Sometimes, people keep things as a way of remembering people in their past. This can be confused with hoarding. But for those involved, these material possessions are like a time machine. Often taking them into the distant past, where they momentarily relive some of the best moments they can only dream of in the present.
Cars make great memorabilia items. The painstaking hours spent under the hood, trips with loved ones, adventures out in the wild, and those solo Sunday cruises in the backroads make better memories than any camcorder or photo album you might have.
For most people, getting rid of such a car is like cutting out a chunk of their lives and giving it to someone else. Their compassionate value for these vehicles is more valuable than gold, and they’d rather watch these metallic pieces of history wither to crumbs in their garage than have it out of their sight.
Jonny Smith of The Late Brake Show recently had such an experience while preparing their latest Barn Find series episode. He got wind of a survivor classic Ford Cortina SVO model that was last on the road in the 90s.
Rare SVO Ford Cortina MK III has been garage-stored for 20 years
Photo: YouTube Screenshot/The Late Brake Show
The classic Ford Cortina SVO has been in the family since it was a year old. According to the custodian, the featured 1974 MK III Cortina 2000E belonged to their late grandfather and was a cherished item.
It’s been twenty years since their grandpa died, and none of the custodians have been ready to part with the car until recently.
If you’ve been following the Late Brake Show, you know the producers showcase classic survivor cars and try to get them running for the first time in a while.
If you were conscious in the 70s and lived in Britain, you understand the popularity of the third-generation Ford Cortina. For a minute, it was UK’s Toyota Corolla.
The Blue Oval began working on the Cortina in the late 60s. The Cortina MK III was a collaboration between Ford UK and Ford Germany (currently Ford Europe). And as a result, the Ford Cortina was produced in more units, which explains its popularity.
Shared chassis with German Ford Taunus
Photo: YouTube Screenshot/The Late Brake Show
The Ford Cortina MK III was introduced into the European market between 1970 and 1975 in three variations. A coupe, a four-door sedan, and a wagon. It was an instant hit up until its younger sibling, the Ford Escort, arrived in 1976. Its production ran for five generations.
Compared to the MK II, the MK III was boxier and larger even though they had the same overall length (the MK III was 4 inches (100 mm) wider than the MK II). It was inspired by the Coca-Cola bottle design in the U.S. It shared the same chassis with Germany’s Ford Taunus, which explains its code name TC1 (Taunus-Cortina).
The Cortina MK III was the last model engineered by Harley Copp in the UK (as Vice President of Engineering) before his return to Detroit.
Under the hood, the 1974 Ford Cortina MK III 2000E came with a naturally aspirated 2-liter (1993 cc) inline-four engine good for 97 hp (98 ps) and 151 Nm (111 lb-ft) of torque. The Ford OHC (Pinto) engine was mated to a 4-speed manual transmission, channeling power to the rear wheels.
Jonny's feature car was in good condition, considering it was last on the road in the 90s. The body was in pretty good shape even though it had some rust spots at the rear wheel wells and cosmetic wear on the vinyl roof.
The wood grain dash and interior were in pretty reasonable condition, even though Jonny noted the driver seat had been swapped.
“That’s quite a special sticker. Special Vehicle Orders department, SVO order number 1225. This car has had black paint. So, it would have been a special order to have this car MK III 2000E in black,” Jonny said, checking out the classic’s engine bay stickers.
SVO is short for Special Vehicle Operations
Photo: YouTube Screenshot/The Late Brake Show
The SVO was Ford’s ‘Special Vehicle Operations' department that began operations in 1981 to design and develop performance parts for their racing programs. In 1993, the department was renamed SVT (Special Vehicle Team).
Like most cars sitting close to two decades, getting the 1974 MK III Cortina 2000E to run was not a walk in the park. Even though Jonny and his team were sure the engine was in good condition, they couldn’t get it to crank on the first day.
It finally ran a couple of days later. It turns out the distributor cap wasn’t installed correctly.
The custodians of this survivor 1974 MK III Cortina 2000E will be putting it up for sale. According to Jonny, it’ll go on sale on Cars and Classics in a couple of days.
Rare versions of the Cortina have sold on auction sites like Bring a Trailer for between $12,000 and $25,000. We recommend watching the video below to catch a glimpse of the revival action.
Humphrey is a car enthusiast whose love and passion for automobiles extended into collecting, writing, driving, and working on cars. He got his passion for cars from his Dad, who spent thousands of hours working on his old junky 1970 E20 Toyota Corolla. Years later, he would end up doing the same with a series of lemons he’s owned throughout his adult life. Full profile
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