IT TAKES TWO

Reader’s restoration: How do you make a once-rotten Cortina GXL even better? Give it to two Ford fans to restore then refine, that’s how.

- Jon Cass

As the years roll by, some car fanatics like to see themselves as progressing to a different era of car ownership. For long time ford fan, Michael Orton, the last 25 years he’s describes as being his fourth era. “Where I grew up, few people had cars at all and I was only the second person in my whole extended family to buy a car,” Michael laughs. “This was a £15 banger and I went on to own a succession of Mk1, Mk2, Mk3 and Mk4 Zodiacs and Zephyrs.” The American-inspired styling of these models was a particular draw for Michael as was their ease to work on. This was just as well, as Michael spent much of his time keeping them on the road — cylinder heads on the kitchen table, swapping clutches and still getting to the pub before closing time played a big part of his regular routine.

As his income improved, so did the cars with a succession of Capris, Cortinas and Granadas. “The company car period came next with nothing particularly memorable to mention, and the kids were driving ratty old Datsuns, Seats and Cavaliers,” Michael recalls. “But the last 25 years have brought me back to classic cars, which I like to call my fourth era of car ownership.”

As a Ford man at heart, Michael’s first foray into the world of classics were Capris — a rare 2.8i auto and a Brooklands.

“Both needed quite a lot of work,” Michael recalls, “but I was still an American car fan at heart and soon embarked on a mission buying Camaros, Corvettes and a Firebird.” The switch to the Mustang was inevitable though, and to date Michael has owned three of the iconic cars.

Flawless find