When we clocked this 1967 MkII Cortina De Luxe, it was lust at first sight. Packing faded factory paint, a perfect stance, that bonnet paintwork and a 200bhp transplant, we just had to find out more from its builder, Paul Smith.

WHEN WE PASSED Paul Smith and his Ford Cortina on the motorway up to the Retro Show, immediately, the dashboard of the Dep-O jalopy got a bit wet with drool. Lowered to the point of making ants duck – making it look like God is leaning on it – riding on hubcapped black steels and sporting a paint-job which would make a Pebble Beach judge self-harm. Oh yes there is something massively appealing about this slightly rusty, scuffed and faded 1967 MkII ’Tina.

Of course, it might be tempting to describe this as a track-rat, but that would be wrong because Paul really doesn’t give a monkey’s about how his quarter pounder looks, let alone bother with labelling it. Engine and mechanicals by Paul Smith; bodywork and paint by Mother Nature, with a little chequered help from hot-rodding mate, Brett.

“I’ve had it for 10 years – sort of doing it up, but not doing it up! If you know what I mean. I’ve had to do loads of welding to it and I’ve put a 2-litre Vauxhall XE motor into it, which is running on Suzuki Hayabusa throttle bodies and Omex engine management,” says Paul. “It was a Series 1 1300 De Luxe, which would have had around 60bhp when it came out of the factory and now it’s got 200bhp.

“It was going alright last year, until I broke the back axle – now it’s got a narrowed Ford Mustang one under it. I’ve just put a slipper in it and I was hoping to do really well in it today, but it’s gone a bit worse! Everyone though, is doing a slower time today, so I’m not too bothered about that…

“I’ve had it for ages. I’ve only been messing with it and I think I’m going to have to paint it this Winter. I don’t really want to but there’s rust coming! I don’t mind them being rough, but I don’t like rusty.

“Most of the body is standard. I’ve had to do things like take the battery tray out of the engine bay, and it’s seam-welded and turreted like they do on the rally MkII Escorts for strength. Apart from that, there are no real big changes to the body. The leaf hangers are all in the original places – and there’s a three-link set-up on it. It’s pretty much as it came out of the factory, apart from trimming bits off the gearbox tunnel – that’s the biggest body modification…”

That’s because transmitting drive from the XE to the slim-line Mustang axle is an aluminium SBD flywheel and Racing clutch-plate, Sierra RS Cosworth clutch and a Ford Type-9 gearbox with SBD bell-housing.

The bore and crank of the Vauxhall XE is all standard, the only new bits being a pair of cams, vernier gears and the fact that Paul’s “mildly ported” it. “Mildly meaning I’ve had a bit of a go! I read a book and it seems to be going alright! I had Northampton Motorsport set it all up, and the guy down there is shit-hot.

“I took it in, after I’d finished messing about with it, and I got 160bhp from it on the rollers. Exactly the same set-up, he just tuned it his way, and it came out with 198bhp. As you can imagine, it was a totally different car,” says Paul.

“The interior’s all been stripped out, but only since last week. I came down here to the ‘Classic Ford’ show and it was my first time drag racing. I went up, did a best quarter-mile of 14.2sec and then I stripped it out. I took the back-seats out, the front passenger seat, little bit like that… I’ve got the bug a bit! So this time I thought I’d put a slipper under the back and took everything out of the interior before I even came down here.”

Okay, so the drag habit is new, but Paul’s Ford addiction is long established since moving over from Minis. Past delights from Dagenham have included a stock MkI Cortina, a Pinto-engined MkII Escort and a MkI P100 with a Cosworth V6 transplant.

“For now, it will always be that,” says Paul, nodding in the direction of his cracking, wheeled slice of shabby chic. “I don’t think I’ll ever sell it. It’s done and I’ll keep on adding to it. I’ve got a turbo engine in the garage at the minute, I’m just waiting for some money for the pistons…”

One last thing, where did that bonnet come from – you’re not starting to get into styling or looks are you…?

“The idea for the bonnet’s paint came from a hot-rod rear bulkhead. My bonnet flew up when I did a Curborough sprint day, it was bent and knackered, so I bought a GRP one to replace it. Brett said that it looked crap, so I told him to paint it then… He did and then he scuffed it up with some Scotch pads, to make it look like it was done ages ago. It was really only done three weeks ago!” Thankfully not, then.

“I like the look of it as it is. If I painted it up mint, which I might have to do, I don’t think I’d like it as much… I can’t believe the attention it’s getting…”

Given our deep fondness for Fordness, we can understand why it’s getting so much attention: it’s such a first-rate, honest, old skool Ford with a kick under its bonnet – but at the same time, we can also understand Paul’s dilemma. It looks fantastic as it is, a car which bears its life on its paint; scars, prangs and scratches – but we are talking about a Sixties Ford here. Cars which were built out of metal with less resilience to UK weather than a damp water-soluble Alka Seltzer tablet.

All we would humbly suggest to Paul is: if you really must address the problem of your ’Tina turning ginger, think spots of primer and matt varnish…