Most of the project cars we run in Classics Monthly get mixed reactions from people who see them, each one generally enjoying many admirers but also a few readers who remain immune to their various charms. The Cortina is probably no exception to this rule, but one thing I can assure you is that every single person who has seen it in the metal has fallen in love. If you pull into a garage, then both mechanics and office staff come out to drool. In supermarket car parks you have to leave an extra 20 minutes for each visit just for chatting.
I have been bowled over by the big Ford, too. I can remember when, in the 1980s, you could barely give a Mk3 Cortina away for £200. Now they are looking cheap at £7000, icons of an era that looks far better from a distance than it ever did at the time! All good things must come to an end though, and this is the final instalment of a project that has been more renovation than restoration. Having said that, we did end up carrying out some pretty major structural repairs, ones which will hopefully ensure the Cortina is now set
