Most years see a number of classic car anniversaries of one kind or another, and 2022 is no exception – we’ve had the 75th anniversary of Ferrari, including the 60th birthday of that marque’s legendary 250GTO. It’s also 60 years since the launch of the Lotus Elan, 50 since the first appearance of one of the greatest and most radical sports cars ever, the Lancia Stratos, and also 60 since the introduction of the AC Cobra, and several others, all noteworthy, of course.
We’ve only specifically written about a couple of them – the aforementioned 250GTO, and the Renault 5’s 50th, so we thought it time we took a look at a couple of other anniversaries, both of which made a significant impact on the fortunes of their manufacturer, the market sector they competed in, and on the average motorist – let’s take a brief run through their history.
Both come from Ford, and the first of these is the Cortina, which was introduced to the world in 1962, taking on the likes of the BMC Farina saloons and the Vauxhall Victor, immediately making them look dated.
An interesting sidebar to the Cortina’s story is that it was designed by Ray Brown Jr., who went from designing one of motoring history’s biggest flops, the Ford Edsel, to one of its great successes. One of its distinguishing features was the CND-style rear light clusters, replicated by BMW in the original 02 series and appropriated by TVR in the Vixen, Grantura and Griffith.
Originally intended to be called the Consul 225, the name of an Italian ski-resort was added to give the car some aspirational glamour, and the car was sold as the Ford Consul Cortina at launch, with the “Consul” being dropped in 1964.
The Cortina was launched with an 1198cc engine – taken and enlarged from the Ford Anglia – and a few months later a 1498cc version was added. Body styles were 2 and 4-door saloons, and a 5-door estate. A “hot” version of the Cortina, with engine developed by Lotus, made its debut in 1963 – these were all white with a green side flash, and saw much success on the racetrack, often with Jim Clark behind the wheel.
The Cortina was quickly established as both a family and business favourite, and by the end of its four-year production run, 933,143 examples of the Mark 1 had been built.
The Mark II which followed in 1966 sported slightly simpler, boxier lines but looked modern, and was very quickly accepted by the markets. Engines were initially carried over from the Mark1 but were soon replaced by new cross-flow units of 1300 and 1600cc, and a Lotus version of the Mark II was also made available, retaining the colour scheme of the Mark 1. As with the Mark 1, 2-and-4-door saloons and an estate were available.
Despite the presence of the Lotus Cortina, perhaps the most desirable Cortina Mark II however was the 1600E – E standing for Executive rather than Einspritz – which sported a combination of a higher-performance engine with touches of luxury such as wood trim on the fascia and door cappings, bucket seats, sports steering wheel and extra dials, while externally it rode on Rostyle wheels and featured black radiator and tail panels. If your dad came home in one of these, he’d almost certainly been promoted, and the 1600E is one of the most sought-after Cortina models today.
After producing 963,750 Mk 2’s, now the UK’s best-selling car, 1970 saw Ford launch another, very different Cortina, with curvaceous styling said to resemblance that of a Coke bottle, especially at the belt-line, a styling aspect that could also be seen in the contemporary Vauxhall Viva HB and Vauxhall Victor. The Mark III also replaced the larger Ford Corsair, moving the Cortina upmarket, as besides the 1300 and 1600cc versions, a 2-litre – known as the Pinto engine – was offered, with the GXL as the top trim level, quad headlights and Rostyles being external indicators of this top of the range Cortina. Later in it’s five-year run, the 2000GXL was replaced with the 2000E, recreating the 1600E ethos but with a bigger engine.
1,126,159 Mk 3’s were produced, making it the most successful Cortina derivative so far. It was replaced in 1976 by the Mark IV, a return to a straighter-edged design. Engines ranged from 1.3-litre to 2.3-litre (even larger-engined versions had been available in export markets for some time, including 3.0-litre and 4.1-litre six-cylinder units in South Africa and Australia). This version of the Cortina also saw the introduction of the Ghia badge, but purely as a trim level, no design input, and this was also the when the model ranges of Ford of Britain and Ford of Germany merged, with the Köln-built Taunus differing from its Dagenham sibling in badging only.
The Mark IV maintained its position as both a fleet and family favourite and the UK’s best-seller throughout it’s life, although by all accounts it is now the rarest Cortina model remaining, thanks in large part to poor rustproofing.
The final version of the Cortina – you guessed it, the Mark V, although it was also known as the Cortina 80 – was announced in August 1979 and was little more than a facelift of the Mark IV; the changes were all in the details such as larger headlights, bigger glass area, a lower roof, wider grille – those kinds of things. It also sold well, despite the knowledge that a new model was due. Ford were beginning to feel the heat from the Vauxhall Cavalier, especially with the introduction of the J-car in 1981.
A combined total of 1,131,850 Mk4 and Mark V’s were produced, and the last Cortina to be built – was a special edition Mark V Carousel, one of which we featured as a Prime Find not so long ago.
Over it’s two-decade lifespan the Cortina took on – and largely saw off – competition from cars such as the Morris Marina, Vauxhall Cavalier Mk1, Hillman Avenger and several others. However, after two decades at or near the top of the UK best-selling lists, the Cortina was finally replaced with a car that, while conventional mechanically – retaining much of the Cortina’s underpinnings – it looked dramatically different. In fact, it looked different not just from the Cortina, but from any other mass-produced car at the time.
Some of the Cortina’s opposition
The Ford Sierra was launched in 1982 – thus celebrating its 40th anniversary this year – and caused considerable controversy to begin with. The last Cortina was as conventional and rectilinear a three-box saloon as you could get, whereas the Sierra had barely a straight line anywhere, and was a hatchback, to boot (no pun intended). Like the Cavalier Mk1, and not unlike a modern-day Tesla – it also lacked a conventional radiator grille. Perhaps the most similarly aerodynamic saloons were the NSU Ro80, which preceded the Sierra by no less than fifteen years, and the third generation Audi 100, launched in the same year.
Sales were initially slow, at least in the UK, where the Corina was a big favourite, not helped by unsold stock of Cortina’s still being available, but they picked up fairly quickly as people got used to the Sierra’s “jelly-mould” shape, which was responsible for a drag co-efficient of just 0.34 compared to the Cortina’s 0.45 – a huge improvement. In Germany, the Sierra did well from the start, perhaps in part because the Taunus was less significant there than the Cortina was in the UK.
Underneath the ultra-modern looks was a pretty conventional mechanical layout, and when the Sierra received its first facelift in 1987, a booted version was added to the range to broaden its appeal; branded the Sierra Sapphire, it made the model look much more conventional, and the addition of a radiator grille in 1990 completed the transformation back to convention.
While the Sierra never reached the sales heights of the Cortina, there was more and stiffer competition in the 1980’s, but it still sold well, swapping places on the sales charts with the Cavalier during it’s eleven-year lifespan. Other rivals included the Austin Montego, Renault 21, Peugeot 405 and Nissan Bluebird among others.
A few contemporary alternatives to the Sierra
During that time, two particularly attention-getting versions of the Sierra were launched. While Ford had built performance versions of the Escort and Capri, even the Fiesta supermini, there hadn’t been a properly fast medium-sized saloon from Dagenham since the Lotus-badged models. This all changed in 1983 with the XR4i, and it’s dramatic double-spoiler at the base of the rear hatch. The XR4i was pretty quick, too, the 150bhp 2,8-litre V6 pushing it to a top speed of 125mph/200knh.
However, an even faster and more outlandish Sierra was made available in 1986 with the Sierra RS Cosworth. This 2-litre turbocharged sports saloon – available as a three-door hatch and four-door saloon – pumped out 200bhp and could hit 150mph, and even this wasn’t the ultimate Sierra – that was the Cosworth RS 500, with power up to 224bhp and a 154mph/248kmh top speed. Only 500 were made – hence the name – to enable homologation for Touring Car racing, where it competed with great success, and these are probably the most desirable of all European Fords currently.
The fastest of Fast Fords
The Sierra lasted a little more than half as long as the Cortina, and 3,444,229 were built in total before being replaced with the Mondeo, a car that was more modern both externally and under the skin.
The legacies of the now 60-year-old Cortina and 40-year-old Sierra are considerable – the former as the definitive car for the average family and mobile office for the sales rep, the Sierra as the car that ushered in a new type of styling for mass-market cars. Both had their high-performance halo models courtesy of Lotus, and both sold in their millions. As has been the fate of many road-warriors of the 1960’s through 1980’s, relatively few survive – about 4;620 Cortina’s of all types survive in the UK, and 2,440 Sierra’s (both totals include cars that have been SORN’d). Remarkably, almost 1100 of the Sierra’s are Cosworth’s, testament to the esteem with which they are held among fans of Fast Fords.
For me, the Cortina I would take if given the choice would probably be the Mark II 1600E – I like it’s understated yet distinctive style, and of the Sierra’s I certainly wouldn’t say no to a Sapphire RS Cosworth, again, in large part to it’s understated styling – especially compared to the hatchback version – combined with pretty blistering performance and four-door practicality; a fine Q-car. Which would you choose, dear reader?
