Ford Cortina 80

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Discussion

Gunk

3,302 posts

158 months

Tuesday 7th March 2017
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I always thought that the Mk V was not the most successful facelift, the Mk IV was just more cohesive design. To my eyes the V was over fussy, especially the wider tail lights.

MarkwG

4,813 posts

188 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
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I think the facelift was a result of delays with the Sierra replacement, rather than a conscious decision that the design needed updating. The Sierra was a monumental risk for Ford Europe & I don't think they foresaw that the Cavalier/Ascona would be a) fwd & b) a roaring success. For GM, going fwd was the risk, for Ford, the "jelly mould" shape was the leap of faith. The Probe 3 wasn't universally liked, so they were brave to carry on with the principle.

These days, manufacturers tend to take less risk with the core vehicles (Golf, 3 series, A4 etc) - they tend to try really wild stuff on the ends of the spectrum.

iSore

4,011 posts

143 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
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It's surprising the Cortina lasted as long as it did. The Mark III of 1970 was never brilliant and the 4 and 5 were just facelift versions of that. It was better than a Marina, but nowhere near as good as the first Cavalier.

Balmoral

40,661 posts

247 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
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iSore said:
It's surprising the Cortina lasted as long as it did.
It carried on until 1992, so very long lived. For some reason the MKVI was renamed the Sierra.

yellowjack

17,065 posts

165 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
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My dad made parts for the Cortina.

He worked at Ford, Jersey Marine (now an Amazon warehouse or something like that). I remember he had a clipboard with "Cortina Hub Line" written on it. But that was prior to the "One hour off the day, £1 on the pay" strike of the late 1970s (1978 I think) after which my old man took voluntary redundancy.

Back then Ford had at least 23 factory sites and more than 70,000 employees here in the UK. How times have changed!

iSore

4,011 posts

143 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
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Balmoral said:
t carried on until 1992, so very long lived. For some reason the MKVI was renamed the Sierra.
?

The Sierra had next to nothing in common with the Cortina. Only the engine and 4 speed box was carried over.

Balmoral

40,661 posts

247 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
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Yup, entirely new, and yet somehow exactly the same smile

iSore

4,011 posts

143 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
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Balmoral said:
Yup, entirely new, and yet somehow exactly the same smile
Okay.

MarkwG

4,813 posts

188 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
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iSore said:
It's surprising the Cortina lasted as long as it did. The Mark III of 1970 was never brilliant and the 4 and 5 were just facelift versions of that. It was better than a Marina, but nowhere near as good as the first Cavalier.
I ran a Cortina whilst a mate ran a mk1 Cavalier, & in reality there was little in it; differences were largely down to perception & personal preference. The Ford didn't need to be brilliant in 1970: it needed to be simple to operate, reliable but easy to fix if it broke, & good value to buy. Assisted by clever marketing, a wide range of options & very little in the way of competition, Ford had it in the bag. Fleets weren't interested in anything more, & were sick of being fobbed off by other manufacturers dumping garbage like the Marina on them. Nothing Vauxhall built suited, & the Cavalier was 6 years behind the Cortina, far too long to run head to head & win: it had to be much "better" to stand any chance of conquest sales. Until around 1981, the Ascona was also available, which although practically identical, robbed sales from the Cavalier rather than denting the Fords prospects. The General snoozed for too long, hence the need to be radical with the mk2 Cavalier. But that's another story.

iSore

4,011 posts

143 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
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I know what you're saying. The Mark 4 was much improved over the 3 (apparently, the solid rear panel between the rear lights made a huge difference to shell stiffness and noise suppression) but there Cavalier really did ride and handle a lot better. But Vauxhall had a poor reputation until it arrived and stuff like the Passat, whilst better, was a lot more money.

The other ting is, not everyone is a keen driver. My Uncle had a Roman bronze R plate 1.6 GL as a new car in 1977 and still rates it as one of the best cars he had. He has a 2011 E90 320d M Sport now.

The Sierra was a huge step forward in 1982. The difference in ride, handling and economy is startling (the 5 speed box and low CD figure mainly) and like the Granada, it was closer to the BMW/Merc stuff in drivability than punters gave it credit for.

Mr Tidy

22,065 posts

126 months

Thursday 9th March 2017
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iSore said:
The Sierra was a huge step forward in 1982. The difference in ride, handling and economy is startling (the 5 speed box and low CD figure mainly) and like the Granada, it was closer to the BMW/Merc stuff in drivability than punters gave it credit for.
Maybe in driveability, sadly not so much in build quality. laugh

swisstoni

16,855 posts

278 months

Friday 10th March 2017
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I had a Mk4 2.0S in Signal Yellow. Have good memories of it. Felt like a big step on from the Mk2 I had.
I learnt some rudimentary body repair due to it rusting fairly easily round the edges.
Camshaft went (as was tradition) and then it finally got nicked from Erith Stn. and written off (as was also tradition).

ashway

532 posts

164 months

Saturday 11th March 2017
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When I got married in 1982 my Dad loaned me his 2.3 Ghia, gold with brown vinyl roof, to go on honeymoon. One of the guests wrote just married in shaving foam on the boot and bonnet and when it was later washed the clearcoat had been etched. Both needed a respray

Elysium

13,764 posts

186 months

Saturday 11th March 2017
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My first car was a Mark V 1.6L - Y reg in rio brown.

I spent a lot of time searching scrapyards for Crusader and Ghia parts(I managed to find a good centre console and wood dash trim) to liven it up.

It's a shame that cheap RWD cars are not around any more as it was brilliant to learn to drive in. Not quick, but quite happy to over steer.

I had day dreams about adding twin Weber carbs and even a turbo retro-fit, but it gave up the ghost when I was at University.

It feels good that people are trying to keep these cars on the road.

KateV8

448 posts

151 months

Saturday 11th March 2017
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My driving years began with a 1.6 Mk 3 in brown bought on a dark wet night, a rookie error as the next day revealed the number of holes in the bodywork. After much filler, a new back axle and a thick coat of brush painted dark brown coach paint (couldn't afford a respray, the brush marks looked like a ploughed field) it was eventually scrapped after just 76k miles with a blown engine. It was just seven years old, not untypical for the time.
Next followed a green mk 5, again 1.6 and this time my mechanic brother-in-law and I fitted a four branch manifold and a twin Webber. It livened it up a bit but it was never quick and the handling, especially the rear end, was very poor especially in the wet or on any kind of greasy road. But in those days you had to learn to drive a car and I think the reactions in catching the back end, although perhaps slowed a little by age, are still with me and give me confidence in my current supercharged TVR. I do think that young drivers today,cosseted as they are by driver aids and inherently safe and easy to drive cars, are missing out on learning skills of basic car craft. Every day on my commute to work I see people doing things that they would never get away with in either a Cortina or my TVR, braking on the apex of a wet bend having arrived too fast being probably the most common example. So Cortinas I salute your memory,you served and taught me well.

georgezippy

413 posts

194 months

Tuesday 18th April 2017
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mcford said:
Ford Cortina 80, otherwise known as the Mark 5.

I've owned a few of these over years, so does anyone else have experiences of them?

My first car was exactly this in 1990, same colour combo and a nice cabin/seats to sit in.
The 1.6 4 speed was very slow, I sold it for a Capri 2.0 laser that was MUCH quicker (infact I still have that 25 yrs on!)

More recently I had a mk4 Cortina with a 2.9 cossie 24v in, that shifted!

Very rare now, my local classic car show is the Uxbridge one in July which is big and last year there was 1 mk5 Cortina there.

Dogwatch

6,223 posts

221 months

Tuesday 18th April 2017
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Several mentions of the Crusader version here. Wasn't that an end-of-line special in conjunction with Express Newspapers?

The dreaded VV carb failure struck on my Mk5 so that was changed for an after-market manual choke, can't remember the name, which lasted until the car was rear-ended and binned. Just as well as the scuttle rot also mentioned had set in.

Shezbo

594 posts

129 months

Tuesday 18th April 2017
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Dad - was a real Ford man (Cortina man come to that!), ran every model from 1965 (second hand Mk1) through the 60's, 70's and 80's finally ending the relationship with a Mk5.

The Mk5 never found any love whatsoever - the Mk11 (1600 super) and Mk111 (several as I recall) were his fav's.

I personally remember driving the Mk5...very floaty at the rear....

So the Ford went, replaced with a Cavalier 2000GLS....which sat on the drive 1/2 inch taller on its suspension on the drivers side....

iSore

4,011 posts

143 months

Tuesday 18th April 2017
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The Cortina was just what buyers wanted - good looking, easy to drive, cheap to maintain and a good resale value. A brilliant Cortina sized car was an Alfetta that fell to bits in 3 years, or a 520i E12 that cost as much as an XJ6.

Read a Mark III brochure with the various bright colours and trim levels.......a 2000 GXL 2 door in a good colour was a desirable car and for so little money.

MikeT66

2,680 posts

123 months

Wednesday 19th April 2017
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My father was a Ford buyer - and had one of the MKIVs before 'upgrading' to a Capri. Back then I thought the Cortina was boxy and unlovely. It's clean lines have certainly appreciated with age, though.

The one I rarely see (and still love the look of) is the MKIII two-door, though.



Loved them, even as a kid. I always thought they looked like mini-Yank cars. Mind you, I loved the old Celica, too, for the same reason.