Ford Cortina Mk1 Standard Fleet

This 1966 Ford Cortina is a Standard Fleet model, the plainest and cheapest version of the Mk1 saloon. The Mk1 Cortina Owners Club records it as one of only 34 UK Fleet cars known to survive, and one of just three four-door Aeroflow cars known worldwide. By comparison, the club knows of 486 Lotus Cortinas.

Fleet cars can be told apart by their body-colour grille and roof extractor louvres, rubber floor covering and the absence of courtesy lights and opening quarter windows. This one is finished in its original Purbeck Grey with Ravenna Red PVC trim. It has a 1,200cc engine making 54 bhp, a four-speed manual gearbox, front discs and rear drums. It has won Mk1 Cortina Owners Club awards, including National Supreme Champion and Best Rare Model.

The car was ordered new in May 1966 by a British Forces headmaster, and he kept it for 45 years. It has had three owners in total, and the page gives the mileage as 87,000. The history file holds the original bill of sale, tax discs from 1967, MOT certificates, service records, every V5 including the original green logbook, and a Townsend Car Ferries sticker from a trip to Germany. The car was restored about 15 years ago, and the page lists it as HPI clear.