Gallery : Ford Cortina Mk3
June 3, 2012
· 
Keith Adams · 
24 Comments
In 1970, the Ford Cortina grew up – taking in the 2-litre class, and replacing the Corsair as well as the Cortina Mk2 in the same process. This growth was a gamble for its maker, but a prescient one, as it was this generation of Ford’s favourite repmobile that became the UK’s best-selling car.
Related posts:
- Gallery : Ford Cortina Mk1
- Gallery : Innocenti
- Archive : Ford Cortina launched today
- The cars : Ford Cortina
- Gallery : Rootes dealers and factories
24 Responses
And lo it came to pass that the Pinto Engine thrashed its way onto the British High Street. Despite that, it don’t half look sexy to this day and taught rivals a thing or too about marketing. If only it had Datsun oily bits….
Nice motor. Still preferred the FD Victor though…
Very top-of-the-range selection of Mk IIIs here, can we have some cooking models as well please?
Best of the Cortinas. My old man had a white 2.0 Executive estate with twin carbs, and it went like stink – nothing wrong with the Pinto engine in his at it had gone round the clock three times and was still going when he got rid – it was the body that had failed! My Grandfathers both had 1.6′s, one had a white estate l model and the other a blue saloon xl model, and it was the body that failed on them to. The Executive and GXL models were the best interiors, espcially the funky GXL dashboard.
@PD
The Brown 2 door is a 1.6 L and the bronze white top is a 2.0 xl. The others are toppers
I’ve heard that the Pinto engines needed frequent oil changes or the oil passages would clog up.
I presume the cooking models had single round headlights, Mk3′s had a few different front end designs.
Does anyone else get reminded of the Mk3 Cortina 2-door every time they see an Audi A5 coupe?
I recall that the models with the square headlamps were the midlife update and had a new dashboard that was used later in the mark iv .
@Richard16378
The camshaft oil feed was prone to clogging up. The rattle/clack of a knackered cam was a familiar sound around these roads, especially on Mk4′s.
A trick to partially overcome this was to slightly drill out the feed holes to improve the flow.
I knew it was something like that, it’s interesting that it didn’t seem to affect fleet sales as it’s the sort of thing that would give fleet managers a few sleepness nights.
Fleet cars would have been serviced regularly, I guess,which would go some way to ensuring the problem didn’t arise very often.
I recall it was a fairly cheap and straightforward job to replace the cam, well within the capabilities of the DIY owner. The only tricky bit was the fact the cam was withdrawn from the rear as opposed to the front of the head. Some folk just lifted the head off and did the gasket at the same time such was the ease of repair.
In those days before hydraulic tappets, at least you got an audible warning of when it was on its way out!
As a young lad (8,9 10 ish) the Mk3 Cortina was one of my favourite cars – I thought they were cool!!!
My older mates all had these cars,the 2000E was the nicest one of them all and they still do look good.
The Pinto engine was OK if it was serviced regulary as stated in the manual, but it you did not it would start to get clackety and would eventually sieze. Big prob on them was the head gasket after they went through 60,000 miles and would normally go without warning. If you compare the PINTo against the relevant Vauxhall or BL engines of the time, the Vauxhall were more impressive getting more power, but the BL’s had less torque so always felt underpowered compared to the rivals. As for Chrysler – they were using the worst of them all the nasty SIMCA engines – urgh!
Great archive photos of the MKIII Cortina’s. My old employer ran a fleet of 1.6L Estates which were pretty fast on the open road with a 75bhp engine. The later dashboard style used on the MKIII & IV won a “Design Council” Award.
The 2000E was a good looker, with real wood door cappings if I recall. It became the “Ghia” version when the MKIV was launched. Cortina’s feature heavily in the Top Gear book, “My Dad had one of those”
BSD
Would you believe that the CORTINA can be used as a basis for a car that it almost a drag car?
Some 2 years ago i read in one of the ISRAELI online car magazines about a mechanic (garage owner) from TEL-AVIV that took a 1981 CORTINA F/L Mk4 1600,took out the engine&transmission,and installed a CHEVI 5.7L V8 engine with it’s 3 speed auto transmission!
He took care of the suspension,however,he was stupid enough to leave the original brakes,tires and wheel rims…
(he wanted to keep the original look of the car…).
Aniway,this CORTINA is a cear case of “must see in order to believe”…
I wonder,are there any similar improved CORTINAS in the UK or in other countries?
i will be glad to see replies of readers from the Uk and from other countries.
I believe that in south africa and Australia the mk3/4/5 were all available with V8 engines, There was a model badged as an XR6,I think this was an australian version. Then of course there were the Savage conversions here in the UK.
BSD
Thank’s for the information!!!
The Mark 3 Cortina is surely the car that defines the Seventies. Such style, so much choice and so well pitched at its market giving everyone the chance for a piece of Detroit glamour at a bargain price.
I’m pretty sure the lucky South Africans also had the splendid XLE variant with the 3 litre V6 mated to an automatic tranmission?
Lovely stuff.
There was a 3 door bog standard model with a bench seat and non-remote gear change.
If I recall, it wasn’t well recieved by the motoring press at the time, sloppy handling, poor quality and a dashboard which obscured instruments from the driver…it also dated very quickly. It would never be troubled by BL though, even though the Marina was a far, far better looking car
I’d take a Mk4 over it, in silver with front spots please.
My favourite Tinas were the Mk1 followed by the Mk3. The final Mk5 wasn’t a bad car, although it could probably have been improved simply by using a 5 speed Capri gearbox (as many enthusiasts did).
Odd thing with Ford, they seem to produce a stylish car, followed by a plain one, followed by a stylish one,etc, ad infinitum.
I think the only Tina I’d want to spend money on, however, would be the Mk1, preferably in Lotus spec…
My memories of the mark 3 at the age of 10 were the slide up the steering column choke control,strip face vents in the early dash plus the 4 auxillary gauges of the GT low down in the centre console looked cool.I also remember that when the rear silencer failed (often) the rear valance on the n/s would become blackened from exhaust fumes !.Aaaah the 70′s.
@22 Collywobs – yes, I recall those early MK3 interiors with the slider choke and narrow air vents on the dashboard. The glovebox was like an envelope too. The later dashboard introduced in 1973/4 was much better, easier to read and it won a “Design Council” award.
Re Post 17
It was the SA version which was called thexr6. I believe that it was fitted with the essix V6. The aussie versons were the 2.0 pinto with auto or manual. Then there were the sixes fitted with twin headlights on the TC versions, square ones on the TD model. They came with the 3.3 straight 6 with 3 speed and 4 speed manuals the the BW35 Auto. The bigger engine was the 4.1 which came with the 4 speed and auto only. My father had the next version MK4 4.1 4 speed station wagon(estate) which went hard but used to chew through tyres and front bake pads quickly!
Leave a Reply