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Thread: Tales from the workshop; time machine Ford Taunus 1965. Lots of pics.

  1. #1
    Grand Master thieuster's Avatar
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    Tales from the workshop; time machine Ford Taunus 1965. Lots of pics.

    I already mentioned the car in my other thread about the Saab; the idea was that a (Germany built) Ford Taunus 12M, 1965 would be in the shop as of this week. Well, it has arrived. The car is, in true spirit of Henri Ford, a black car. Like he did on the Model T: 'You can ask for any colour as long as it's black!' According to the blue rocker covers, this car has a whopping 50hp under the bonnet, an all-syncho, 4-speed column shift and front wheel drive.





    The fun part starts here: it's an absolute time machine, harking back to 1965:
    • original cellulose paint; not repainted
    • no rot, not even paint blisters indicating that there's trouble under the paint
    • original diagonal tyres; Vredestein tyres with the old(!) type of Vredestein font.
    • original hoses (with the Ford Oval stamped everywhere)
    • original Ford Motorcraft oil filter
    • vinyl interior is complete, not worn or torn.













    The car was pulled from a garage that was attached to a house and there was central heating inside the garage. The owner has inherited the house and the car and wants to sell the car. It must have been in the garage for decades. The interior was covered with soft tarps, the whole car was covered with blanket and a special car cover. There were mouse traps in the garage (always a good sign; mouses are everywhere and best to catch them outside a car).

    The car's outside and underside smells awful: old fuel! But guess what: the tank has a drain plug! That makes live easier. And apart from that, everything moves. No binding brakes/clutch, the engine turns by hand as well.

    The idea is to drain the fuel, remove and replace the rubber parts of the fuel hoses and blow the copper pipe with compressed air (both ways). Then install new fuel hoses + filters. After that, the engine will get new oil and will be turned by hand. After that, started with the HT leads off; oil pressure is everything. Easy to read with a special gauge. And after that, a full try with started fluid and the fresh petrol. Let's see what happens!

    About the Ford Taunus: I have no idea if it was sold in the UK. Here in the Netherlands it sold like hotcakes. You could spot them on every corner. Nowadays, they're rare as hen's teeth. I think that Wikipedia can tell more than I can:

    http://An eye catching feature intro...W; 64 hp) red.

    The owner has plans to sell the car. Somewhere in the back of my mind, an 'urge' is developing...

  2. #2
    Grand Master
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    As far as I know they were never sold in the UK, we got the Ford Cortina which was produced in England. My dad bought a new one in 1966, I remember it well (I was 8) and it was still on the road locally till the late 70s. Mk 1 Cortinas were everywhere in the 70s but like the Taunus they're now a very rare sight, only seen at car shows.

    The Taunus is in amazing condition and that's down to the storage conditions. As for re-commissioning, good luck! I bet you end up stripping and rebuilding the carburettor to make it run correctly. Regarding the fuel tank, it may be worth trying to seal it after draining, there used to be a product made for this and it supposedly seals any rust to prevent it flaking.

    I`m sure you'll replace those cross-ply tyres, haven`t seen any like that for many years!

  3. #3
    Grand Master Neil.C's Avatar
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    That's a time warp motor Menno!

    They were never sold over here but a friend of mine had a pale blue 12M exactly the same as yours back in the early '70's, I think he got it from Belgium.

    It was thought quite exotic at the time.
    Cheers,
    Neil.

    My Speedmaster website:

    http://www.freewebs.com/neil271052

  4. #4
    Grand Master thieuster's Avatar
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    Back in the days they were on every street corner on the Continent. And now more or less extinct. I read on the Wiki page that it was sold as a Cortina in the UK; but I know that you could always can spot bodywork details that were different when you looked at the cars side-by-side.

    And was the Cologne V4 used in the UK? I always had the idea that the UK's counterpart was an 'Essex' engine. (Educate me if you want!).

    Wiki mentions a state-of-the-art front wheel universal joints set-up in combination with a then already outdated (one!) transverse leaf spring from side-to-side in the front. The rear has two leaf springs. I haven't had a close look yet at what makes the universal joints in combination with the drive train and steering so special. The braking department is modern: disks at the front, drums at the rear. And Wiki mentions that Ford pushed 150,000 of these cars over the counter in Europe every year. That was a huge number. But still, the VW Beetle dominated the market.

    A check on the on the website of the Dutch version of the DVLA shows that less than 100 of these cars still exist; most are 'SORN'ed' (I think that's the phrase?)
    Last edited by thieuster; 29th November 2022 at 14:25.

  5. #5
    Grand Master Neil.C's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by thieuster View Post
    Back in the days they were on every street corner on the Continent. And now more or less extinct. I read on the Wiki page that it was sold as a Cortina in the UK; but I know that you could always can spot bodywork details that were different when you looked at the cars side-by-side.

    And was the Cologne V4 used in the UK? I always had the idea that the UK's counterpart was an 'Essex' engine. (Educate me if you want!).

    Wiki mentions a state-of-the-art front wheel universal joints set-up in combination with a then already outdated (one!) transverse leaf spring from side-to-side in the front. The rear has two leaf springs. I haven't had a close look yet at what makes the universal joints in combination with the drive train and steering so special. The braking department is modern: disks at the front, drums at the rear. And Wiki mentions that Ford pushed 150,000 of these cars over the counter in Europe every year. That was a huge number. But still, the VW Beetle dominated the market.

    A check on the on the website of the Dutch version of the DVLA shows that less than 100 of these cars still exist; most are 'SORN'ed' (I think that's the phrase?)
    The Cortinas never had a transverse leaf spring at the front, they had Macpherson struts.

    As regards the Colognes, I believe some V6 models had German engines but the normal British build were Essex in 2.5 litre (I had one in a Zephyr).

    The V4 Essex came in 1.7 or 2 litre (I had a 2 litre GT Corsair)
    Cheers,
    Neil.

    My Speedmaster website:

    http://www.freewebs.com/neil271052

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Neil.C View Post
    The Cortinas never had a transverse leaf spring at the front, they had Macpherson struts.

    As regards the Colognes, I believe some V6 models had German engines but the normal British build were Essex in 2.5 litre (I had one in a Zephyr).

    The V4 Essex came in 1.7 or 2 litre (I had a 2 litre GT Corsair)
    That tended to go through the bonnet due to rot, I had a few.

  7. #7
    Grand Master oldoakknives's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Neil.C View Post
    The Cortinas never had a transverse leaf spring at the front, they had Macpherson struts.

    As regards the Colognes, I believe some V6 models had German engines but the normal British build were Essex in 2.5 litre (I had one in a Zephyr).

    The V4 Essex came in 1.7 or 2 litre (I had a 2 litre GT Corsair)
    Snap. I had a 2.0 v4 Corsair and a MK4 Zephyr with the V6, bench seat and column change! (when Zodiac wheel trims were 'de rigueur') Halogen days Rodney, halogen days.
    Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.

  8. #8
    Grand Master Saint-Just's Avatar
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    The Taunus from this era that I remember is the 17m. We never had one though, but the front made it quite memorable.
    'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.

  9. #9
    Master pacifichrono's Avatar
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    Very nice car and a great example. As a Yank, the taillights remind me of a 1959 Chevrolet!



  10. #10
    Grand Master thieuster's Avatar
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    A few additional pics I took a few minutes ago:

    Last time the car was on the road was in 1976. That's 46 (nearly 47) yrs ago.



    Interior. Despite the iffy condition, the mechanics took the car for a short spin. The hubcaps were not so well-clamped to the rim. They took 'm off before the testdrive, so that they would not disappear...







    Sharing the same V4 1500cc engine


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