Ford Cortina MkI Deluxe

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Launched in September 1962 to take on rivals like the Morris Oxford and Vauxhall Victor, the distinctively-styled Cortina was an altogether more exciting prospect and proved a massive success from the outset.

Available with either a 1.2 or a 60bhp 1.5-litre engine in two-door and four-door saloon and estate forms, it came in Standard, Deluxe, Super and GT trim levels. Some 933,000 examples were sold before it was replaced by the MkII in 1966, although survivors are now surprisingly rare and sought after, especially in two-door form, as here.

A proper period piece if ever we saw one, this Windsor Grey Cortina Deluxe dates from May 1963 and is a nice early Mk1a two-door that still has the original Consul badge on the front, elliptical front side-lights, ‘ban the bomb’ tail-lights and the wonderful ribbed aluminium dashboard. Clearly a much-loved machine, it had just one owner from new until 2016 with only further keeper since and retains its original (transferable) Buckinghamshire-issued registration number, 9744 BH.

Climb aboard and you are immediately transported back to the Swinging Sixties – the cabin is dripping with fabulous period accessories including a wood-rim sports steering wheel, additional dash-pod instruments, map reading light, Easi-Tune radio, Pye cassette player and Lucas heated rear screen. We even found some period street maps still in the glove box, the one for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight costing 2s/6d. Those were the days!

Fitted with Sports GT badges on the rear wings, it does indeed have a GT quickshift gearbox but, as far as we can tell, that is where the similarities end. Believed to have spent many years in storage, it is showing only 73,230 miles on the clock which could well be correct given the overall condition of the car but there is insufficient history to warrant this.

Recently treated to new brake and clutch hydraulics with a refurbished Girling Powerstop brake servo, it sailed through its first MOT for a long time in December 2017 and now has an MOT to August 2020 with no advisories recorded.

Starting promptly and running nicely as we moved it around for the photos, this wonderful slice of Sixties nostalgia will raise smiles wherever it goes. We like it a lot!