Meet The Owner – David Birch And His 1965 Ford Cortina De Luxe

Put simply, Mr. Birch’s Ford Cortina 1500 De Luxe ‘Aeroflow’ is one of the most ‘1965’ cars that you are ever likely to encounter. There is that sculptured dashboard, the tripod rear lights, the four-on-the-column gear change and, of course, the colour scheme. David remarks, “My first car was a 1962 1200 two-door Goodwood Green Mk. I which bought from my mum. She taught me to drive in it, and I passed the first time’.

Alas David’s first Cortina met with an unfortunate demise. “It was rear-ended by an MGB GT. I was stationary, and he hit me at 40 mph. The Cortina was bent to about 45 degrees from the middle back”. However, David never forgot that Consul-Cortina, and so in 2017 he acquired a 1965 De Luxe in the same shade of green.

Ford updated the Cortina in late 1964, two years after its launch, th major talking points were the new grille (apart from the ‘Standard’ version), the revised fascia and the amber front indicators. There was also the loss of the ‘Consul’ prefix, front disc brakes as standard on all models - and Aeroflow ventilation. To quote The Telegraph:

With the new Ford system, called ‘Aeroflow’, the driver can cruise at motorway speeds with all windows closed while the air inside the car is changed every 40 seconds.

Ford claimed that “in terms of sheer motoring comfort ‘Aeroflow’ is probably one of the most significant advances in motor car development”. Hyperbole aside, it was a genuinely radical innovation on a medium-sized British saloon. The- Hillman Minx and Super Minx may have featured a fresh air inlet mounted in the driver’s footwell, but none of the Cortina’s rivals offered dashboard “eyeball” vents combined with extractors on the C-pillars. Aeroflow was part of the design philosophy described by Ford’s Director of the Car Division, Terence Beckett in 1964:

What we were trying to do was establish a new price-package relationship. We were attempting to give the customer more value for money: more room, luggage space and performance than any car had given before in this class and price range. 

When Autocar tested the facelifted Cortina GT, they concluded the Aeroflow set-up was “good enough to tip the balance for anyone otherwise undecided about which car to buy”. Motor Sport was similarly impressed – ‘This new heating and ventilating system would be a great achievement in an expensive car; in one costing less than £781 it is revolutionary”. As for the four-door De Luxe, it cost a mere £648 5d.

The Cortina Mk. II replaced the Aeroflow Mk. I in late 1966, by which time sales had passed the ‘million’ point. David acquired his De Luxe "as a surprise wedding car for our wedding and it stole the show”. David’s car is one of the few equipped with a steering column gear change; Ford dropped this option in September 1965, although they re-introduced it for the Mk. II. Mr, Birch notes that “It felt difficult at first, but you do get used to it very quickly, and it actually becomes quite pleasurable as it is completely different to today’s driving”,
 
As for the reaction from the public – “people point, sound their horns, wind windows down at traffic lights and tell me what a great car it is”. David admits to “making a point of driving past crowded areas to show her off”, but this is quite understandable when you are the custodian of a 1965 Goodwood Green Ford Cortina. And if Tom Robinson did not have an Aeroflow like Mr. Birch’s in mind (colour aside) when he wrote his famous song, he really should have.

With thanks to David Birch for his time and permission to use the images in this blog.