Michael Jones
I became interested in Ford Corsairs at a young age. My father had to purchase a replacement for his old Austin a40 Farina Mark 1 in 1975 so that the newest member of our family could come home from the hospital in the new car. Our family had expanded from 2-3 children. He was agonising between a sporty Fiat 850 Fastback and something a bit bigger for the family. One of the ladies at his work was selling her White 2000E with a black vinyl roof but dad was keen on something a bit sportier. She convinced him to take a test drive. The rest is history. Dad's recolelction is that the corsair significantly out performed the 850 fastback and had a higher top speed. The lady didn't even get beaten down in price by dad - He just wanted to take it home.
We had a lot of Great Family trips in Dad's 2000E.
When we first purchased it it had the original Black roof but the New Zealand
Climate meant that when the Vinyl started to deteriorate, it started to make
sense to paint the roof white. In this picture I am about 5 years old at the
Chateau Tongariro in New Zealand's North island.
There have been a total of 21 Ford Corsairs Registered in New Zealand over the years and our family have owned 11 of them including a 2000 Estate, 1500 GT, 1500 deluxe, 1700 deluxe, 2000 deluxe and the rest 2000E's. (Only one other Estate has been registered in New Zealand). We have also purchased Corsair Specific Parts from various car Wreckers to keep our fleet running over the years so we suspect only a few remain (4-5).
Arthurs pass - two-tone. While Driving through a remote mountain pass in 1987 I passed a two tone green/white corsair - possibly a 2-door (I have never seen another 2-door in New Zealand) which approached from the opposite direction. At the time The clutch hydraulics had failed so there was no opportunity to stop and give chase and have a closer look. I had to get to a garage to get urgent repairs done.
There are at least 2 other 2000E's in our immediate area a blue 2000E and a Sliver Fox automatic. I have seen them driving around but have not been able to track them down.
By Age 15, (the Legal age for driving in New Zealand), I had purchased a Ford
Corsair Which I rebuilt over a 3 year period. The body had had all of the rust
removed prior to purchase and needed only minor work on the floor pan to complete, plus tidying up
before a re-spray and mechanical rebuild.
The Picture shows the car in 1987 after a bare metal strip and rebuild just back from the paint shop with the suspension refitted. I had a lot of help from 2 friends Kevin & Bob.
Over the Years, I purchased any corsairs that came up for sale to use a spare parts sources for both my corsair and my fathers. (Ford did not import Corsairs or corsair specific parts into New Zealand making parts almost unobtainable)
In recent years, I have found a picture of a white Corsair Station wagon in Dunedin in the South Island. Apparently the car has now gone and there is no known contact for this vehicle.
As I grew up I lost interest in the high maintenance of the Corsair fleet I used to run (leaving them parked in Mum & Dad's front yard and passed through a number of modern cars (Mazda 323 XGR-turbo, Mazda 626 Diesel, Mitsubishi Pajero). The truth is that Dad is a real collector and at various times over the years I have promised mum that I would get rid of them but Dad has always managed to talk me out of it.
Now that I am older am married to my beautiful wife Tracey, I am glad that the corsairs are still parked on the lawn at mum and Dads as I miss that familiar tick of the Corsair v4 and looked to purchase another one from the few that remain in New Zealand or purchase one in the UK to ship home.
I also started regularly buying the Classic Car Magazines from the Uk to see the cost of importing a good condition one from England. At the same time I bumped into the Ford Corsair Owners club Web Site and posted off my membership fee to see what the club was all about.
In one of the first magazines there was details of the 2001 Club Rally. I rang Liz Checkley and arranged to attend the rally. On a whim I phoned to ask if I could get a ride down from London to the Rally at Billings Aquadrome. Dave Wooltorton and Jaki kindly allowed me to drive their Crayford Cabriolet down to the rally for them. I was hooked, I had to get myself another corsair preferably a Crayford or at least a 2000E.
I agonised over how to get one for several months and finally tracked down a convertible in the club magazine. Dave kindly undertook negotiations and checked the car out for me. After a bit of long distance negotiations - I finally had my Crayford convertible and my dreams of owning a Crayford which I had wanted since I was about 15 and saw one in the Olyslager service manuals became true.
In early 2002, I was lucky enough to purchase a Crayford Convertible Corsair
(Photo Gallery - Convertible)
which is currently in the UK. My plans are to get it running
reliably and redo any body work since the spares are unobtainable in New Zealand
and to do 1a 3 month tour Around the UK and Europe then ship it home to New
Zealand. It was originally a 1967 Red GT but has been hand painted in cream. My
goal is to restore it so that it matched the Red GT Photo from the original
Crayford Sales Brochure.
I have also started collecting Ford Corsair Models (see Models Link) and Sales Literature and Manuals as suitable items become available.)
In June 2002, I brought by Father back to the UK for the first time in over 40 Years. We attended the FCOC rally with my sister then we will traveled around the Uk for 4-5 weeks including attending the Flying Legends Airshow July 13-14th http://www.fighter-collection.com/legends/. My other passion is WW2 aircraft. We hope to see moony of the friendly faces that I met last year at the club rally
I hope that you enjoy looking at this web site as much as I liked putting it together. If you have any stories or Photos that you would like to share please email me. Also please email me with any feedback positive or negative Mike Jones (click this link)
Mike Jones
The author is a currently resident of Auckland, New Zealand.
