WANT TO BUY ONE?

FORD CORTINA MKIII

Two famous problems afflicted the MKIII and MKIV Cortinas when most of them were under the control of company car fleet managers. One was the disintegration of the voided rubber bushes in the rear suspension arms, giving rise to a characteristic rear-end waddle and curious steering characteristics. The other applied to the overhead-cam Pinto engines (early 1600 GT, all later 1600s and all 2000s), which used to destroy their camshaft lobes and clatter loudly. A revised oilfeed system cured it, and brisk business was done in cam-and-feed repair kits.

Both problems could still crop up today, but otherwise the Cortina is a simple, robust car. Check for the usual rust, though, and beware that once plentiful secondhand trim bits and pieces are now anything but.

HILLMAN AVENGER

Again, rust is the inevitable enemy so have a good look everywhere, especially underneath. Non-servicing parts are becoming scarce, as of course are the cars themselves, but there’s good club back-up.

One oddity of the Avenger’s engine is that the tappet clearances are adjusted with that cylinder’s piston at the top of the compression stroke rather than by the ‘rule of nine’, so noisy valvegear could be the result of incorrect adjustment.

The racy, Escort Mexicorivalling Avenger Tiger was always rare and is nowadays very valuable, whether in original basic form (always in Sundance Yellow) or as the plusher Tiger II (yellow or Wardance Red).

VAUXHALL VIVA

Same again, really: rust and parts scarcity are the tripwires to owning what is fundamentally a simple, robust car, although the internet is your friend when trawling for bits.

The sluggish 1159cc cars are best avoided; in the 1256cc models, the post1974 Stromberg-equipped engines are punchier, smoother and quieter. A 2.3-litre Magnum estate version is practically a Scimitar GTE in its mix of pace and practicality, and its fat Rostyles bring a welcome muscularity.