years of the CORTINA It marked the start of something big for Ford, taking it to the top of the bestsellers chart and keeping it there for two decades. To celebrate the Cortina’s 60th anniversary year, we take an in-depth look at its development and career Dan Williamson Contributor ew cars can lay claim to the British public’s heart more than the Ford Cortina. The much-loved Mini provoked passion with its revolutionary packaging and grasp of fashion; the original Land Rover transformed the way we traverse rough terrain; the Jaguar E-Type brought beauty and performance to a conservative market. And the Cortina? It slotted into our national consciousness as our favourite family car and sales rep’s steed. Even today, 60 years after it was launched, the Cortina is still regarded as a cornerstone of UK motoring. Yet the Cortina did nothing new. It wasn’t especially dynamic; it wasn’t exceptionally cheap. The Cortina was an average car for average people, a role it performed spectacularly well. Ford entered the 1960s with a successful range of small cars (Anglia 105E, plus the Popular and Prefect 100E) and large saloons (Mk2 Consul, Zephyr and Zodiac). Yet the middle ground of family cars was floundering; the Consul Classic 315 had been in development since the mid-1950s but delayed until May 1961, and it was fussily-styled and expensive to build. BMC, of course, was making waves with its outstanding Mini. Meanwhile, Ford in Dearborn and Germany was developing a new medium-sized car codenamed Cardinal (eventually called Taunus 12M), for which engineers instigated front-wheel drive and compact V4 engines – a system that had potential in the UK. But British national pride was having none of it; at the time, Ford’s international divisions operated independently under the Detroit brand, and it was argued that a similarsize model could be developed on English soil. Instead of teaming up with their European counterparts to battle BMC, Ford of Britain’s bigwigs chose to design a machine that could compete with both. It would need to be cheaper and lighter; it would need to be adaptable and reliable; most of all, it would need to sell. As a riposte to Cardinal, the British team named its project Archbishop. Given the go-ahead in spring 1960, Archbishop shunned its rivals’ front-wheel drive layout in favour of a conventional rear-drive platform with a longitudinally-mounted engine. The reasons were timing (Archbishop had to be ready by September 1962) and cost; it was understood the incoming BMC 1100 would be front-wheel drive, but it was an unnecessary expense. Ford wanted a medium-sized car for a small-car price. Crucial to the plan was a lightweight bodyshell: the 1960 brief was to remove metal from the Ford Classic’s structure, even down to reducing the quantity of spot welds. The initial American-designed independent rear suspension was dropped for a simple solid rear axle/ leaf-spring set-up, with traditional MacPherson struts up front and drum brakes all round. Even the styling majored on functionality, abandoning the Classic and Anglia 105E’s reverse-raked rear screen. A spacious cabin and enormous boot were essential – bigger than the higherpriced Classic, not to mention BMC’s efforts. For the bodywork, Ford chose Roy Brown, previously responsible for the disastrous American Edsel. Detroit was at the time focused on circular rear light clusters, and so along with tapering side fluting the car gained a transatlantic theme. Only afterwards did the lamps’
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resemblance to the CND logo become synonymous with the Cortina Mk1.
EXTENSIVE RANGE A two-door version was approved in November 1960, a four-door in April 1961, and an estate in the September. Yet still the car had no name. Suggestions for a return of Prefect were superseded by Ford’s big-car badge: Consul. Only in the spring of 1962 did the Cortina moniker appear, named after the Italian ski resort (Cortina d’Ampezzo) to signify sportiness. From then on, the car became known as the Consul Cortina 225. Production began at Dagenham on June 4, 1962, closely y followed by a corporate comparison with the Taunus, where e the British car outshone its German-built counterpart. September’s press launch saw similar praise tumbling onto the Cortina, and the official UK launch gave the public a taste of what was to come. The basic Consul Cortina was initially offered as a twodoor saloon powered by a three-bearing Kent engine, as found in the Classic (1340cc) but de-stroked to 1198cc. The four-speed gearbox was taken from the Classic 1500, featuring synchromesh on all gears. Pushing out 49bhp, the Cortina could top 77mph and hit 60mph from rest in 22.5 seconds. Two specifications were offered: Standard (today referred to as the fleet model due to its popularity with sales reps and minicab operators) and Deluxe. Standard
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Spring Special 2022
