HTCAV – Ford Cortina in Australian racing
Words: Chris Ralph
Photos: Various
Within Group N Historic Touring Car racing, Cortinas have always been a fixture, being readily available and – usually - affordable. But in recent years, the numbers of these nimble little Fords have been growing.
At last year's Phillip Island Classic, fifteen Cortinas were in action, while regular HTCAV rounds can see up to ten on the grid. Last year’s HTCAV Champion was in a Cortina, and there’ll be a special All-Cortina race at Historic Winton this year.
But how did a seemingly ordinary ’60s family four make it this far?
It all started with an Aussie…
In the late 1950s, Don Ward, an Australian from Ford’s local HQ in Geelong, had become Chief Body Engineer at Ford UK and set about developing a lightweight unitary body passenger car shell. In October, 1962, the ‘Consul Cortina’ was launched. Amazingly, the original five-seater, two-door Cortina weighed only 750kg in base form.
With two or four doors, bench seat and column change or two flat seats and floor change, there was not an ounce of surplus metal anywhere. Add MacPherson strut front suspension and the Cortina looked good from the start.
Under the bonnet was a three-bearing 1200cc four, enlarged from its predecessor, the 997cc Anglia.
A scant three months later, the famous five-bearing 1498cc ‘Kent pre-crossflow’ was installed; an immensely tunable four-cylinder engine that became the choice for racing and sports racing car builders in the UK and Australia.
Cortinas were immediately pressed into race duties – especially when the GT was released in both two- and four-door body shells in 1963. The standard 60bhp 1500 leapt to 78bhp with a different cam, head, exhaust and a twin choke Weber carb. The GT was also lower and had disc brakes up front, which would become standard across the Cortina range the following year.
Enter Colin Chapman
One stage higher up the food chain from the GT was the Ford Lotus-Cortina. Under pressure on racetracks and rally stages, Ford’s association with the new F1 World Champions bore fruit when the running gear from the Lotus Elan was transplanted into the humble two-door Cortina.
Despite an alloy bonnet, boot, doors, two-piece prop shaft and diff, the Lotus go faster bits increased the weight to 810kg, but that was still super-light given the 1558cc and 105bhp output. However, the transplanted Lotus 7 Clubman coil sprung A-frame rear end couldn’t cope with the sedan’s higher centre of gravity, coils distorted the bodywork while the nose of the A-frame stressed the diff into oil leaks and failures.
Under Ford control, by June of ’64, the ‘Ford Cortina Lotus’ had a conventional rear end, dropped the alloy panels and featured the GT gearbox. In Australia, a Lotus Cortina was around 50 per cent more expensive than a Cortina GT and never officially sold here by Ford.
On top Down Under
As early as 1963 (barely a year after it had been introduced), Harry Firth took a ‘Ford Consul Cortina Mk I’ to fourth outright behind Bob Jane’s 4.1-litre Jag and two Valiants in that year’s Australian Touring Car Championship. In 1964, a GT won outright with Ian ‘Pete’ Geoghegan behind the wheel, while in ’65, Lotus versions came second and fourth in the hands of Geoghegan and Allan Moffat.
At Bathurst, Cortina GTs scored a triple in the Armstrong 500: Firth and Jane in ’63, Jane and George Reynolds in ’64 and Barry Seton and Midge Bosworth in ’65 in the GT500; a limited run, factory special built specifically for the great race.
From the Lotuses of the major teams, through to the GTs and wildly hotted-up standard cars of privateers and club racers, Cortinas were a good thing through the mid-60s.
And in historic touring car racing another 60 years later, they still are.
The Appendix J Revival - 1980
So fondly remembered were the ‘good old days’ that the ‘Appendix J’ (the rule book name of the period) cars were back racing, as historics, just 15 years after the category finished. As most of the original J racers had been transformed into Improved Touring, Sports Sedans or returned to road cars, a flurry of Cortina building took place, as it did with their natural enemies, Minis and EH Holdens.
The majority of Cortinas running today are from the ’80s and ’90s, or rebuilds of crashed racers. In 1994, this writer’s four-door and team-mate Ian Robertson’s two-door Cortinas were written off at Phillip Island. A year later, they ‘phoenixed’ as twin Paul Trevethan-built two-doors, with the 'Robbo' car later campaigned by ‘Fast Johnny’ Luxmoore.
Even the super-immaculate GT of Nick Cascone, probably Australia’s fastest, was an ’83 racer in the hands of NSW’s Lloyd Cleaver – the pedigree lines twist and turn like those of champion dogs…
The Cortina Revival 2022-23
While the pre-1972 V8s are now the most numerous cars on an HTCAV grid, some of their drivers have traded in bellowing exhausts and tyre smoke for the little Fords and joined the happy gang.
Rapid NSW farmer, John Harrison of XU-1 Torana and Mustang fame, bought the well-known ‘Violet Crumble’ ex-Darren Pearce car from Tasmania when he saw how much fun they were having. “Very different on the track,” John explains. “You brake much later, then turn and straight on the gas to not lose speed – because that’s in short supply down the straight! And yeah, the battles are really tight.”
John’s been chasing current HTCAV Champ Les Walmsley, himself a downsizer from a victorious Valiant Charger, and now unofficial Cortina cheerleader. “Every meeting I find new places to put the car, it’s great. Just drive it flat out until I run out of grip!” he laughs.
Les’s enthusiasm has inspired more to join the Cortina clan. Victoria is home to around 20 Cortinas in race trim, and it’s estimated another 30 are in play around Australia.
By the time you read this, the Phillip Island Classic will be almost upon us, with twelve Cortinas expected - evenly split between Lotus and pushrod versions. Also in the fray will be the Group Nc cross-flow engined Cortina MkII of Gordon Cox; one of several in Australia.
Beyond the MkI and MkII versions, the bigger and later MkIII Cortina - with the OHC 2-Litre Pinto engine - is also eligible for historic racing and at least one is currently under construction.
Following the Phillip Island Classic, a special Cortina race at Historic Winton in May will be the next big event in a big year for the little Pommie Fords. Stop by the HTCAV truck in the pits – there’s even our limited-edition T-shirt you can buy… See you there!
Historic Winton Revival!
To celebrate 60 years of Australian wins for this fabulous little car, a special “Cortina Challenge” race will be held at Historic Winton (25-26 May).
With the Nc big bangers back on the event programme, it means the 47th annual edition of this all-historic meet will be a round of the 2024 HTCAV championship. As Historic Winton uses the Victorian circuit’s ‘short track’, it’ll suit the Cortinas perfectly, making the Cortina Challenge a must-see!
