1969 FORD CORTINA PAGE -- THE MUTANT
Back in 1992, I was vacationing with my mom in my mother country, Thailand,
and managed to snap a few pics of my uncle's car, a 1969 Ford Cortina sedan.
The entire car is a mutant, in which the front and rear fascia, driveline,
interior, and graphics make this British blue oval import a one-of-a-kind
classic, and to other Cortina owners around the world, a sacrilege.
The pics speak for themselves, and after looking at them, no one wants
to look at another defaced Cortina again, which is nuthin' but a wannabe
rice burner:
Here's the rearend shot, and to owners of the Datsun Bluebird sedan, the
taillights on the Cortina are grafted in place of the original taillights.
Much of the rear header panel is gone. The silly moniker will be
detailed later in the page.
Here's the side shot, and if one notices anything, the rear wheel lip flare
was grafted from a Mazda 323 (a.k.a. the GLC in the US/Canada) compact.
Note the tape graphics on the side of the car, which is popular with Third
World countries.
Here's the frontend shot, which looks like a Mazda 323 compact (similar
to a later Mazda GLC marketed for sale in the U.S.). The bumpers
on the Cortina originally came from a Ford Laser (a rebadged Mazda sold
in Australia).
Here's the interior shot. The dash assembly and steering column were
lifted from a Mitsubishi Galant. Originally, the car used to be a
manual tranny car, but was swapped to a slushbox later in its life.
The silly moniker is seen on the glovebox door, and a TV set (shades of
Knight
Rider) is seen on top of the dash.
Here's the engine compartment, which has a non-stock motor. (This
ain't no Honda VTEC.) The motor is a Mitsubishi 4 cylinder, which
is common to the RWD Colt and Galant of the 1970s. This basic powerplant
is found under the hood of the Dodge Colt and late 1970s Dodge Challenger
coupe (a rebadged Mitsubishi Galant coupe sold through Chrysler-Plymouth/Dodge
dealers in the U.S.). The rebadged Challenger is also marketed as
the Plymouth Sapporo.
Here's a clear shot of the front nose, and note that the Cortina is more
resemblant of a Rice burner import. In Thailand, Japanese imports
are the majority of vehicles used on the streets, as well as some European
imports like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volvo, VW, et.al. (If you own a
Mercedes or Volvo in Thailand, you are a wealthy individual with a lot
of money.) There are some Aussie imports (e.g. Holden, Chrysler, Ford Australia)
rolling on the streets when I was on vacation back in 1992. Another
thing is that there are some USA iron still rolling on the streets of Bangkok,
which used to be owned by GIs that were stationed in Thailand (e.g. Udon
Thani, U Tapao, Ubon Ratchathani, Takhli Air Base) during the Vietnam crisis.
Here's the link:
Want to know more of the silly moniker/nameplate: Here's the breakdown:
Mazda 323
Mitsubishi Galant
Ford Cortina
Datsun Bluebird
hence the silly moniker/nameplate seen in the above pictures.
I know that the silly moniker might be a sacrilege to a Blue Oval classic,
but I hope not to receive a lot of hate mail. Don't think of laughing
yo' a$$ off at a silly nameplate, just to make a silly joke about a Cortina
that is descreated. The reason for the amalgation of various components
from other Japanese imports is that the replacement parts are available,
which is a normative trend that is common in a third world nation.
For more on Asian stereotypes, here's a link:
The Cortina has front disc brakes, but the master cylinder seen in the
engine pic is a single reservoir master cylinder. Another thing that
is unique about the Cortina is that it was locally assembled in Thailand,
instead of being imported. There is a body plate under the hood,
but might snap a photo if I ever vacation there again. The Corrina
now has a hood emblem, which is similar to the hood emblem found on mid-1980s
Dodge Ram pickups. The hood emblem was originally ordered from J.C.
Whitney, and my mom decided to purchase it as a Christmas present.
8/14/99 update: I received a letter from my uncle, in which he
had a mishap with the Cortina. He hit a pothole, and the front suspension
is totaled. There is no confirmation in which he is going to part
company with this timeless classic.
Links (to the rest of the Cortina world)
Mad Max Movies Page
Cortinas
on Screen
Ford
Cortina website
Shirley Engines
Stu's Cortina Page
The Rice-Boy Page
Links (non-Cortina, USA based)
1975 Nova
Page
Team Chevelle
My
Chevelle Memories Page
Chevelles
(and A-cars) on Screen
G-Bodies
on Screen
Disco-Era Classics
All images and pics courtesy of DON "The Emissary"
SERIBUTRA (Copyright 1992).
Copyright 1999, 2002 LSC
Publications. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use of
any of the images is illegal, and will not be tolerated.
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