Aussie Oddballs: Ford Cortina 6! 4.1-litre, tested in 40+ degree heat 

I can't believe it took them until the mk4 to fit a V6.

@@dungareesareforfools I know. The 2.3 V6 was only about as fast as the 2 litre 4 but it had a refinement about it much more fitting of the Ghia model. I'll never understand why they didn't bother sooner.

The 1970's fuel crisis might have played a part, in short supply and doubled in price almost overnight. Ration books were produced but never actually issued, garages put limits on fill ups, if one had the patience to queue for hours.

@@danielrussell446 Absolutely! I had a mk5 2.0GL and it could certainly shift.

@@danielrussell446 Savage Engineering did conversions using that very engine on the mk2 and mk3 Cortina. Such cars that survive are worth silly money nowadays, of course.

3.3l was the smaller 6.

The GM Torana of the same size had a 5 litre V8.

Well remembered, we had a Holden HK Kingswood wagon and HJ sedan growing up as kids, basic, but rugged and one never forgets a red six sound.

You never know when you're gonna need a towel.

That's what I told my kids. I still keep telling them.

Yep, kept one in the car all year round.

Now everyone has power steering they've forgotten just what forces and scrubbing are going on underneath...eew

@@gs425 But also tyres are a million times better now.

Yeah - the strain & wear on bushes and rack would be my main concern, not so much the tyres.

it's best not do that even now, especially with power steering or put it on full lock so as to burn the motor out...

@@wordsmith52 Have you burnt steering motors out ? ;) I don't think I've driven an electric - always been hydraulic and bomb-proof !

Sure were! 4, 6 or v8 option.

@@mikeparkes7922 no v8 option in cortinas.

Yeah and petrol has become cheap again , and im lovin my V8 at the moment

@@Expedient_Mensch Factory, no. Selected dealers, yes.

@celtic barbarian Do you remember the times of getting a free VCR or holiday package when you bought a car (or before that) a free tv/radio combo installed? Well, 6 years before you were driving those Fords in 1979, selected dealers offered (non-factory) engine, accessory and a plethora of other options. It was very pricey, and some people with more money than sense (like me at the time) took them up on it.

Pete you have a great eye mate. The car is XL, retrimmed in parchment vinyl- correct colour for the year.

@@townleyd great car just wow

Great description of the details Pete. Yeah I noticed all that stuff too and I'm not even openly a Mk 3 fan. I do rather like them though....

Different front guards, (higher profile to fit the 6, plus the bonnet bulge) dual boxed chassis (box inside a box), bigger diff, Falcon steering column, heavier front end but chewed bushes etc a lot. Friends in Sydney had a new dark metallic green MK3 wagon with the Ford 3 speed manual which was quite quick (about the same as a 289 mustang we gave a fright to up to 50mph) Mate had the MK 4 version here in NZ, had a lot of front end problems as well with that. Also the cops on Norfolk island (late 70s) had the MK 4 which had the same problem. Otherwise quite a cool car, very smooth on the motorway, just a bit front heavy, and could have done with a better front end.

Nice XL, XLE had garish cloth seat inserts, vinyl roof & body colour hubcaps. Frt subframe was also heavier gauge steel but still prone to cracking under the added weight; hence TD facelift suspension raised 2" & frt rails revised to heavier gauge. Mk4 TE facelift then eliminated frt subframe & mounted upr arms atop heavier rails for more suspension travel unlike international Cortinas.

@Uncle Joe Agreed, but Aussies were more into unpolished straight line get up n go, rather than the European sophistication of handling.

@Victor Murat Probably a good fit, but the 250 cubic inch straight six was a pretty big lump of iron. That said, Windsor V8 conversions are common in Australia, even Cleveland conversions if your up for it.

Uncle Joe Australia bro. What are corners. Our longest stretch of straight road is 90km but part of 1600+ km road. Who needs corners? Lol

Victor Murat We didn’t get a V6 cortina. But we did build some V6 Capri. Wicked fast.

Victor Murat Oops.

Nice wipe clean squeaky bum seats too 👍

Probably far too many. And there are probably quite a few people watching this video who are the result of that line... Personally, I don't know about any of that, but I did get a finger broken as a child by getting it shut in the back door of a mk3...

Not many 😜🙄🤔😂😉

Not any of my girls, the front seat reclined beautifully. Wow...typing this just brought back some stunning memories.

so very true, mine had white interior, well used back seat . but it was easy to clean

Is that Cadiz Orange?

Matt, the colour is Burnt Orange

The shoehorned V8 version was even better!

A friend had a white one with Black vinel Roof

4000E!

I think the GXL or GT pre-facelift was the best looks-wise.

@@porscha901 except when the roof fell off due to rust

my dad had an L reg Cortina 2 door 1.6 GXL pre face lift. it had the optional GT OHC engine in it. it was tawny brown with a black vinyl roof and full length webasto sunroof.

Euro 2.3 V6 sound better. For connoisseurs of noise, the 2.3 sounds nicer than the 2.8. IMO.

The best sounding Cortina I ever heard was the first mk2 Savage 3000E that I saw - and the only one I've seen on the road! I genuinely thought it was a V8 coming down the road and couldn't believe my eyes when it was my dream Cortina.

Yes, it has a lovely exhaust sound, and I am not even a Cortina fan really. That first-gear whine on the auto is surprisingly loud. Is that normal for them, or is that auto in trouble?

@@VauxhallViva1975 More sounds like the oil pump. They make that noise usually whilst driving when planetary gears are worn. All the Fords in Australia with worn BTR autos sound like taxis including mine!

But one could have “far TOO much engine”.

@@skipintroux4440 Only if you don't know how to use it my friend.

davebuts my apologies for confusion the comment was specifically directed at the misspelling of “too”, I otherwise agree with you.

@@skipintroux4440 Lol no problem buddy.

You can have too much engine when the chassis was not designed to have that much weight that far forward on the axles. While they were a beautiful car and had respectable straight line performance for their era and pedigree, they were notorious for having the cornering characteristics of a bowling ball.

I lived for 15 years in Mildura but thankfully never got stabbed. Pretty rough place though. Glad I moved away.

That's a golden memory lol.

Getting stabbed is just how the locals say 'welcome to our town.'

@@angelikahiggs4628 I couldn't believe it, I only went there to pick grapes and we went to this nightclub on the border to all the other states so it was allowed to stay open late. Can't remember it's name, can you?

@DropDstar All BTR autos are!

Oh yes. Cortina is a proper looker in a way the Marina never was. I preferred the Marina to drive though...

Not so much 240lb ft, but the fact it was made @ 1600 rpm

The two door models look just like a muscle car - a pity then that the biggest engine we got in Europe was the 2.0 Pinto.

yes, many had to suffer the 1300 engine...

@@wordsmith52 I've driven a car with a normally aspirated 900cc engine (Seat Ibiza), which was plenty slow enough for me! (Think it did 0-60 in about 24 seconds and had a top whack of 80mph).

@@d2factotum yep embarrassing, and wait til you are on a motorway, going up a steep hill, and trucks start overtaking! The Mark 1 Cortina had an 1100 engine as the base spec, and I thank god I had the 1500 motor. But when the M3 appeared in 1970, it looked such a large car that the 1300 badge on it seemed so silly. 2000E post 1973 was much better.

@@wordsmith52 No, MK1 Cortina came in 1200 and 1500...not 1100.

Don't forget the Cosworth mk one very fast

Andrew, I agree. I would not have thought any less if Ian said not today.....it was very hot, around 46. It took a good hour under the A/C inside before a cup of tea!

And incredibly, they are selling vinyl seats again with "fake leather'.

A smaller sibling was the 200ci ( 3300cc ) also a inline 6. I know I have said it many times before, the TC ( mk3 ), the TE ( mk4 ), the TF ( mk5 ), the Transit van also the Ford Falcon offerings. However, the mark 2 Cortina was only offered a six cylinder through South Africa 🇿🇦 known as the "Perana". Thanks for the TC test drive 🚗 👍 ❤

Time for a correction to what I said earlier. The Cortina 6 cylinder in South Africa 🇿🇦 was known as the "Savage", it was the Ford Capri ( V8 cylinder ) in South Africa 🇿🇦 known as the "Perana". The Cortina ( 6 cylinder ) in the UK 🇬🇧 was known as the "Big-Six", also seen in NZ along with aussie 6 cylinder cortina's along with Pinto Cortina's from UK & Australia 🇦🇺. Whilst speaking of South Africa 🇿🇦, they also produced a Vauxhall Viva ( Firenza ) factory fit with a V8, only known locally as the "Chevrolet Firenza " ( Can-Am ). The engine was sourced from the American Camaro V8 and its manual box from the American Muncie range. Hope that helps from the offerings out in the colonies of South Africa 🇿🇦, Australia 🇦🇺 and New Zealand 🇳🇿 😀 👍 ❤

40 Deg, that was just mid morning before it gets hot ;-)

@@rayg9069 Lol!

Robin Forrest The real bad guys did here though lol. For real.

Had a 1976 corona mk2 sedan that did the same. Plenty of get up and go, but protested against every bend in the road. Then I bought the hardtop version because I'm an idiot.

well it became a cross flow in the XC Falcon of 1977 which was quite a change.

It was highly changed in the end. They are hard to kill.

@@flightlevelfouronezero147 It changed far more than that later.

The Bathurst alloy design first featured on the XY Falcon. 1971 I believe.

'72, I believe. The original Phase III came with steel 10-slot rims. The story I've heard was that the Globes were designed for the XA Phase IV, but when that model was cancelled, Ford gave away 200 sets of Globes to Phase III owners so they could claim them to be factory original. This bit of tomfoolery got them homologated and let the XY race an additional year with the new rims to help with their brake overheating issues, while the factory scrambled a bit to sort out the XA.

@@aussiebloke609 12 slotters weren't they....?

@@jasonsanders3397 Ooh, I wish my fingers would do as they are told. You are correct, 12 is what I meant _at the time_ - although now that I'm racking my memory, it seems the 5-slot was also rather common to be seen on the GTs, so now I"m unsure. Either way, the point is it was steel rims from the factory, with the alloys being offered for free to HO owners so they could be used for racing. And as a side note, the story I've heard was those Globe wheels were the reason the XA Phase IV never came with rear discs, as it was decided the added cooling from a more open wheel design was sufficient to reduce fade from the rear drums. And then changed their minds for the XB . Go figure. :-P

@@aussiebloke609 No that's fair enough mate, no one can be blamed for a keyboard typo! And I think you're right about a 5 slot sort of jellybean wheel for those HO's. I guess Ford were casting around a bit trying to find wheels strong enough that wouldn't break (like in 1969 or 70 at Bathurst?) but had enough voids in them to allow enough air in to cool those horrendously overworked brakes..

Bror Appelsin Also in the U.K. Many of them got used for banger racing along with many other now classics.

Love it 😂👍

'You ask Joyce and Vicky, If candyfloss is sticky..'

@@jerrytugable "I'm not a bleeding thickie, I'm Billericay Dickie, and I'm doin very well!' A lifetime ago. I saw Mr Dury at the Hammersmith Odeon and also in Nottingham. Bloody brilliant.

My thoughts too

Me too. This car would absolutely be on my wish list!

Me three! But if you love so many different types of cars like i do, you need to be a multi multi millionare to buy and look after them cos if you are like me, you would be driving them and not have them locked away like ornaments.

My grand parents had a bog standard 4cyl automatic Cortina - metallic green with a white vinyl roof.

My dad had a sahara beige mk1 granada ghia with a brown vinyl roof back in the day :)

@@superjosh3864 they looked amazing in that scheme. Especially the really swish coupe version

gs425 An "L Decor"!!!!, Yes I remember them, (1974 Series Two, model range) came with Vinyl seats as standard, (fabric seat faces, or a vinyl roof, ) were part of the options packages. you paid extra for when you ordered the car brand new. Used to see quite a lot of them on the road in the UK, in 1.3 /1.6/ versions, but as with most of the Mk.3's, owners did not take care of them, and 7 years in when they started to rust, especially as most were on the second hand car market by then, they got cheap repairs and scrapped, or written off by uncaring insurance Firms sadly. Genuine ones are very rare now. (there are at least 3 cars with an "L Decor" badge that should be "L"'s) that I have seen, in the UK, I own 3 different models one Currently being restored on my channel to brand new, & the other 2 (both awaiting restoration work too) are in my videos if interested in having a look?, if you have not already seen them?.

@@Cortinaman63 one of the special refinements the decor model had was a glove box light. How we were easily amazed back then . Also I possibly recall was the first time i saw the Ford thing I've had ever since which is instrument dimming.

@@gs425 That is true, I recall loving all the extra lighting compared to what the Vauxhalll Victor interior had which my Dad owned before we bought the Cortina, it seemed so posh inside too.

Mustang I owned started with a 200 inch sixpot, finished with a 302ci just before I sold it. Would have been MUCH cheaper to have bought a 289ci v8 to start with. Cost of transmission, brakes, and everything else was enormous. 200ci lump was great, but a bit gutless in a Mustang, but matched the original drum brakes

Had a centura with abrelatively warm 265 with a 4speed manual went extremely well

Good one :-)

Absolutely!

Cloth seats in the Valiant CL Regal were 20 years old and tip top condition when i stripped it (rusted out) and put them in my VF Regal. Chrysler buckets were the best in the business.

EnjoyingUTube Too brown would like a word...

@@MillerCorner True but not in the same way. Brown has always been around us and still is today but orange was really brought to the front for cars/houses/clothes in the 70's. It is the colour which jumps out of any 70's scene. Looking around the room as I type this, there are probably 10 shades of brown in the furniture, flooring, doors etc. It is a staple of any age.

Lime green seat covers would match.

Borg Whinger, 'cause a pom's driving it. :P

That BW transmission in this car is totally stuffed. They certainly didn't restore that part of the car LOL

Yeah, I also put headers on mine, they aren't original.

5 litres of fun.

Yes the Windsor 289 302 and 351 was a popular swap ! We did get a 351 Windsor And blower into one top loader 4 speed and 9inch cut down and a power steering rack out of something to fit ! Fairfield cops 👮‍♀️ would pull you up just for a look !

I like yellow cars 😍

Stephen, good spotting mate. The number plate frame is the original dealer. Thompson Ford. It was a one owner car.