Ford Cortina TE six 1978 - today's tempter

By: Guy Allen, Unique Cars magazine

Date: 24.04.2017

Living proof you don't need a fortune for a local classic

Cortina with the big six is a rare find these days.

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We couldn't resist bringing you this car in an age where hundreds of thousands of dollars are required to buy a local hero model.

Here's a perfectly respectable mid-size Ford for a fraction of the price. $4000, to be exact.

Known internationally as a Mk IV Cortina, the 1976-79 TE series was the last hurrah locally for the Cortina name. It was made here and we scored the biggest engines ever screwed into the series, with the king of the hill being the 250ci (4.1lt) straight six out of the Falcon.

There was no question these things could develop plenty of power (150kW or near enough to 200hp) but the extra weight in the nose combined with the steering geometry did raise some eyebrows. 'Lead-tipped arrow' is a description used by our own Dave Morley.

Nevertheless we look at them much more affectionately these days and it's surprisingly rare to find a clean survivor, least of all with a big six (the 2.0lt four was a more common choice). This one is an auto and it seems a lot of the optional extras were ordered from day one.

The ACT owners say it's always been a Canberra car, which may go some way to explaining its condition. It comes with a long maintenance history which is summarised in the ad.

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