royaloak Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 (edited) This popped up on my Twitter feed today. Thought it might interest a few here. I always thought the 2-door Mk3 was probably the best looking Cortina in profile (really very nicely proportioned indeed. Clearly Ford's marketing people thought likewise, given that they chose it rather than the 4-door for this ad. My Dad had a mark 3 Cortina 2000GT 3 door, reg no EOK199L, he sold it to somebody who painted it bright orange and fitted it with a fur lined interior, it was as bad as it sounds. Edited January 20, 2019 by royaloak Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doilum Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 My Dad had a mark 3 Cortina 2000GT 3 door, reg no EOK199L, he sold it to somebody who painted it bright orange and fitted it with a fur lined interior, it was as bad as it sounds. Brother in law started with fur lined Consul in metallic purple...... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 Just found these lurking in the hard drive, possibly a Hooper Motors / Harold Radford promotion of some sort with a nicely modded Mk1 Austin Cooper 997 or 998... The wee Min looks very toylike in this one... 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salmotrutta Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 Just found these lurking in the hard drive, possibly a Hooper Motors / Harold Radford promotion of some sort with a nicely modded Mk1 Austin Cooper 997 or 998... RADDIE #1 12508765_155539851485681_8002341971533746942_n.jpg The wee Min looks very toylike in this one... RADDIE #2 12573868_10208711093674404_6175687997280131590_n.jpg Matching trousers and car doors - wonder why that never caught on? Or maybe VW had a go with the "jeans" beetle. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 Is that the 'Peter Sellers' Mini? 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 Is that the 'Peter Sellers' Mini? No but it is very similar, looking at the rectangular badge on the front wing I'd say it was a Radford job, Peter Seller's 'wickerwork' Mini was done by Hooper and had a lot more extras. He did have a Radford Cooper S a bit later on which he gave to Britt Ekland for her birthday in October '65, it was dark blue with a red interior and had the hatchback conversion too. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve1 Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 This popped up on my Twitter feed today. Thought it might interest a few here. I always thought the 2-door Mk3 was probably the best looking Cortina in profile (really very nicely proportioned indeed. Clearly Ford's marketing people thought likewise, given that they chose it rather than the 4-door for this ad. Agree it was the best looking of the range, als, from that angle, the most American looking. steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Lamb Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 Seen in Bangkok. By way of explanation it belongs to a Thai friend of mine and his daughter is married to a German chap. It was the only one I saw while out there recently and it attracts quite a bit of interest when driving around the city. Bernard 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peanuts Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 a somewhat different xjs popped up on my FB feed today https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/1985-Jaguar-XJS-Koenig-Specials-Limited-Edition/183643744901?ul_ref=https%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F1%2F710-53481-19255-0%2F1%3Fff3%3D4%26toolid%3D11800%26pub%3D5574637365%26campid%3D5338073685%26mpre%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fitm%2F1985-Jaguar-XJS-Koenig-Specials-Limited-Edition%2F183643744901%26srcrot%3D710-53481-19255-0%26rvr_id%3D1827473642145%26rvr_ts%3D6cf18a021680ab1cf0d02f85fffab453&_mwBanner=1&_rdt=1&ul_noapp=true 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatB Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 (edited) Agree it was the best looking of the range, als, from that angle, the most American looking. steve Yes, a sorta 75% scale muscle car. Would be quite nice with a warmed over Essex V6 and sorted brakes and suspension. It could be argued that the Aussies tried something similar by putting the Falcon six into the Cortina shell, but the great iron inline lump put the CG too far forward for good handling, they never did a 2-door (same with the 2-litre Escorts they built) and it wasn't really a sporty engine anyway, more something for towing a boat or big caravan. The Essex, OTOH, could have been set well back against the bulkhead and probably have kept the weight distribution somewhere close to the Pinto powered cars. Edited January 21, 2019 by PatB Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RANGERS Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 Looked a million dollars agreed, but flawed in original form. Having struggled to get in and out of this flat floor one I can see why the dropped footwells were introduced fairly soon! The brakes, gearbox and cooling were marginal for the performance, not addressed until the 4.2 version was launched.. And the heating and ventilation never were never good right until the end of production, but it was a third of the price of contemporary cars with 150mph performance! ‘Ventilation looks good enough on that one to me... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernardTPM Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 (edited) This popped up on my Twitter feed today. I always thought the 2-door Mk3 was probably the best looking Cortina in profile (really very nicely proportioned indeed. Clearly Ford's marketing people thought likewise, given that they chose it rather than the 4-door for this ad. Compare that with the German Taunus version (on the same basic floorpan) and you can see why they also has a fastback in their range whereas we didn't - basicaly the standard two-door Cotina shell looks very 'sporty' anyway while the Taunus looks...um... dull. Edited January 21, 2019 by BernardTPM Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobby Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 Think I prefer the four door version, the two doors just look like someone's done a crude cut and shut. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatB Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 Compare that with the German Taunus version (on the same basic floorpan) and you can see why they also has a fastback in their range whereas we didn't - basicaly the standard two-door Cotina shell looks very 'sporty' anyway while the Taunus looks...um... dull. Interesting. It might be just me, but I can see styling cues there that ended up in the Mk4 Cortina. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernardTPM Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 (edited) That's because that is what they did - updated the less extreme German version. The big give-away is the lower stepped area that incorporates the wheelarches (The similar feature on the Cortina was slightly lower and just a crease line rather than stepping out). Edited January 22, 2019 by BernardTPM 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
great central Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 Compare that with the German Taunus version (on the same basic floorpan) and you can see why they also has a fastback in their range whereas we didn't - basicaly the standard two-door Cotina shell looks very 'sporty' anyway while the Taunus looks...um... dull. Is it just me or does that look rather like a 60s Mustang from the side? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium boxbrownie Posted January 22, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 22, 2019 Is it just me or does that look rather like a 60s Mustang from the side? That was the idea........ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatB Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 That's because that is what they did - updated the less extreme German version. The big give-away is the lower stepped area that incorporates the wheelarches (The similar feature on the Cortina was slightly lower and just a crease line rather than stepping out). That's the main bit that made me think Mk4. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernardTPM Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 Take a look at the estate version and, front end aside, it's more or less the same as the Mk.IV estate. Much less curvy than the contemporary Mk.III estate. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porcy Mane Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 (edited) Is it just me or does that look rather like a 60s Mustang from the side? Ford did market a "Special version" Taunus as a Mustang in Europe for a while. It had all the Mustang badges but nowt else. An acquaintance had a lime green metallic version for a while. Straight six engine if I remember correctly (or maybe it was the V6). He was most disappointed when I took him along to a Custom Car show and showed him what a real McQueen version looked like. Edited January 22, 2019 by Porcy Mane 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
great central Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 (edited) Ford did market a "Special version" Taunus as a Mustang in Europe for a while. It had all the Mustang badges but nowt else. An acquaintance had a lime green metallic version for a while. Straight six engine if I remember correctly (or maybe it was the V6). He was most disappointed when I took him along to a Custom Car show and showed him what a real McQueen version looked like. The Steve McQueen version was a Mach 1 rather different treatment of the tail end. There was a Datsun 180SSS, I think, had an almost identical rear end. Edit, just looked up a 180SSS, nope wasn't one of those. Remember seeing something Japanese at an auction many years ago, dead copy of the Mach 1 rear Edited January 22, 2019 by great central 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two_sugars Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 (edited) Mitsubishi colt Gallant. . . . . But the Datsun 180SSS was some machine! Edited January 22, 2019 by Two_sugars 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
w124bob Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 Re the Ford Taunus, for some reason Germans in the 60's through to the early 80's liked 2 door cars to the extent that Ford and Opel and Audi offered versions on cars which we didn't see in the UK. Audi 80 Granada MK1 and 2 (with a 2lt V6 inthe range) . You also couldn't get a 4 door VW apart one model in the air cooled era (a 411). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doilum Posted January 25, 2019 Share Posted January 25, 2019 Re the Ford Taunus, for some reason Germans in the 60's through to the early 80's liked 2 door cars to the extent that Ford and Opel and Audi offered versions on cars which we didn't see in the UK. Audi 80 Granada MK1 and 2 (with a 2lt V6 inthe range) . You also couldn't get a 4 door VW apart one model in the air cooled era (a 411).Safer in the days before child locks and central locking? They also make stronger and lighter rally/race cars.If I remember correctly, when the Sierra was introduced there was a budget level 3 door available on special order for Mobility customers. This shell roared to fame as the Cosworth. The XR4 had a different shell with split rear windows but this probably made it too heavy to race. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted January 25, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 25, 2019 Safer in the days before child locks and central locking? They also make stronger and lighter rally/race cars. If I remember correctly, when the Sierra was introduced there was a budget level 3 door available on special order for Mobility customers. This shell roared to fame as the Cosworth. The XR4 had a different shell with split rear windows but this probably made it too heavy to race. That was a brace to give more rigidity and didn't add a great deal of extra weight. It didn't work either as they still 'wobbled like a jelly' under heavy cornering*. Sufficient bracing would have added weight but the XR3 proved such a success that the XR4 was dropped. *My BiL was a test driver at Dunton who told me this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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