Abandoned Ford Cortina - Rescue and Restore 

One of the very best youtube videos I've EVER SEEN.. GXL Mk3 Cortina literally brought back from the dead to concours standard.. just proves what can be done if you really love the car enough.. outstanding job, boys, and thanks so much for letting us fellow enthusiasts (who'll never get the chance) to be part of that fabulous journey, from the very beginning, in the woods, all the way through to the very end. Truly awesome and thanks a 1,000,000 👏

As a once Mk3 owner (JGH 384K, Red 1300 L), I would just like to say what an uplifting experience it was, watching your video. Looks easy when speeded up, but I'm sure most viewers will agree on the vast amount of hard work that has gone into this. I take my hat off to you for bringing this wonderful car back where she belongs.....on the road!!

It's beyond me how anyone could thumbs down this video. Someone has done something constructive that takes a lot of different skills and spent a substantial amount of money and time to rebuild something that would otherwise have been junked. Pete has brought memories back and joy to some nice people and has a really smart Cortina GXL to show for all his efforts. Well done I say, and thanks for sharing.

Remember watching the first time, just to see the look on their faces you could see what it meant to them Pete your a true gentleman 👍

Their reactions alone make it all worthwhile. The old guy never stoped grinning 😁 I think you blew his mind Pete. 🤣🤣

I remember watching this the 1st time and it brought a lump to my throat... and it still does, can't say enough how epic the act that you done for that man and his mother in helping them see that their son/brother's memory lives on through the car.

I'm a coachbuilder who never got to work on 'our' cars. This is top notch and so nice his family were involved after it was finished. Gives me the enthusiasm to go clobber one of my old cars back into life. Be lucky.

bring on more cortina builds every mk3 needs to be saved .

The world needs more Pete Cs that's for sure. How that must have made the mother and brother feel when seeing the car again, and looking better than new, wow. I need to go back and watch pre-Bramble videos. Amazing achievement!

The part at 24:50 where mum leans in and asks swampy “do you like coming home?” Gets me every time. You can see the joy, the memories, the emotions of having an old friend returning.

I had all the cortinas 1 through to 5, my Dad had the concil too brings back a lot of memories I miss the cortina a lot, the MK2 is still my favourite car. After watching your video I bet not 1 car came out of the factory in that condition, what a stunner. Thanks for sharing

Absolutely fantastic! Not only the complete restoration, which must have taken a helluva lot of determination, but to take it back to the original owners.............wow, you're a gentleman :) Greetings from Cornwall.

Whoever once said "it's just a car" should watch this .

Pete, from one time served full mechanic, your restoration is absolutely outstanding my friend! I have an uncle (Stan Green) who had a well known Ford Zodiac in the classic car show world (145 WKP) that was the best one in existence and acknowledged so by Ford too. Your car is the exact same now I think - the best Mk3 out there! Such a special thing to do for the family too, you brought Neil back to them during that visit too. Having lost my mother and also my sister too (she was 29), I can tell you it will have given them some heart warming feelings and a feeling he was back with them during the visit. You’ve got a good heart in you - not many around like that at times. Have a great weekend both of you. Thank you for letting us all share the journey with you

A stunning restoration. As the proud owner of a Mark 2, I think all Cortinas deserve to be saved.

I had a cortina back in the day. Great car and easy to work on.....you opened the bonnet and you could see the road underneath.....bags of space and very little to go wrong....

You have turned that car into a work of art, it's really stunning, well done

Really nice guy had the pleasure of speaking to pete and seeing the restored car in all its glory early today.

Today, a ford cortina mk2 estate passed me in my town, it looked so good. Just in original paint work, amongst all the new crap, it looked SO F===KING GOOD! Peace be unto you.

i watched this entire series a while back and it was great to revisit. The MK3 was the most stylish Cortina they ever made. I loved the bodyline, reminiscent of the muscle car B bodies. Beautiful resto.

I’m really glad there are weird people who believe doing things like this is worthwhile. You make our world a better place.

WATCHING THIS VIDEO GIVES ME SO MUCH JOY. I OFTEN SIT DOWN WITH MY GRANDFATHER AND WE HAVE MANY TALKS ABOUT GREAT CARS FROM BACK IN THE DAY CORTINA'S BEING TOP OF THE LIST THAT HE HAD OWNED BACK IN THEN WHEN HE WAS GROWING UP I CAN ONLY IMAGINE THE JOY THESE GUYS FELT TO BRING ONE OF THESE BACK TO LIFE. WELL DONE GUYS FANTASTIC WORK. ITS A SHAME I WASN'T BORN IN THIS ERA WHEN AWESOME CARS WERE BUILT HAHAHAHA

I nearly fell off my chair thinking you'd secretly discovered yet another mk 3 and were going to surprise everybody at the show with it. 😃😂😁😄

What a beauty of a car! This reminds me of my schoolteacher who drove a brown metallic Taunus GXL coupe 2.3L V6. Must have been in 1974. Lots of gauges in the dash. This Cortina has the same vibe of luxury.

Good Lord, Pete! I forgot just how bad Swampy was... she's a real credit to you. As are Tina G, Ruby & now Bramble!! Wish I could be there at the NEC, but the wife flies out of Glasgow on Sunday morning at 9am to go & see her family in Sweet home Alabama... got to be up at 2am to take her to her flight! Now I've got a whole month home alone to bring home the money & look after our menagerie!!! Cheers. Leigh.

When I was growing up my dad owned a Vauxhall Viva, a true classic. The ford cortina was an iconic car for its era. An absolute beautiful restoration.

Phenomenal job guys. Such a crime that this lovely motor was left to rot for so long. Well done again.

Proof if it was ever needed that a loved car is more than its parts.

Great reboot Pete! To anyone watching this go and look at the full resto series, utube gold.

Amazing restoration, reaction on the brother and mother what can you say, had me on the verge of tears as mum bought my first car for me a Mk3 Cortina, mum went missing in 86 and in 2011 we found out she dies in 96, hence the emotion. Well done Pete.

That was a really nice thing to do Pete.... Here's to you mate

Awesome memories of the Swampy rescue Pete. She was a rough old girl but she is hotter than a 2 dollar pistol now. Thanks for resharing.

Thanks Pete c for taking the time to correctly restore a car to original spec. Not many of us do this. People make fun of my Little Chrysler but the people that know what it is are gobsmacked. Please keep your projects going.

Dad bought this car three times when I was young in 70s. I am salivating over this car. You did an amazing job

The finest car ever built. I had a rare 1.6 GXL and loved it to bits. Just gorgeous!

That reunion still chokes me up when i watch it again. Simply a wonderful completion to the restore, could not have been better.

Loved cortinas,owned mk 3s & 4s,,my favourite was a mk 3,2000E..reg ODA 584R..(76).had it from 1982..til 1993...when it was rear ended on my way to work....and written off.(it could have been repaired in my eyes,,,I unfortunately didn't have the cash to do so.....in them days the enthusiasm was no whare near as strong as it is today...for these great cars...keep up the good work Pete..

Pete, and your Partner, bless ya both, hearts of gold, I have seen this before when you took it back to the original Family, you brought some lovely memories back for them. And the restoration is absolutely stunning. Be very proud 😊

Thankyou for saving a car that held so many great memories for the family. I hope it gives you many happy miles down the road.

I am a Mk1 Escort fan but i have to admit a huge love for the Mk3 Cortina. I once owned a "stop gap" Mk5 in dog turd Metallic brown... 1.6L. It was a FANTASTIC car and i loved it!

This Ford looks way better than any new model out there , great job done. 👏

Given the year (1972 I believe), this car is probably 10 times better than when it first left the factory. A superb restoration.

Ahh sweet memories...I owned a 2.0 GXL, in Daytona yellow, from 1977 until 1980. COX787K. Even at six years old the old girl was already showing signs of serious body rot, they weren't built to last back then. Kudos to you Pete for saving this one and others.

You just gotta love those old chunks of iron ! You even celebrated a proper "marriage" of body and running gear. Beautiful!

Nice format seeing an overview in one video. Taking it home part always makes my hair stand on end

Beautiful car. Much better looking than most of todays bland boxes.

When i first saw that car i thought "no way"...it looked to far gone. You must have put thousands of hours into that resto....and an obscene amount of money...but the result is amazing. Absolute rEspect to you dude.....peace.

Brilliant that big MK2 cortina fan my mates first car after passing his test in 1990 an they were becoming rare then big thumbs up well done .👍🏻

Just beautiful. I owned 3 Mark III Cortinas over the years, all with the 4.1 litre engine. My father had 2 of them. Possibly the most attractive car ever.

I saw this car a couple of years ago at the Birmingham classic car show -awesome resto. My father bought a 2000 GXL in Pearl Grey metallic in September 72, cost £1400.

Lovely car and a really nice colour enhanced by all the chrome trim. I love the look of the front most. Well done to all who helped restore this fine looking car and bring it back from the dead. Always amazes me no matter how far a car has deteriorated that if their is enough willpower dedication passion and pure love for the vehicle then you can have an end result like this. Thanks for sharing.

Great to see this having met you and the Cortina at the NEC Classic car show.

Absolutel legend.... The cortina mk 3.... Everybody's had one!!! Always a dad's favourite car!!

I remember that car!!! My mum lived in Mundon Strawberry Cottage (next one along), you briefly drove past the driveway and I used to drive down blind lane many times. In the winter months it could be seen. My goodness you’ve done an amazing job, and I found this video by pure chance. Weirdly my grandmother used to work for Marconi in Chelmsford as well

PNO Essex registration, if I’m right in thinking all ‘FORD’S own cars had the Essex PNO registration. A lot of the 70’s TV cars ie Sweeney, Professionals etc that were owned by Ford started with PNO .... See the old faithful ‘Traffic light’ air freshener still being used to date. Fantastic rebuild, I take my hat off to you sir.

Bless you for doing it in memory of his brother. To make the car much better than new. It looks just incredible. That must have cost a lot. I never saw a new Cortina until yours. That is sooo generous of you. ❤We had the Ford Zephyr before a blue Cortina as above.

Congratulations on a fantastic restoration and it's wonderful how you brought him/her back home. Wonderful video 😊 Rest in peace Mr Neill Herbert

Why would anyone give this a thumbs down? Great job and so giving to the previous owners family.

Beautiful result, and what a fabulous thing to do, in taking it back to show them.

I ve just come across this.... this car is 10 days older than me (reg wise). What an amazing job. 👏

Great video Pete, You could see the emotion on all the faces

That was such a beautiful thing to do after restoring the car.........love the car and the colour is gorgeous - youve done a fabby job............its just how i remember them.

Awesome to go back down memory lane with this one bro, something they will remember that forever. All the best

There is something romantic about seeing an old car amongst shrubbery like that, what life has it had, it once left a showroom as a minter so how did it end up here? There are probably only a handful of people who can genuinely know what it feels like to drag a car out of its grave and then do what you do and actually drive it back to the same spot, in such stunning condition. Total admiration 👌

Love the scene with the ambulance siren. I just thought of the car on the transporter, the transporter wisking the car to your A&E for recovery.👍

Wow, nice work!! Thanks for taking us along for the ride ;-)

what a great thing to have done, lovely to see an ole girl bought back to life... well done Pete, i had a mk 3 when i was in my 20s, now in my 50s, it was a gl the front was in grey undercoat because i couldn't afford to replace the front wings and they were getting rusty lol and the rest was gold, it was my pride and joy though !!!

You must be proud as punch after making such a wonderful job saving this great car! What a beauty!

Well done Pete! So glad there's people like you around mate 👍👍👍

I first saw the 2000 GT Mk3 in mid 1972 and it was love at first and I wanted one but I could not afford it. I had a Mk 2 1500 GT at the time, which, after my Mk1 1200 weakling, I thought was a powerhouse. 1973 came and I got my 2000 GT, blue with black vinyl top, OHC engine and those 4 gauges down low angled toward the driver, and I was in heaven for 4 1/2 years until owing to uncontrollable rusting I had to replace it (although the engine and transmission were perfect), with a MK 4 Ghia that also rusted away in about 4 years. I had 1 problem with the 2000 GT - occasionally, the automatic choke would stick in the closed position and I would have to remove the air cleaner cover and tap it with a screwdriver to unstick it, Eventually, I installed a 2-piece fitting in the cover that I could simply unscrew the top and push the screwdriver blade through without having to remove the cover. My MK 3 2000 GT was the car I enjoyed most of all the cars I owned. This video brings back fond memories of that time.

1977 was when I passed my test and bought a GXL exactly like this one. Same year K reg, brilliant motor at the time. Happy days 😁👍🏻😝

brilliant !... I haven't watched Swampy's Resto yet but that was a great overview and return "home".

Great to see the footage, see you at the NEC on Friday 😎 Regards. Dave 👍👍

That's one gorgeous car, I want my Cortina again, best cars I ever had!!

rember seeing this the first time. im even getting a bit emotional watching it again, beautiful thing to do, bringing the car back like that to those people your the saviour of the cortina .

I just wanted to say that my bro and I watch your videos, and this is a really good one. Fluidly edited. Some of your younger days footage was hilarious for us to watch, because we were doing the same mental things, wherever we were. You do outstanding work on those cars btw. Our Dad had a GXL Cortina in the seventies, and a 1600E Ghia later. Some time warp stuff for us to see one lookin like THAT again. lol. Cheers from Jez & Johnnie mate

My 1st car was a Cortina Mk 3 1.6 XL Ghia. Got it when I was 17 back in 85! Brings back fond memories. Thankyou!!

Great thing to do to return back where it all started after 3 years, well done

Absolutely brilliant! I’d love to see some of the cars I have found have this happen to them! 👍🏽

Pete. .... and your misses, well done as you give us all enjoyment on resto, but look what you done for them. You gave them something no one else could ever do. My hat of to you sir 👍👍. Thank you 👏

What an awesome restoration, just like the day it left the dealership.

What a beautiful video. To tell the whole 3 year story in one compact video is hard but u got the important bits just right. And to finish it off by returning to the original owner’s family was brilliant. Loved this 👏👏👏

When I found episode 1 (in 2013 I think it was) I was hooked. It was the car, the style of filming and overall vibe. Just brilliant.... Go and watch the Swampy build👍 I highly recommend it.

I remember as a kid growing up in Essex in the early 90s all my friends parents had all sorts of Ford's but my best friends mum had one of these in radiant red with a black vinyl roof which I was always fond of! Excellent job bringing that car to such a concourse finish!

Brilliant !! what a lovely story .. keep doing what you do it’s well worth every second !

Really nice to see, a sporty corti was my first car. I'd love to find it again if it's still kicking.

Great video..Very moving towards the end..Thoroughly enjoyed it Pete. Keep 'em coming.

Superb work sir! Brings back memories of my dad's 2000E auto,let me borrow it if I caught him in the right mood! Bronze with black vinyl roof,more comfy than my Moggy Traveller! Him and his brother were Marconi men too!

great reminisce Pete, I saw it the first pass, I hoped to hear you tell the man that its not just pretty on top, but every nut and bolt were restored, fab car.

Fantastic well done. My cortina was everything to me and my girlfriend. My girlfriend is now my wife but the cortina is well gone but never forgotten. Well done I'm amazed. We have a Renault 5 which has just failed it's mot.so it's in garage waiting for my retirement.

Hi Pete great to finally meet you and see Ruby it's great to see these cars being saved, Kev barkingside with the daytona yellow GT

Sat here with tears in my eyes mate the look of pure joy on their faces was something special and extremely moving to see, you brought the memories flooding right back for them both and I'll bet Neil was there too in spirit. I dont think being another car guy and her old owner he'd have missed that visit for the world you've done them and yourself proud Pete well done mate 'well done ;)

I bought 73 Taunus 1600L for about 350 pound with under 70 000 km on the meter. Two owners and been taken real good care of. It had been stored for 12 years.

Amazing build , quality of workmanship and to take it back home was beautiful. Well done bringing back an old girl to her original beauty 👍🏻🍻🍾

Hard to imagine now but back in the early 80s there were loads of these littering up the streets, mostly in a rusting state. The sort of car that changed hands for £50 were driven around for 6 months then scrapped. Same as all old cars really. What's interesting to note is that cars now last a lot longer. Just looking down my street I can see a 1997 vw golf, 2 1999 model vw polos, a 2000 model ford focus, all these vehicles are around 20 years old now and in daily use, and that's a fairly common site in most streets. Back in the early to mid 80s, it was pretty unusual to find many cars from the early 1960s except for expensive luxury cars that were still in regular use. I've 100s of photos taken along british streets from the late 70s to late 90s. It's interesting to see what was then a common sight, something called a banger, that today once restored " often at a cost exceeding it's value" can now be considered collectable. People want newer cars, even those who cherish old cars and say how good they are, will often own a newer vehicle if only to tow some old vehicle out of a barn of hedge, so are therefore reliant on modern vehicles. I sold my old 1983 rover SD1 vitesse last year to an enthusiast, it was in Almost pristine condition, but cost a lot of money to keep it on the road. Today I drive a 2000 model bmw 330i, almost 20 years old with 170,000 on the clock, notoriously reliable and still averages 30mpg. Modern cars are far more reliable and last longer, I'm not counting diesels in this as they are made with such fine tolerances nowadays and are often scrapped due to be uneconomical to repair, it's the price you pay for a high performance diesel. 30 years ago diesel was for trucks, buses and taxis, mostly straight diesels, not the modern expensive to repair Turbo diesel's

Watched this before Pete great vid this, good to look back before and after shots, good memories for them and for you now. Cheers Kev

Mk 3 was my first car.wish I could have another .your made there day/week with your visit.worth the three yr wait.well done both of you .proper decent folk.

Wow!! Cracking job ! Well done mate . I love the fact you took it back to the original owners family too , their faces , to see their smiles was heart warming

Always love your work Pete, the cars are a credit to you, they all look beautiful by the time you have lavished them with your love, care and attention. My Dad had a green GT with white vinyl roof when I was a very young fella, but it is still one of my favorites, not bad for an old ford given he must have owned over 150 cars over the years, and some flash metal in more recent years . . . Cheers, it inspires me to lay my hands on one, unfortunately even ropey ones are $5 - $6k NZD now . . .

I've seen tons of videos of rescued cars like this in America but never thought you could find them in the UK.