HERITAGE: Cortina Savage
Early Mk2 is Race Proved V6 perfection.
Imagine years later getting the chance to buy the car you fondly remember from your childhood. Kingsley Osborne has done that with this 1967 Cortina, and even better, it’s a rare Savage 1.
“I eventually bought the car in 1990,” says Kingsley, “but when I’d just left school aged 15 back in 1976 I remember it being driven around my hometown in Cornwall wearing Wolfrace wheels and sat outside in all weathers. I sort of knew what it was, and I’d heard of the 1600E and the GT models, then I started to read up more about them and decided the Savage was the ultimate Cortina.”
“I bought a gold 1970 1600E-based Savage in 1985 and absolutely loved it, but I never forgot the 1967, so I tracked it down with the help of a couple of friends. It was sat in a garage nearby — I was actually surprised it had survived.”
The Savage was partially dismantled. “The owner had started stripping the car, it had been painted black and many parts had been removed but, fortunately, most of the Savage pieces such as the twin anti-roll bars and gauges had been kept with it. The long-range fuel tank was loose in the boot, though I realised some of the interior was missing. So I sold my gold Savage and I bought this one as a rolling shell in 1989,” remembers Kingsley. “Since I was a technician at Ford dealers, Vosper’s of Truro, rebuilding the car didn’t hold any fears. Especially when a colleague at work, Rob Cain, offered to do the bodywork for me.”
Rob fitted new wings, a back panel, inner and outer sills, two new back doors and repaired the bonnet and boot. The floors were in decent shape so the work Rob did was more cosmetic than structural. Kingsley found further assistance from his workmates, “Chris Jory prepared the body, then Andy Solway painted it in the original Blue Mink.”
By now it was 1997 and Kingsley began to reassemble his Cortina. “This was my first restoration, but I’m an auto electrician so the wiring side of things was easy — I started in the engine bay making up a new wiring loom replicating the original work Race Proved had done during the Savage conversion. My car started life as a 1500GT. I became friends with Race Proved’s founder, Jeff Uren and was able to go through the ledger he kept of all the Savage cars he’d constructed. From that I know mine was one of the first 20 cars converted and perhaps even the first four-door, since Jeff reckoned mine was built within a batch of two-doors. Thanks to him I now have 38 pages of documents relating to my Savage, including a letter from Jeff on behalf of the first owner, David Dale of Ferguson Wild and Company, to the Greater London Council asking for a single letter numberplate, and a reply saying they had reserved the number SYP 3F for him.”
Clubbing together
Two of the missing interior pieces were the Savage front seats — Contour number six and seven (driver and passenger). “Fortunately the Cortina Savage community is very friendly and I managed to source a pair from another owner, Rob Sargent. Parts such as the door cards were reused but as time went by I found better versions and gradually replaced them. Another Savage owner, Steve Palmer, supplied a number of bits, too, and I got the correct steering wheel emblem from Jeff Uren.” The rear seat was in great condition and didn’t need to be touched, while the dashboard only required a thorough clean.
The car also includes the Savage gearknob and left footrest. Another Savage touch is the reversing lamp now located where the Mk2 Cortina fuel filler would normally be, the filler cap relocated to the decker panel between the rear screen and bootlid. “You have to be careful when filling the tank not to splash petrol all over the place,” admits Kingsley.
“IT’S ONE OF THE FIRST 20 CARS CONVERTED AND STARTED AS A GT”
“The engine was rebuilt, it’s actually a later 3-litre block since the ones built from 1971 onward have thicker walls.”
One unusual part on Kingsley’s car is the front bonnet lock: “You use a key to unfasten the lock that’s located just above the grille badge, there’s nothing in the records about it being fitted so it’s likely it’s a period aftermarket piece.” Those records also show the Cortina was specified with Minilite wheels. “What’s odd is the Minilites were paid for — they cost £90 — but according to Jeff were never fitted on this car. It likely left him with 5.5J steels. I like this style of period Dunlop wheel though,” says Kingsley, “so that’s what I put on.”
Jeff’s records also show the car left Savage with a dynamo, but in February 1968 it returned for an alternator, then in April the diff was swapped from a 3.7:1 to a 3.54:1 ratio.
Finishing touches
The restoration was finished in 1998 with five or six years of that spent on bodywork since Rob was working on the car in his own time. Kingsley’s reassembly then took about a year.
“I can see a few pieces where it needs a bit of work again so I might well give it a refresh in the near future,” he admits. “I don’t know about another repaint though since we took it back to bare metal last time, but maybe a tidy up.”
“It drives really nicely although it can be a bit thirsty. It’s odd at first driving with the long-range tank since it’s an 8-litre Estate tank that feeds into the standard 10-litre Cortina one, so if you fill it you’ll drive for ages with the fuel gauge on full until it finally begins to empty the lower tank. Mind you, Charlie — one of the previous owners — told me he used to earn £40 a week and put £35 of petrol in it, so perhaps it’s not that bad…”
“THE ENGINE WAS REBUILT, TOO IT’S ACTUALLY A LATER BLOCK WITH THICKER WALLS”