Ford · 1962–1983

Ford Cortina

The Ford Cortina is a medium-sized family car manufactured in various body styles from 1962 to 1982. It was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s. The Cortina was produced in five generations (Mark I through to Mark V, although officially the last one was only a Cortina 80 facelift of the Mk IV) from 1962 until 1982. From 1970 onward, it was almost identical to the German-market Ford Taunus (built on the same platform), which was originally a different car model. This was part of Ford's attempt to unify its European operations. By 1976, when the revised Taunus was launched, the Cortina was identical. The new Taunus/Cortina used the doors and some panels from the 1970 Taunus. It was replaced in 1982 by the Ford Sierra. In Asia and Australasia, it was replaced by the Mazda 626-based Ford Telstar, though Ford New Zealand, which built the sedan until 1983 and the estate car until 1984, did import British-made complete knock-down kits of the Sierra estate for local assembly from 1984. Cortinas were also assembled in South Africa until 1984, with the pick-up version remaining in production in that country until 1987. The name was inspired by the name of the Italian ski resort Cortina d'Ampezzo, site of the 1956 Winter Olympics. Several Cortinas were driven down the Cortina Olympic bobsled run at that resort, a publicity stunt which Ford called "Cortina Auto-Bobbing."

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Predecessor: Ford Consul Classic · Successor: Ford Sierra

All Ford Cortina data: UK builds, safety, recalls, model years →

Mark I (1962–1966)

Using the project name of "Archbishop", management at Ford of Britain in Dagenham created a family-sized car that they could sell in large numbers. The chief designer was Roy Brown Jr., the designer of the Edsel, who had been banished to Dagenham following the failure of that car. The Cortina, aimed at buyers of the Morris Oxford Farina and Vauxhall Victor, was launched on 20 September 1962. Also from 1962, it was manufactured at the Ford factory in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. The car was designed to be economical to buy, cheap to run, and easy and inexpensive to produce in Britain. The front-wheel drive configuration used by Ford of Germany for the new Ford Taunus P4, a similar-sized model, was rejected in favour of traditional rear-wheel drive layout. Originally to be called Ford Consul 225, the car was launched as the Consul Cortina until a modest facelift in 1964, after which it was sold simply as the Cortina. The Cortina was available with 1200 cc and (from early 1963) 1500 cc four-cylinder engines with all synchromesh gearbox, in two-door and four-door saloon, as well as in five-door estate (from March 1963). The saloon model featured large, round, 'Ban the Bomb' taillight clusters. Standard, Deluxe, Super, and GT trims were offered, but not across all body styles. Early Standard models featured a simple body-coloured front grille, earning it the nickname 'Ironbar'. Since this version cost almost the same as the better-equipped Deluxe, it sold poorly and is now very rare. Options included a heater and bench seat with column gearchange (shifter). Super versions of the estates offered the option of simulated wood side and tailgate trim. In an early example of product placement, many examples of the new Cortina featured as "Glamcabs" in the comedy film Carry On Cabby. T

Mark II (1966–1970)

The second incarnation of the Cortina, designed by Roy Haynes, was launched on 18 October 1966, four years after the original Cortina. It had some styling elements in common with the third-generation US Ford Falcon. Although the launch was accompanied by the slogan "New Cortina is more Cortina", the car, at 168 in (4,267 mm) long, was fractionally shorter than before. Its 2+1⁄2 inches (64 mm) of extra width and curved side panels provided more interior space. Other improvements included a smaller turning circle, softer suspension, self-adjusting brakes and clutch, and the availability, for the UK and some other markets, of a new five-bearing 1300 cc engine. A stripped-out, 1200 c version running the engine of the Ford Anglia Super was also available for certain markets, where the 1300 cc engine attracted a higher tax rate. The 1500 cc engines were at first carried over, but were discontinued in July 1967, as a new engine was on its way. A month later, in August, the 1300 received a new crossflow cylinder head design, making it more efficient, while a crossflow 1600 replaced the 1500. The new models carried additional "1300" or "1600" designations at the rear. An 1100 cc crossflow engine from the Escort was also offered for markets such as Greece, where higher engine capacities were taxed heavily. The Cortina Lotus continued with its own unique engine, although for this generation it was built in-house by Ford. The Cortina was Britain's most popular new car in 1967, achieving the goal that Ford had been trying to achieve since it began creating the original Cortina in 1962. This interrupted the long run of BMC's 1100/1300 range as Britain's best-selling car. Period reviews were favourable concerning both the styling and performance. Again, two- and four-door saloons were

TC Mark III (1970–1976)

In the late 1960s, Ford set about developing the third-generation Cortina, the Mark III, which would be produced in higher volumes than before following the merger of Ford of Britain and Ford of Germany into the modern-day Ford of Europe. The car marked the convergence of the German Taunus and British Cortina platforms with only minor differences between the two, hence the car's internal name TC1, standing for Taunus-Cortina. It was also the last European car engineered by Harley Copp as vice president of engineering and head of Brentwood, before he returned to Detroit. Ford UK originally wanted to call it something other than Cortina, but the name stuck. Although the Mark III looked significantly larger than the boxier Mark II Cortina, it was actually the same overall length, but 4 inches (100 mm) wider. Within the overall length, a wheelbase lengthened by more than 3 inches (76 mm) also contributed to the slightly more spacious interior. The Mark III Cortina was inspired by the contemporary "coke bottle" design language which had emanated from Detroit – the car sported similar fluted bonnet and beltline design elements to the North American Mercury Montego and Ford LTD of the same era. It replaced both the Mark II Cortina and the larger, more expensive Ford Corsair, offering more trim levels and the option of larger engines than the Mark II Cortina. The Mark III's continental European sister car – the Taunus TC – was subtly different in appearance, with longer front indicators, different taillights, different door skins, different bonnet and boot lid pressings (and hence a different radiator grille), and rear-wing pressings that toned down the drooping beltline, lessening the "coke-bottle" appearance of the Cortina. Also, the dual round headlights fitted to the upmark

Mark IV (1976–1979)

The Mark IV Cortina (or TC2, as it was the second generation of the unified Taunus-Cortina platform) was a more conservative design than its predecessor, and this was largely appreciated by fleet buyers. Generally, it was a rebody of the Mark III/TC with little mechanical change as an integration of Ford's model range, and as a result, the Cortina and Taunus now differed only in badging. Although the updated Taunus was introduced to Continental Europe in January 1976, Ford were able to continue selling the Cortina Mark III in undiminished numbers in the UK until they were ready to launch its successor as the Dagenham-built Cortina Mark IV, which went on sale on 29 September 1976. Many parts were carried over, most notably the running gear. The raised driving position and the new dashboard had, along with some of the suspension upgrades, had already appeared in the 1974 model year Cortina MkIII, so that from the driving position, the new car looked much more familiar to owners of recent existing Cortinas than from the outside. Cinema audiences saw the new Cortina (or Taunus) chasing James Bond in his Lotus Esprit in the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me. The most obvious change was the new, squarer body in line with contemporary "folded paper" fashion of the time – although it still featured a subtle 'Coke-bottle' waistline as a reference to its predecessor – along with a lowered boot lid height which achieved the marketing department objective of larger windows giving a better view out and a brighter feel to the cabin, but at the expense of body weight, which was increased, albeit only marginally, by about 30 lb (14 kg). Ford claimed an overall increase in window area of some 15%, with "40% better visibility" through the wider, deeper back window. Regardless of how these f

Mark V (1979–1982)

The Mark V (or TC3) was announced on 24 August 1979. Officially, the programme was code named Teresa, although externally it was marketed as "Cortina 80", but the Mark V tag was given to it immediately on release by the press, insiders and the general public. Prices started at £3,475 for a basic 1.3-litre-engined model. Largely an update of the Mark IV, it was really a step between a facelift and a rebody. The Mark V differed from the Mark IV by having revised headlights with larger turn indicators incorporated (which were now visible on the side, too), the "Aeroflow" grille (first seen on the Mk1 Fiesta) which was said to be more aerodynamically efficient, a flattened roof, larger glass area, slimmer C-pillars with revised vent covers, larger slatted taillights (on saloon models) and detail changes to the dashboard and interior, most notably a new extended centre console housing the radio to allow for new centre air vents on the fascia. The styling upgrades were done primarily to bring the Cortina/Taunus into line with Ford's current design language seen on the Fiesta MkI, Capri MkIII, and the forthcoming Escort MkIII. Improvements were also made to the engine range, with slight improvements to both fuel economy and power output compared to the Mark IV. The 2.3-litre V6 engine was given electronic ignition and a slight boost in power output to 116 bhp (87 kW; 118 PS), compared to the 108 bhp (81 kW; 109 PS) of the Mark IV. Ford also claimed improved corrosion protection on Mark V models; as a result, more Mark Vs have survived, but corrosion was still quite a problem. The estate models combined the Mark IV's bodyshell (which was initially from the 1970 Ford Taunus) with the Mark V front body pressings. A pick-up ("bakkie") version was also built in South Africa. In 198

Sales success

In 1967, the Ford Cortina interrupted the Austin/Morris 1100/1300s reign as Britain's best-selling car. It was Britain's best-selling car for nine out of ten years between 1972 and 1981, narrowly being outsold by the Ford Escort in 1976. The final incarnation of the Cortina was Britain's best-selling car in 1980 and 1981, also topping the sales charts for 1979 when the range was making the transition from the fourth-generation model to the fifth – in that year it achieved a British record of more than 193,000 sales. Even in 1982, when during its final year of production, it was second only to the Ford Escort. The Cortina was also a very popular-selling car in New Zealand throughout its production and continued to be sold new until 1984. Although the Sierra went on sale in October 1982, thousands of Cortinas were still unsold at this point. More than 11,000 were sold in 1983, with five examples being sold as late as 1987 when the Sierra Sapphire eventually launched. Its demise left Ford without a traditional four-door saloon of this size, as the Sierra was initially available only as a hatchback or estate. Ford later addressed this by launching a saloon version of the Sierra (the Sierra Sapphire) at the time of a major facelift in early 1987. It also added an Escort-based four-door saloon, the Orion, to the range in 1983 – attracting many former Cortina buyers. More than 2.8 million Cortinas were sold in Britain during its 20-year, five-generation production run, and in March 2009, the Cortina was still the third-most popular car ever sold there, despite having been out of production for nearly three decades. Such was its popularity that though it was only produced for three years of the 1980s, the Cortina was still Britain's seventh-best selling car of that decade with

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Specifications

name: Ford Cortina
Manufacturer: Ford UK
aka: Ford Consul Cortina
Production: 1962–1982 (Europe & Australia), 1970–1984 (South Africa), 1968–1983 (South Korea)
Related: Ford Taunus, Ford Capri
Successor: Ford Sierra, Ford Telstar, Ford Orion
Predecessor: Ford Consul, Ford Consul Corsair (Mark III)
Class: Large family car (D)
Layout: Front-engine, rear-wheel drive