image by Albert S. Bite

The British racing enthusiasts are well introduced to Jeff Uren. He was Ford rally team manager and enjoyed a successful racing career in saloon cars from 1955 to 1964. He also raced a GSM Delta in GT races.

He owns a company “Race Proved Performance and Racing Ltd.” – and is typically remembered for transforming Ford Cortinas into what was called “Savage” conversions. Uren was very talented and also worked with Ford Detroit and Willment. Uren converted combinations like Apache 3.0-Litre V6 Escort, Comanche V6 Capri, Capri powered by Mustang V8 engine and so on in 1960. But his most popular Savage conversion being Cortina 1600 E-MKII powered by Ford Zodiac V6 Essex engine. He did a tremendous job, he literally converted a mouse into a racing monster by installing a powerful engine and making numerous intricate changes to ensure good performance.

A car Body is made and streamlined according to the engine power effects and imbalanced drive which could be dangerous for driver safety. But Uren knows what he was upto. He have had gained enough experience when working at Ford Detroit to understand the engine performance and the weak points of the chassis. He was using a big engine in a light chassis of Ford Cortina.

image by Albert S. Bite

He introduced many changes to house the weighty V6 engine to absorb the increased stresses when on road and then at high speed. The body joints were strengthened by seam welding besides adding additional cross-bars to provide extra rigidity. New engine mountings were reformed to fit the new sized engine. Shock absorbers and their springs were rebuilt to avoid front axle damage. The front axle was intended to be a swivel for the axle and the steering mechanism while the rear linkage was to support car weight. This required special specifications for the rear shocks and springs. Uren proved a real wizard to have thought all the details in advance to coup with road-drive stresses and those occurring in conjunction with speed–momentum-air resistance.

He relocated the battery in the boot and minimized the wiring in front. The alternator was also converted and improved exhaust system provided. The large cooling system was replaced. The rear differential ratio was improved to meet the racing needs. A bigger fuel tank was attached. Alloy wheels provided for a better grip along with a sunshine roof.

This is the tedious different way the “Savage” conversion was completed in the prototype.

The test ride proved the efforts worthwhile. It provided good directional stability. The road –testers noted the specific noise on broken roads, which were natural with standard Cortina MARK II.

On the whole the conversion was approved by the racing enthusiasts considering its good performance in that period with 101 KW and 247 Nm on tap by a 1068 Kg car.

The General impression of a nose heavy car with a heavy weight V6 engine with equally heavy understear was done away with when the weight distribution was calculated to 54:46 ratio (front : rear). This ratio was the result of very considered body / suspension modifications. This ratio proved better than the standard new ford Cortina MKII.

The Savage conversion became quite popular with racing fans that hundreds of Cortinas were converted between 1967 and 1970. All it needed was a good strong chassis / body of Cortina to qualify for the Savage treatment.