Cortina

The Ford Cortina was a medium sized family car that was manufactured by Ford of Britain between 1962 and 1982. This car was a mass market car and was very common on British roads during this period. This car was produced in five generations from Mk 1 to Mk 5. Mk 1 Cortinas came in 2 and 4-door saloon and 4-door estate forms. The notable Mk 1 models were the Lotus Cortina, which featured a 1.6 L 105 bhp twin cam engine by Lotus and Cortina GT, which had a 1.5 L 78 bhp 4-cylinder pushrod.

The second generation Mk 2 was designed by Roy Haynes. The engine layout was initially the same, but later a more efficient crossflow cylinder head design was introduced. A Mk 2 Lotus Cortina was also launched, which had a slightly up rated 109 bhp version of the twin cam engine. The most admired Mk 2 Cortina variant was the 1600E, which featured lowered suspension and the high tune GT 1600 Kent engine.

The Ford Cortina Mk 3 replaced both the Cortina Mk 2 and the larger, more expensive Ford Corsair. It offered more trim levels and featured an expanded engine line-up with larger engines. The Mk 4 Cortina had a conservative square-shaped style and spawned the first Ghia top-of-the-range model. The Mk 4 is the rarest of all Cortinas and was a very popular car in the UK. The Mk 5 was launched in 1979 and was officially known as the ‘Cortina 80’. It featured a more aerodynamically efficient slatted grille, a flattened roof, more glass area and slimmer C-pillars.