First there was just one in a used car dealer's stock, then there was a whole batch of them. Now, says Brian Creer, you'll be able to buy one -

I drove the Cortina Fastback out on to the street and halted at the lights. A sweet young thing in a tram beside me gave me the kind of smile I'd given up hope of ever receiving years ago. As the lights cycled through amber, the cab driver on my left rolled down his window and called: "Hey mate - what is it?"

Before I could tell him that it was a Cortina 240/1500 Fastback, the lights had flicked to green and we were off through the rain puddles.

In the next three miles I was flagged by no fewer than four motorists (honest!), each one seeking the identity, country of origin and availability of the sleek, lean, very sexy fastback coupe they had been shadowing. One well dressed gentleman in a staid Super Snipe trailed me for a mile, weaving astern and abeam to look the vehicle over. At a stop light he finally rolled down his window and asked: "What is it called and how much is it?", adding, "It's foreign, of course."

I briefly informed him of the make and designation, and he looked most surprised when I corrected his mistaken impression that I was driving a foreign car. "Not a bit of it," I told him. "Built in Australia - right here in Victoria, matter of fact."

"Well I'm damned," he exclaimed, and away from the lights we whisked.

The Ford Cortina 240/1500 Fastback by Bodycraft produced similar conversational exchanges with other road users for the full day and a half which I had the pleasure of "owning" it. Few recognised its Cortina ancestry at first sighting. Fewer were prepared to accept that it was not a fabuously expensive import from some specialist British or Italian coachbuilding plant.

And on the face of it I can't say that I blame them, for this Fastback is, without a shadow of a doubt, the prettiest we have seen for many a long day. And, at a price of less than $300 more than the "ordinary" car (with factory warranty intact), it is one of the best priced.

Finished in white, with cherry interior, our test car was supplied by the reigning monarch of Melbourne's car marts, Kevin Dennis. It was, we found after racing down to his showroom after seeing it advertised, the prototype for a line of delicious Cortina Fastbacks designed by the Geelong firm of Bodycraft Pty. Ltd. Mechanically Cortina through and through, the Bodycraft Fastback version adds still more to the usual share of Cortina goodies.

Not the least of these additional benefits is increased headroom in the rear compartment. This is now greater than that offered by a Falcon.

Loud pedallers will be pleased to learn that, while the new body styling has increased body strength, its aerodynamics add between five and seven miles per hour to the maximum speed. As far as I was able to tell, after pushing the Fastback through suburban streets and hill roads, the handling qualities of the normal Cortina have been in no way impaired by the larger side area of the new body.

And, because its mechanicals are stock Cortina, unmodified in any way, we can perhaps pass over the usual road impressions dealing with handling, braking, acceleration, etc., etc. Apart from fractionally better fuel comsumption (due to better aerodynamics) and an additional seven mph at full chat, I could report little that has not been written before concerning Ford's little scorcher.

Road testers all over the world have driven Cortinas before, but AMS is the first motoring magazine to sample this beautifully styled Cortina Fastback, so let's stick to the body and its development.

First off, a word about Bodycraft Pty. Ltd. may not go astray, since most of you will not have heard of the company (I hadn't either).

Bodycraft, of Geelong, was established a little over 10 years ago to build ambulances. They are still in the meat-wagon business, and are currently Australia's largest producer of ambulances for civil and military use.

A few years ago the firm approached the Ford Motor Company with drawings of a station sedan version of the Mk.II Zephyr. Ford were impressed, and ordered a batch. Eventually Bodycraft produced more than 7500 Zephyr station sedans for Ford - with production hitting 35 per day at its peak.

In October last year Bodycraft's governing director (and chief stylist) Allan Cumming felt that there would be a market for a sleek body conversion on one of the smaller Ford vehicles. He chose the Cortina because he considered that it was the best vehicle available for modification to the fashionable "fastback" styling.

Development of the fastback took some six months, during which Ford Motor Company executives seemed enthusiastic, and people were tipping strongly that Ford would put the Fastback Cortina into production within a year.

This month any official interest Ford may have had in producing the Fastback Cortina was withdrawn. From the interest I encountered in a day and a half I can only say to the boys at Geelong: "Fellows - you have made one heck of a marketing goof."

Without Ford behind the project, Allan Cumming and Bodycraft are preparing to market the Fastback independently and there should be no shortage of orders.

Following the extensive testing of the design up to March of this year, Bodycraft has laid down a production line of 10 vehicles as an initial "marketing sample" batch. The company has already delivered four Fastbacks to private buyers.

The first was a 240/1500, then a two-door GT. Third Fastback built was a two-door GT version, but had slightly restyled rear quarter lights and rear window. The most recent Fastback delivered by Bodycraft is a special order 1500 Automatic, which must be surely among the prettiest four-door cars in the world.

Comparisons between the photographs of our two-door test car with the four-door 1500 Automatic reveal the subtle styling changes introduced with the four-door which will now become standard body styling for all future Bodycraft vehicles.

Bodycraft produces its Fastbacks by taking a brand-new Cortina (240/1500 or GT) and peeling the roof off from a point about level with the rear of the driver's door frame. All the rear bodywork down to the waist line is cut away and the new fastback is carefully grafted in place. Additional stiffening and framing is included and the boot line is extended rearwards at a shallower angle.

In the conversion, the depth of the boot is increased substantially, thus providing an even larger cavern than normally supplied with "cooking" Cortinas.

And, just in case you are inclined to think that this is just another of those lovely but "one-off" specials that never reach the market place, may I point out the following: The Bodycraft factory at Geelong occupies a three-acre site and roofs more than 35,000 sq. ft. of factory space. This plant is currently preparing for the series production of 250 Fastback Cortina 240/1500s and a limited number of Fastback Cortina GTs.

Our two-door 240/1500 test Fastback was a fairly tight motorcar when we took it over from Kevin Dennis. The odometer registered 239 miles, so we resolved to treat it gently.

Backing from the parking lot I found the large, squared rear window (green tinted) provided a fine view for tight manoeuvring.

Melbourne turned on its best August weather for my test (i.e., torrential rain, howling winds, and all but sub-zero temperatures). In such conditions weatherproofing faults could be expected to show up quickly, and they did. I traced two leaks in the rear window to joins in the sealing strips. These strips are now being fitted without the joint.

While I was thus engaged in tracing leaks, a Falcon pulled in beside me and the dealer introducd himself as a suburban Ford dealer.

"Hear the company isn't going to make these after all," he said sadly. "Pity... I could have sold a pile of them down my way."

The note of regret in his voice set me off again wondering why Ford had not jumped into this car, boots and all.

Perhaps I should advise Ford that GMH has inspected the Cortina Fastback thoroughly. GMH men have photographed it from every conceivable angle, run tape measures over its interior and exterior and favorably remarked on its appearance and styling.

It may be a coincidence, too, that I was followed for two miles by a crewcut gent in a Valiant, who eventually succeeded in snapping several photographs of the Fastback while I was buying petrol.

Of course, he may have been a staff man of an opposition magazine out after more "scoop" pictures. If that was the case, I commend him for his persistence, since he unwittingly provided me with an opportunity to try the Fastback's handling in a series of fast, multi-directional shatters through North Melbourne's narrow back alleys!

Summing up the Bodycraft Cortina 240 Fastback is a difficult matter. For its price it represents quite remarkable value, and in its GT version it is unmatched. As a piece of daily transportation, it is all Cortina, and therefore an acknowledged world-beater.