FORD CORTINA SUPERSPEED
Year of manufacture 1973 Recorded mileage 2 Asking price £29,950 Vendor St Andrew’s Autos, Essex; 01245 248888/07836 226228; www.standrewsautos.co.uk WHEN IT WAS NEW Price £1612 Max power 138bhp Max torque 174lb ft 0-60mph 8 secs Top speed 120mph Mpg 26
This is one of three Mk3s converted by Superspeed of Ilford – and thought to be the only one with a ZF dogleg five-speed ’box and limited-slip differential.
It’s been restored, with obviously little use since; the underside remains clean, with uncorroded plating to the suspension bolts and drop links. The body is rot-free and very shiny, with painted-on stripes; the vinyl top is good, so is all the brightwork, save a little chrome flaking off the rear bumper. The Dunlop wheels are well polished and the tyres are oldish 195/70 Goodyear NCTS, with an older original-size 185/70 on the spare, underneath a new boot carpet.
Inside, the seat vinyl is all good, likewise the dash plastics and headlining, and the carpets are newish, probably reproductions. Extra gauges reside in a very 1970s-looking aftermarket centre console.
The engine bay is shiny, with super-clean inner wings. There are no leaks from the V6, which wears a big Holley carburettor, the appearance only let down slightly by the exhaust manifolds beginning to speckle with rust. The coolant is green and full, the oil cleanish and just over maximum.
Sitting behind the small Formula wheel, you find that the driver’s seat feels rather tired. The motor, now a 3.1, needs a brief churn and a light touch to start, but that’s normal for an Essex V6. What isn’t normal is the much smoother and more sophisticated sound, yet it drives as if it came out of Dagenham like this. It goes well (even with a little misfire) in that busy-sounding way of a Ford V6, compounded by the rev counter reading at about half speed. The chassis is supple and well controlled – period road tests pointed out that traction was better than a Capri’s thanks to the four-link rear axle. The brakes pull to the right, but that’s down to lack of use. Oil pressure is mostly off the 80psi scale, and temperature sits below the halfway mark. The speedo doesn’t work.
It’s sold with original Cortina GT and Superspeed catalogues, spare stickers, the original engine and twin-choke carb, plus the original Revolution wheels – with the spokes painted the same orange as the stripes. Yeah, baby!