The Ford Cortina Story + extras

[nalaeroom]

Original Press Pack from when the Cortina was finished by Ford, also David Benson from Daily Express handwritten article about Cortina and The New Sierra................




















































David Bensons Handwritten Article.............





Alan M

[Roy C]

Interesting stuff.

Thanks for sharing.

[iSore]

The good old days of Ford when they really knew how to market cars. The basic 1300 Cortina 4 door mark 3 was cheaper than the 1300 Allegro.
They weren't that good, but they were just good enough.

[RedexR]

I remember the where were you moment "The Cortina name ends , the Sierra starts". Alexi Sayle certainly made a note of it !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhHJ4zEKDZY

[Changedmyname]

My father had a brand new MK3 2000GT ,pinto engine at it's best.
I had a 1.3 MK2 when I first started driving, I loved the rwd.

[williamp]

fascinating, thank you. Interesting how close the production numbers of the mk 1 and mk2 were: was this deliberate somehow, or coincidental?

[DBSV8]

this was the car exact same spec as my fathers , the car i learnt to drive in 2.0 litre

moondust with blue vynl roof

[nalaeroom]

RedexR said:

I remember the where were you moment "The Cortina name ends , the Sierra starts". Alexi Sayle certainly made a note of it !

Article from NME I think




Alan M

[Flipatron]

Love the Ford promo picture of the 1980 GLS on page 8, looks like quality control was typical late 70's

[otherman]

They still make them, although they changed the name again. Here's the mark VII

[Flipatron]

I thought this was the MK VII?

[killysprint]

Great Stuff.....like a story of the cars of my childhood. The pictures bring back so many memories.

First cars I remember are my dad's mkIIs, a 1300 super then a purple 1600E. For the next 15 or so years he had numerous Mk3, 4 and 5s interspersed with a princess 2200HLS and a Mk2 Cavalier. During the mid 70's I remember the changes to the specs as he had a new car almost every year.

I remember the day the Sierra was launched - as he had a red 1.6L 5 SPEED!!!! hired from Swan National as his MK4 Ghia Auto expired with 130,000 miles on the clock on that very day while waiting for delivery of his new MK2 Cavalier. He changed jobs soon after and instead of having a new sierra, took a 18 month old MK5 Ghia instead from the pool as he disliked the Sierra so much!!

Would quite like a MK4 2.3S......guess there's not too many left now if any!

Edited by killysprint on Sunday 4th November 10:12

[LuS1fer]

The Cortina was always the best in trms of syling but certainly not in terms of dynamic ability.
Though my father worshipped his red Mk II 1500GT, I suspect that was more to do with the whole image the car had at the time, compared his previous Zephyr Mk 3s.

When time came to buy my own car, I bought an A40 Farina after finding the Cortina disappointing and that continued even after owning a Mk 1 1200 and a Mk II 1300 and not being able to bring myself to buy a Mk II 1600GT and a Mk III 2000E. I did briefly have an unwanted 1600E which I bought solely to make a small profit on but that was nothing great though I was driving Alfas by then.

My father went on to have an underwhelming Sierra which wasn't a whole lot better than the Cortina, it just looked radical. While Ford claimed the radical Sierra styling affected sales, the Cavalier Mk II was a really a better car, FWD and all.

Don't get me wrong, I still LOVED the way the Cortina looked in every Mark and Ford had the luxury of bing able to alter the styling wholesale because it was going to succeed regardless.

[quiraing]

Had a signal-yellow Mk4 2000S with black vinyl roof, TSE 777R. That one was destroyed in late 1980s. Are there any Mk4 2000S or 2300S cars still around? Haven't seen a Mk4 for years, never mind an S model.