EVO CORSAIR MK3 FEZ016 Support us and subscribe online at: www.retrofordmagazine.co.uk
FROM THE COVERWhen was the last time you sawa Corsair either at a show orout on the road? Six monthsago, a year? Or possibly longer?Often mistaken for the Mk1Cortina compared to those the Corsair is quitea rare thing. First launched in October 1963 themid-sized car replaced the Consul Classic rangeand was basically a re-skinned Cortina with alonger wheelbase. It still retained the same stylingof the era with its sharp V-shaped front end andthe pointed rear light units, and with a hint of fins,the Corsair was and still is an attractive car andremains very rare and a sought after classic. Oneperson who was drawn in by its rarity and styling isPerry Murch, owner of the lovely grey example onthese very pages.The Corsair is only Perry’s second retro Ford withthe first being a 100e Pop which was powered bya V6 engine. “I’ve always been creative and have ahuge passion for powerful cars and motorbikes,” hesays. “I was 20 when I got my first car, a VauxhallVictor, which certainly wasn’t fast and had no scopeto be creative with,” he laughs. However, fastforward a few years when the 100e came along,this gave Perry something to get his teeth into,at last! “The Pop was a fantastic car, especiallyrunning the ‘Essex V6 power plant’, plus being alightweight car it assuredly didn’t hang around.”After Perry waved a fond farewell to the Pop, it left abig empty car-shaped hole in his heart and garagewhich he just had to fill.The search for a suitable candidate commenced.It didn’t take long as Perry now explains, “The caractually belonged to a friend of mine and had beensat neglected in his barn for several years and wasin a very sorry looking state by the time I camealong to rescue it.” What Perry had taken on wasnot going to be a few weekends worth of rebuilding,far from it to be exact. “Years stored in the barnhad really taken its toll,” he sighs. “The shell wasjust a mass of rust and had no doors, bonnet, bootlid or windows, and all of the interior was missing.Thinking back to that day when I viewed it, themore I crept around the car poking and proddingthe sensible side of me kicked in telling me not totake on such a mammoth task, but, as I’ve alreadysaid I like to be creative and take on a challenge.”With the sorry looking Corsair awoken from itsslumber and pulled carefully from its resting place,it got snuggly tucked up into Perry’s garage inreadiness for what laid ahead. “I struggled like madto get a pair of decent doors,” he remembers. “Theonly saving grace was while the search progressedthere was plenty of other jobs to be getting onwith.” Despite languishing in a barn for manyyears, on closer inspection, the shell was foundto be in pretty good shape with no replacementpanels needed and requiring only minimal weldingto the floorpan to get the car in shape. “I alsofitted the full roll cage which is welded in placeso adds extra strength to the car, plus it looksgood!.” With the cage neatly in place, attentionSee our behind the scenes footage on Instagram: @retrofordmagazine017