HERITAGE:
Original classic Fords: Stephen Adams’ Mk2 may look like it’s never been restored, but that’s the secret — it’s been down to bare metal yet it retains all the character of an original car.
Cortina Super Mk2 1600 that hides its restoration well.
Classic car restoration used to be all about returning the vehicle to better than standard. In fact, it was more concerned with making the thing look absolutely brandnew — something that had just driven straight out of a showroom. And that ethos has somehow been taken to the extreme since to many, restoration means using brand-new, old stock parts, and paying an absolute fortune for them. Great if you want a concours car, but there is an alternative way which is gaining in popularity, and this car simply oozes it…
What we’re talking about is preserving what you have, so the car tells a story. You can see where it’s been and how much of the owner’s character is right there in it, too. What we’re talking about here is soul, and you can warm right to it.
Looks can deceive
Believe it or not this Mk2 Cortina has been restored. Yes, it looks like it’s been on a well-looked-after journey but Stephen Adams has owned it since 1997, and he’s only the third owner. In fact it’s had two bouts of restoration — the first one was when he first got it. Although to be fair, that was a bit more than a simple tidy-up, but it was preserved enough to be used as was. And that was when it gained one of the best bits that really makes it into the history books. Because that dash-mounted eight-track was fitted almost straight away and still works.
Believe it or not, this car has been stripped to a shell. About two years ago, it got a pair of new wings, the sills were cut out and replaced along with the guttering around the boot area. A pretty common rot spot on Mk2 Cortinas are the sections around the rear arches and this one was no exception, but they’ve been expertly replaced so you wouldn’t know. Stephen reports that the floors were still good, while the whole
shade of Lagoon Blue. Plenty of the trim has been replaced — most of it sourced through the Cortina Mk2 Owners Club — but it hasn’t been overdone, and it still looks like a Cortina in excellent condition that gets used as it should.
The same goes for the engine and transmission. While the car was stripped to a shell, the engine was cleaned, painted and fitted with new gaskets and important bits, and it now does the duty it should, being a lot more fun to drive than his other car, an Austin A35. “I much prefer this one, the Austin’s very slow!”
Keeping that eight-track company is a completely retrimmed set of seats — naturally, they’re the originals recovered in vinyl to Stephen’s spec, and they really are nice and comfy on the trips out the car gets to plenty of car shows. “I like driving trips and one of my favourites is to Anglesey and back,” he says. It’s all still there for you to see and it’s being enjoyed far more than it ever has been, which is what you can do with a car that’s had this treatment. Concours means worry — worry where you park it, afraid of getting a parking dent. That’s not to say Stephen’s not bothered, he is but he’s far more concerned about enjoying the car and building on its history than being that precious he can’t use it.
It’s all there to see — even where it came from thanks to that gorgeously-faded dealer
sticker that still adorns the back window. Replicating that is almost impossible, and a new one just wouldn’t cut it — it’s small details like this that simply make a car what it is. Stephen’s car epitomises a new breed of thinking — and it’s a welcome relief.
Thanks: to the Cortina Mk2 Owners’ Club (www.fordcortinamk2oc.co.uk), and Motorsport Tools (01758 357000, www.motorsport-tools.com).
“STEPHEN’S CORTINA IS NOW BEING USED AND ENJOYED MORE THAN EVER”