Finding a Ford Cortina anywhere in the United States isn’t completely impossible. The first two generations (er, sorry…the Mark I and Mark II) were sold in the U.S. market to compete with other small cars that had been trying to capitalize on the successes of the Volkswagen Beetle’s niche, but finding a nice one that is road-ready and isn’t locked up tight and isn’t a race car…now that’s a bit of a tall order. So it’s not too surprising that this 1969 station wagon is being sold out of Beverly Hills and has been messed with more than a little bit.
The running gear for the little Cortina is a tried and true recipe: a warmed-up 302, a Tremec five-speed manual trans, and a Ford 8.8″ rear axle means that the Cortina, even if in a mild tune, will absolutely scream. That’s the fun of a powerful engine in a car that might weigh in around 2,100 pounds curb at the heaviest. Brakes and suspension are supposed to be upgraded, but looking at the master cylinder makes us wonder if there’s more to be done.
The interior looks like someone actually uses it – what a novel concept! A Cortina GT dash and some bits here and there aren’t stock units, but would you really care? There are some minor seam splits in the backseat, but nothing about this would scare us away. We have to wonder how much of a riot wheeling this Cortina around is…the surf wagon kitch works great for us, the stance is good, the wheels are great, and if we ever get bored of the looks of a couple of boards on the roof, at least we still have a potent little station wagon that will always stand out!
eBay Link: 1969 Ford Cortina 1600 Deluxe Automatic
Nice!
Seller bought this off of Bring a Trailer back on 2/17/17 for $8800.00 and has been trying to flip it ever since.
The seller is being dishonest about not seeing any collision damage as it was disclosed in the BaT auction description that the car had been hit in the right rear quarter panel.
Nice car but $14750 is a crack pipe ask.
At that price it should show a little less wear. I like the car but not at thst price.
jeezus I dont care if this is the only Cortina in the states, just not worth that kind of coin. Common in Australia ( and of course England) they’re really nothing to write home about – V8 makes it interesting but its a 2 k car with 2k worth of running gear dropped in. How that makes it worth 14 k is utterly beyond me.
Nice car! – I had to check it didn’t have British number plates as I’ve never seen a Cortina estate in the USA. The best thing is that it isn’t Chevy powered and it looks like it came from the factory with a V8 – if only….