"The Cortina was Ford's mass-market compact car and sold extremely well. It was produced in five generations, the Mk. I through to the Mk. V although officially the last one was called the Cortina 80. With variants of the Cortina reaching sales of over one million, each successive model proved more popular than its predecessor. Such was its fame in the UK, that the Poet Laureate at the time, Sir John Betjeman, included it in one of his poems: ‘I am a young executive. No cuffs than mine are cleaner; I have a Slimline briefcase and I use the firm's Cortina.’ In response to the huge success of the Mini, Ford responded not with a small car but with a larger family offering which they could sell in large numbers. The result was the Cortina; a distinctively styled car aimed at buyers of the Morris Oxford and Vauxhall Victor, launched on 20th September 1962. With eye-catching modern styling, it was originally branded as the Consul Cortina until a modest facelift in 1964, after which, it was sold simply as the Cortina but with four trim levels; Standard, Deluxe, Super and GT.
This 1969 Ford Cortina 1600 GT was first registered on the 27th May 1969 in Porto, Portugal and is presented in its original colour combination of Alpina Green with black trim. The original sales invoice shows the purchaser was a Mr Antonio Teixeira, this found in the history file alongside the original registration document and oil-change tag showing its mileage in March 1979 at just 14,401km. The then owner died in 1980 and we are informed the car remained carefully stored by his son from that date until recently. In 2017 the car was recommissioned in Portugal with the Portuguese MoT test certificate dated 29th June 2017 showing 17,970 kms at which point the son sold the car to our vendor who repatriated it to the UK earlier this year. The car is now UK registered and holds a new UK MoT test certificate valid until January 2019.The car is described by the vendor as a time warp example, as new even inside the wheel arches, engine bay and the underside, and unrestored which is a rarity with classic Ford Cortinas. Having covered little over 11,000 miles and having been kept in a warm climate this is a delight for an enthusiast or collector, offered with its original tool kit and papers this example is sure to attract interest from both UK and European buyers alike."