Ford Consul Cortina 1500 Deluxe Estate

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Launched as the Consul Cortina in 1962 but becoming simply the ‘Cortina’ following a modest facelift in late-1964, Ford’s inexpensive family model became the UK’s best-selling car of the 1970s.

Available with either a 1.2 or a 1.5-litre engine in two-door and four-door saloon and estate forms, it came in Standard, Deluxe, Super and GT trim levels, the most famous variant being the Lotus Cortina. Some 933,000 MkI Cortinas of all types were sold before it was replaced by the MkII in 1966. However, according to DVLA figures, just 480 of these are still UK registered today, of which very few will be estates, making this car a rare survivor indeed.

First registered in June 1964, MRH 107A has had five owners to date and has been with the current keeper since 2016. Although the history file is somewhat sparse, it has clearly been well restored at some point in the not-too-distant past and still looks very smart today with a particularly pleasing interior which was fully retrimmed in 2009, including the headlining.

In 1985 the original 60bhp 1.5 engine was ditched in favour of a more powerful 1600 Crossflow engine mated to Ford’s excellent 5-speed gearbox, while the brakes have also been uprated with servo-assistance. In regular light use, seven old MOTs indicate that it has covered some 5,500 miles in the last dozen years with a handful of invoices to show occasional upkeep.

To all outward appearances this charming estate looks totally standard but, as we discovered on an enjoyable test drive, it drives extremely well, being easily capable of keeping up with today’s traffic with good brakes and a gear-change so sweet it would put some modern cars to shame. As you may have guessed by now, we rather like it!