Ron Bruner's Mk.I GT (USA)

The Rise and Fall of Ron Bruner's Mk.I GT
(Shelton, Connecticut, USA)

Ron Bruner's 1965 Mk.I GT - 'Before' shot.

This is the Cortina GT Ron bought in 1965, the day he brought it home from the dealer, complete with whitewalls. "That was taken in Scarsdale, NY (famous as an affluent NY suburb). We had many European cars in the neighborhood as opposed to basic US towns. The people with the Kombi also had a Jaguar 3.8 saloon. Across the street lived an Austin-Healey 100-4. The neighbor who owned the dealership where I bought the Cortina raced a Citroen with the back seat section cut out and welded back together- great ice-racer. He got me into racing the Cortina. Mostly gymkhana (auto-cross) with a little road racing."

Same car, different angle.

"I became aware of them in 1965. I was in the market for a car and ran into a Cortina owner who let me take his for a spin. A few months later, I took delivery of the second British Racing Green GT that arrived at the docks in New York City. Until then the only available colors were red, white or blue."

Kiss this, Corvair driver!

Ron used to drag-race his GT. "I had already been into that with my buddies and their big American V-8's. Figured I'd see what the little 1500cc car could do....it embarassed a lot of American cars with 6 cylinders." In this shot he's taking on a 6 cylinder Chev Corvair. "Sure, with the rear engine, he got me off the line. I won at the top end - after the Weber stopped bogging down after that silly gap between 2nd and 3rd gear. I used to shift to 3rd early to avoid the big rpm drop. Otherwise, it stumbled too long trying to swallow unburned gasoline. My best time for the quarter mile was 17.9 seconds. Not exactly blazing but respectable in those days for a 1500cc 4cyl."

Whoops...

Unfortunately the GT's drag-racing career was cut short. "I did a 2 wheel drift (or opposite-lock power slide) on a sharp left-hander where there happened to be a utility pole at the edge of the pavement. The last time I'd looked I was doing about 100MPH (160 kph). As you can see, the right rear quarter met the pole. On the rebound, the Dunlops grabbed the pavement and tossed the car in the air, landing on it's roof. My scar is visible now that I've gone bald!" It cost Ron's dad $300 for a new utility pole.

"That '65 was replaced immediately by a '68 GT (parked behind in the view of the left side)."

Ron's still at it these days, restoring a 1966 GT which he's had in his basement since 1977. Here it is with a fresh coat of paint. Want to talk Cortys with Ron? Try RGBruner@aol.com or rgbphoto@mindspring.com.

Some final thoughts from Ron: "I think there is still interest in the Cortina in the USA. We are mostly a bunch of motor-heads here. The Cortina came in at a time when the "baby-boomers" were beginning to drive and buy affordable cars. The VW bug was #1 and is still held in great esteem by those who bought one as a first car. I'm sure many Cortina owners were young, first-time buyers. People are paying big money for older Chevies and Fords that they learned to drive on - or had their first dates in. We are in a huge nostalgia boom here...I hope you see that reflected in the number of visitors to your site from the US."