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Hi All, Hope we are all keeping well and our beloved Cortina's are likewise :-) Some of you may remember me: the really enthusiastic one from Scotland ..... Got my first Cortina back in 2006 and you were all with me on that special journey. It was a 1981 W Tuscan Beige 1.6GL. I should never have sold this car and it is now i believe somewhere in Southern Ireland. Circa 2014 i bought another - a Titan Blue 2.3 Ghia but i never gelled with the car and it just didn't give me that same warm fuzzy feeling that the Tuscan machine once had. Fast forward to 2019 .... i have found the love of my life (Amanda), we have bought a house together this year, got engaged this year and are getting married on 10.10.20. Life is great but my only one regret is that i wasn't entering the next chapter of my life with a nice MK5 in hand tucked up in the garage at our new home. I decided to try and find a really nice one to pug away and just keep indefinitely. My days of chopping and changing classics now long behind me especially given my new chapter of my life and us soon to be trying for a family etc .... changed priorities now, but still must have a nice MK5 as my lifelong hobby. After looking for some time for the right special MK5 i couldn't believe my eyes what i stumbled across .... It was my absolute hearts desire in terms of condition and rarity so had to make it happen .... 07 September 2019 arrived and My Dad (been with me on every road trip over the last 20 years of classic ownership, now in his 70s - this is our last road trip together and it was REALLY special to us both) and myself got up at 3.30am. Our Taxi dully arrived at 5.30am and we were off to Edinburgh Waverley Station........ A brief wait in the station and we were off on the 6.55am bound for our destination of Darlington...... We enjoyed a lovely scenic Journey ........ Before long we were in Darlington where we met Matthew from Junction 59 Classics ........ We dully arrived and i clapped eyes on him for the first time ....... one very special MK5 Cortina........ The car ..... an ultra rare 1981 MK5 1300 Base Saloon TWO DOOR finished in my all time favourite colour of Tuscan Beige (just like my Tuscan machine all those years ago)!!! The ar is quite a find. Bought new in 1981 by Mr Chapman from Gilbert Rice Ford main agent in Cambridge he specified it with just 3 options .... passenger mirror ..... rear seatbelts .... and cloth upholstery. Its basicness is 100% its charm - there are no headrests, no radio, no speakers, no aerial, no clock .... absolutely nothing and its WONDERFUL. The car was used sparingly until some time in the 1990s when the car was bought and entered a private collection with 44k genuine miles on the clock ..... and came out in 2019 exactly as it had went in .... absolutely perfect and with 44k miles on it and sailed through its first MOT since then. The car has no rust .... has never been filled, welded nor painted - underneath the arches and undercarriage is a ridiculous insight to how the car left the factory in 1981. Sure its picked up the odd wee dent and scratch (and the obligatory 1980s touch up pen marks) but its an original and unmolested as you could possibly get. As you all know i love my cars standard and this is exactly how it shall remain. It even has 1990s matching Goodyear Grand Prix tyres (will be changed but kept). To say I'm delighted is an understatement because i have never after all these years seen a two door in the flesh until now and I'm utterly smitten. Money handed over, let the last road trip commence ..... Quick stop for Petrol and we were on our way ...... The smile says it all ......... (I even popped on my 20 year old Burberry cardigan thats been with me on all our road trips and was there with me when i collected that first Cortina all those years ago and when i first met all you BSC'ers) ...... 80 Miles up the road we stopped at our favourite road trip place of Purdy Lodge (first discovered all those years ago on the first Cortina road trip) where we had a lovely lunch ..... The Fish and chips was glorious ....... Keeping the car in sight at all times ........ Suitably refreshed, we carried on another 50 miles before stopping at Dunbar Garden Centre for another wee break. The journey was the most the car had been used since the 1990s so we just sat at 50mph all the way not getting him stressed taking it nice and steady. Some garden centre shots ..... I always love how different and utterly out of place they look in a modern car park setting ........ Another 50 miles and he had indeed gotten us safely home and is now tucked up in his garage under his cosy car cover ........ never before have i had a classic that evoked such a reaction as we enjoyed coming up the A1 home - lost count of the peeps, waves, shouts, and thumbs up we received .... truly remarkable the publics still fondness and affection held for Fords Finest :) As you all know I'm a fair-weather user and the car will never be taken out nor driven in the rain in my ownership so was utterly delighted that it was a scorching day and he got home bone dry. "Gilbert" as he is now known made the 200 mile drive with ease, drove faultlessly, not a leak, funny noise or squeak in sight. Really quite shocked at the 1300 ..... its not as pedestrian as i had feared it would be. Such a beautiful car to drive. Advert pictures: So there we have it, my last road trip, my last classic - its here for the long haul to stay and I'm so glad my Dad, my best friend, was there by my side for a memorable day. Gilbert will only be used for a few sparing dry sunny day runs and attend a few local car shows. He will be kept standard and just maintained and pampered over the years. He is as original as you could get, has all his keys, books, manuals present ..... and thats how he shall be saying. So looking forward to being back in my rightful home here where i feel i belong amongst friends. Kindest sincerest Regards Russell, Amanda and Gilbert :-)

I think that's the best thing to do mate,i looked at mine a few times over the years & thought of getting rid,but i walked away for a while,then went back to it. I haven't done anything for a while now,but hoping to get back on it soon.

Thanks for that Lobby really appreciate your kind words 🙂 Hope your doing ok.

Nice job!

took me a while till i spotted the MK3, as my eyes kept looking on the very nice lady! 😄

You really need to put some pics up Bugs but is sounds like it's about a 500 quider.