one.

Try this one

Egad. Unlike the Rialto, the Robin is quite an efficient lifting body, aerodynamically. I really, really wouldn't want to take one of them fast.

 

[JumbleDuck]

So, OP, how's that theory that everybody detests old cars and prefers modern blandness going?

 

[Tranona]

Yet for 10 out of 11 years the 1100/1300 range was top selling UK car, outsold buy the Mk2 Cortina for 1 year, BMC normally had 2 if not 3 cars in the top 5 selling.

Just remembered as a Rubery Owen apprentice I redesigned the Cortina lower suspension link, it was a forging and I converted it to a fabrication.

Brian

Yes, amazing how gullible some people were in those days, wedded as they were to a belief that "British was best". BMC did not learn anything as subsequent cars were even worse when compared with the competition, particularly the Japanese cars then entering the market.

We all know how it ended up.