Benny

Interesting that nobody has commented on some very unique technical details on that car. First thing I noticed was the heavily offset radiator, and the engine driven pump (?) on the right side of the engine.....then I noticed the large return lines to the tank, so it must be some primitive form of mechanical fuel injection, right? Next, the car has no struts, and some pretty peculiar stiffeners on the inner wings. In the under-car shot, you can just about make out the front suspension which appear to pivot much closer toward the center of the car than a normal Cortina. Lastly, the gear lever comes up straight out of the floor, with no extension housing a la a modern 'box.....what box is it? Tell us more about the car.......please.

Check your personal messages, we should meet up sometime soon.

You may have seen me, or you may have seen my buddy James (or both of us). James lives in El Cajon, and works in Lakeside.....both of our cars are painted in Lotus colors, and have V8's in them, so they are pretty easy to mistake for each other. Yes, I've known Mike for about 12 years, and I actually worked for him for a while before I went to college. Which car are you buying from him, the running GT with the Lotus paint job, or one of the other project cars he has?

Where in San Diego are you? I've got two Mk.1 GTs, and I live in La Mesa. Let me know if you ever need any help, or any advice on where to get parts. You are right, they're are pretty rare over here, but maintaining them is no big deal if you know where to go for bits. Where did you find your car?

I don't think so, but I wouldn't swear to it. That was right at the time when emissions started to become a concern, and I'm sure the Weber-equipped Lotus engine would not do too well on the old sniffer-test. I've never seen a Mk.2 equipped with Strombergs, which is why I say I don't think they ever came here.

Escorts were never sold here, although a handfull have been brought over. I've also heard rumors that they were sold in Mexico, so a few should have made their way over from there too. If you see any Old Skool English Fords while you are here, I'll buy you a drink......I've never seen a single one randomly driving the steets in 27 years of living here.....they are that rare!

Oh, I remember that car!! Glad it went to a good home. When I went up to Simon's house to decide which one to buy, there was your car, a maroon 2-dr automatic, my Datsun-powered car, and a beautifully original little turqoise wagon with Lotus wheels that were on my short-list. In the end, I picked the car I did for various reasons but it was a tough choice. My girlfriend fell in love with the wagon when she saw it.....she still hasn't forgiven me for passing it up for another 2-dr. I think it was also sold to the mid-west. There was a period where I was going to buy both, but at the time, my ratio of running cars to non-running cars was awful, and that would have dug me a pretty deep hole!

RS2600, Every one of my cars was sold new in California...there's no trouble getting old cars registered here as long as they are old enough to be exempt from our emissions test (pre-1973, I believe). The Datsun powered Cortina, MGB and E-type all came off e-bay. The others were all the usual type of thing (i.e. friends of friends, chance spottings, etc) Pimtina, Which car did you get from Simon? Please don't tell me it was the turqoise Mk.1 wagon......I kick myself on a daily basis for letting that one get away. If you're ever out in Califrnia, let me know. I'll take you for a ride in my V8 car and you'll have that zetec on e-bay before you even know what happened. There's more cutting involved in the V8 swap, but I bet you anything it would be a cheaper swap overall, and if you looked at it on a $/hp basis there would be absolutely no comparison.

Alright, here we go.......my 7 days are finally up so I can post some pics of my fleet! First up is my V8 Cortina. I've owned this car for 11 years, and have put well over 100,000 miles on it. It goes like a bat out of hell, and even goes round corners well, too! Next up is my Datsun-powered Mk.1 Cortina. I've owned this car for about 3 years, and the pictures show the progression from when I bought it, up through today. The pics of the car in bare metal do a good job of illustrating the beautifully rust-free cars we are often blessed with here in Southern California. Next up is my '61 850 Mini, which I've built into a Cooper S replica....not quite done yet. Next is my genuine '66 Austin Cooper S (1275). I've owned this car for just under a year, and is nexxt on the restoration list. Totally rust-free, with fabricated steel arches, the car was the find of a lifetime. Then there's my '67 E-type.....I was fortunate enough to afford my dream car at 28 years old. Last one....my totally original, rust-free '65 MGB. This car is a gem, but is unfortuantely for sale as I don't have the time, space, or money to maintain my ridiculous addiction. If anyone is looking for one of the most well-sorted B's on earth, I'm asking $8,750 for it. With the exchange rate as it is, that's a pretty cheap B in England!

& The forum has a rule that you can't post pics until you've been here 7 days. I tried to post pics last night, but it rejected them. If anyone know how to get that ban lifted early, I'll gladly post some pics.

It'll lock all four wheels, and I've never experieinced any brake fade, so as far as street driving goes, I can't see that there are drastic improvements to be had. Now, in a couple of months, me and 9 of my friends have rented out a local race track for a day......so we'll see how the brakes do there. After that, I may be looking for some uprated brakes after all these years.

Now that I've made the obligatory self-introduction.....I guess it's time to introduce my cars! Edit: I'll post some pics of the cars once my 'newbie probation period' is up, and I am able to post pics 7 days from now. My first Cortina, which I have owned for 11 years, started life as a pretty mundane, white '64 GT. After sitting behind a barn for several decades, and being preserved by the California sun, it was pulled out an given a "sex change operation" by a friend of mine. He installed a 5 liter Ford V8, T-5 transmission, and narrowed 8" rear axle. Since acquiring the car, I've racked up well over 100,000 miles in it, and have slowly re-engineered most of the details of the conversion. The engine puts out about 275 bhp on a bad day, and of course, has a torque band a mile wide. The suspension is very standard (apart from the 1" sway bar, and Leda struts) and the brakes are completely standard...... let me answer all the usual questions ahead of time 1. 0-60.....5.5 seconds. Top speed......the nose gets pretty light at anything over 130, which is still under 4,000 rpm in 5th!! 2. No, it's not the slightest bit nose-heavy, and it handles very well 3. Yes, it still stops really well My seconds Cortina is a '65 GT, which at some point along the road, had a Datsun L18 engine and "dogleg" 5-speed installed by a previous owner. This car is currently undergoing a running restoration, and I'm a bit undecided as to which way I want to go with the mechanicals (i.e. leave as is, or do something a bit more radical)