At last year’s Cortina Nationals the Unique Cars team caught up with a few of the owners, including Stephen and Karen James and their 1968 Ford MK II Cortina GT
I’ve had quite a few Cortinas. My brother-in-law – when I started taking my wife out – he let me drive his. I was about 17 and had an FJ Holden. It was chalk and cheese, and I thought wow. So I got interested in them. I’ve had a lot of different cars. I bought a Cortina GT in 1970, it was then only five or six years old, and have had them ever since.
I have a Mark I and Mark II. I raced them in Appendix J and rallied them for a few years.
My brother-in-law got in touch to say his old car was for sale in Bankstown. I knew he had a good engine in it – he used to do hillclimbs and that sort of thing. I bought it and it was sitting there for a while and my son, when he was getting a licence, wanted it. That made me restore it, as it was a bit knocked around. He drove it for a couple of years and then it was involved in a big accident – wasn’t his fault as someone went through a stop sign and wrote it off.
I bought it back from the insurance company, repaired it and I’ve had that for a long time. It’s the one I drove when I was 17 and I’ve still got it at 75!
I’ve had quite a few Cortinas, GTs and GT lookalikes. I was between projects and someone said there was a Mark 2 sitting in a backyard up near the local hospital, why not go and have a look?
I went and knocked on the door and it ended up this thing had been sitting under a tree for 10 years. It was pretty sad. The guy said he was going to do it up – one of those stories. He said, “You can have it.” I gave him $200.
It was fairly rusty – nearly fell apart on the trailer. I did a full resto at home. I do all my own stuff. It’s not concours. I’m a mechanic by trade and bodywork is a secondary skill I learned through an old mate who is a panel beater. I get to a point where I think they look alright and leave it at that. I believe in using them
This one is a lookalike with a 1600 motor. It was a 440 and I turned it in to a GT. It has a good engine with a cam. It has the GT gearbox and diff. I had another like it in the 1970s and thought I’d build another that looked like it.
It drives well. We drove it up from Nowra, about a four-hour run. I quite enjoy driving the old cars. They take a bit more effort, but they’re more fun.