Sometimes a restoration transcends the mechanical and becomes an act of devotion.

Such is the case with this remarkable Ford Consul Cortina Mk1 1500 Super, rediscovered in 2017 as a forlorn shell in a part-exposed barn in Garstang, Lancashire, and brought painstakingly and lovingly back to a level of perfection far beyond anything Ford could have imagined when it first left Dagenham in April 1964.

Having lain dormant since 1992, the Cortina (the Consul name was dropped in late 1964) was acquired by our vendor as a dismantled project, twice sold as a would-be restoration but never completed.

It was, quite literally, a jigsaw in boxes, yet all the key elements of originality remained.

The brief was ambitious - a full nut and bolt rebuild to concours standards, but still capable of being driven and enjoyed.

The bare shell was sent to Environmental Stripping in Staffordshire, revealing sound metal beneath the surface grime but also the scale of the challenge ahead.

A suitable craftsm...