Zetec-engined Ford Cortina restomod for sale

So it’s probably not been the best launch for the new Ford Capri. Not only does the name and the heritage sit rather awkwardly with an electric coupe SUV – the suggestion of Explorer Sport as a name looks especially sage now – the obsession with it meant attention was diverted away from Ford’s biggest draw of its Festival of Speed line up. That being the Mustang GTD, of course, which really does promise to be something truly spectacular. Not that many people seem to have noticed.

Time to retreat, then, to the warm embrace of nostalgia, to old Fords that we know and love. Chances are we’re all feeling a bit delicate this Monday in particular, whichever way the football has gone, so we’ll ease you into the week with a Blue Oval classic that only brings welcome surprises. It should be a Capri, of course, and there are a pair of glorious Turbo Technics V6s available on PH – perhaps those can wait for another day, at £25k and £30k respectively. Because the more this Cortina is looked at, for half the money of the latter, the better it seems.

A late Mk5 – 1982 was the final year of production – the Cortina might not make the obvious choice for the restomod treatment, or whatever the best phrase is now for injecting some modernity into an old car. The properly sporty ones had happened earlier in the ‘tina’s lifetime, with the smaller, lighter Escort and Fiesta perhaps making the more obvious choices for a retro hot rod. Without even thinking about the Sierra that followed the Cortina the year after the car was made.  Still, that’s the joy of modifying – you do exactly what you want to whatever car takes your fancy. And so we have a Mk5 Cortina Ghia, a very nicely presented one in fact, that’s powered by a 2.0-litre Zetec. Which means a smidge over 150hp, complete with a snort from individual throttle bodies, a good chunk more power than any standard Cortina engine from back in the day. As well as more usable in a modern context, surely. It’s mated to a five-speed Ford MT75 gearbox.

This is far more than just a cool engine swap, though. A hub upgrade to a five-stud set up means Granada wheels can now fit (and look great), with bigger brakes and ABS behind them. There’s power steering and a very smartly redone interior, with an RS four-spoke wheel and a pair of delectable Recaros. There’s no mention of any suspension work in the advert, though given the modifications undertaken elsewhere and the way it sits on those Granny wheels, it’d be a surprise to find it still on standard springs and dampers. 

Add all that to a properly lovely exterior, with perfect paint, the blackest of black bumpers and the Ghia badges still in place, and it’s easy to see why this might be of interest. It’s hard enough to find a late Cortina of any stripe these days, given how many have succumbed to rust, scrappage or, uh, banger racing, let alone one with a well thought out package of upgrades. So this one is very intriguing indeed. 

Said to have been overhauled the best part of 20 years ago, back when the modern restomod wasn’t really a thing and classics could be modified because they were plentiful and cheap, the Cortina was magazine featured as long ago as 2009. This isn’t some freshly completed build that’ll have teething troubles to sort and any new owner will be concerned about using. This Zetec conversion has been loved and enjoyed, surely, or it wouldn’t look this good for a 42-year-old car. Thanks to the effort invested by previous keepers, it looks fit for many more happy miles yet, offering up that dream combination of retro style with modern performance that nobody can quite get enough of right now. All for £15k, too. Enough to forget all about that new Capri, surely.