CORTINA COMPLETES ACE-TO-ACE EPIC TRIP
Pair drive MkII from the Ace Corner in Finland to the Ace Cafe in London – via the Arctic Circle – in nine days
Two friends set themselves the challenge of using a classic Ford built in the decade in which they were born to travel between the Ace Corner in Lahti, Finland, to the Ace Cafe in London.
Andy Sirrs and Jeremy Blatherwick flew to Helsinki to pick up the lefthand-drive Ford Cortina MkII that they’d bought in advance and drove to the edge of the Arctic Circle, before making their way through northern Europe back to London, on 18-26 May.
Andy, an NHS manager from Nottinghamshire, said: ‘ We’ve been friends for ten years or so and wanted a driving holiday, but felt our original plan of driving to Spain in my Volvo estate was a bit tame. We thought we could drive somewhere we had never been before, and after a few pints it had morphed into aiming to cross the Arctic Circle and drive through Finland and Sweden. We then ended up looking to buy a car built in the same decade we were born – the 1960s – and sell it at the end.’
Crossing six countries and 2823 miles in nine days, the Cortina proved largely reliable, only suffering two minor hiccups from a loose fan belt and a blowing exhaust.
The car is now for sale, but it seems Andy isn’t finished yet: ‘Is it possible to drive to the Antarctic Circle?’