Cortina Capers. What are yours?

[Yellowperil]

https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl= ... QF6BAgLEAY

[mercrocker]

I wonder if it was ordered as an "E" or upgraded for the publicity?

[Guest]

20190119_181105.jpg (221.7 KiB) Viewed 213 times

This was our first Cortina, it looks quite secondhand in the photo but was probably only three or four years old. I'm the smaller of the two children on the doorstep, the bungalow wasn't quite finished at that point.

That Mk 1 survived for many years, having an engine upgrade from 1200cc to 1500cc, two of my cousins and my brother learned to drive in it before it had a bump and ended up in our garden. It was replaced with a later Airflow model and the 1500 engine went into that. That one also had a bump, so was replaced with another pre-airflow, which the 1500 engine went into. That one got sold. It was a really good engine.

No more Cortinas for a while. My brother bought a Mk3 2000e estate when he was building his house, this was replaced with a Mk4 estate. He did buy another Mk4 estate but I don't remember much about it.

Then there was the Mk5 2.3GL saloon. Originally bought new in 1982 it went back and for between my brother and me. He loaned it to me in 1988 and after a year I bought it off him, selling it back a couple of years later, I then bought it back when I needed a car in a hurry and sold it back to him again.
I think we did this at least one more time before it finally left the family.

My other experience of Cortinas were the ones hired from Low Cost Wheels in Trowbridge Wiltshire in the mid 80s. I first used them when my car was being repaired after someone had run into it. They were pretty ropey cars but cost me £25 a week. They gave you oil and water to top it up with and if it broke would bring you another. You weren't expected to go far with it, but if you told them you had a long journey one if their better ones would be selected for you. Not sure if that business model would survive these days.

[mercrocker]

My other experience of Cortinas were the ones hired from Low Cost Wheels in Trowbridge Wiltshire in the mid 80s. I first used them when my car was being repaired after someone had run into it. They were pretty ropey cars but cost me £25 a week. They gave you oil and water to top it up with and if it broke would bring you another. You weren't expected to go far with it, but if you told them you had a long journey one if their better ones would be selected for you. Not sure if that business model would survive these days.

I used to use Rent-A-Wreck, firstly down here in Southampton and then when I visited my parents in Toronto. It says a lot for the kind of shit I used to drive that I would take a RaW if I wanted to go on a long journey in something reliable*. Actually, their stuff never let me down although the Dodge Handyvan one of the Ontario franchises gave me was lethal - would cross 3 lanes quicker than it went forwards if you let go of the wheel.

Edit - I think it might have been a Tradesman. Anyway it sucked.