End of the Line
The run-out special seems to have become a thing of the past – but then, so has the special edition in general. The craze, most popular during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, of adding stickers and spec to a low spec car, badging it as something special, and sending it out of the door at an inflated price. The Ford Cortina Cabaret, the Ford Sierra Laser, the Rover Montego Advantage, the Vauxhall Calibra SE4 and the Citroen Saxo West Coast represent something which died with the age of the financed car, something personal and a cut above the neighbours for very little extra outlay. These days, who’d bother when it’s technically cheaper to lease a BMW anyway?
The very best specials were often the run-out cars, the last of the line with extras thrown at them to ensure they went out of the showrooms before the new model was launched. We’ve gathered together some of the best examples, to see whether special really was special, or little more than a sticker kit for these last of the line heroes.
FORD CORTINA CRUSADER
On the face of it, the Cortina Crusader is the archetypal special edition, as well as the archetypal run out model. But it’s interesting enough for our list because it represents just how wrong Ford’s marketing men really were. Available with the full range of four cylinder engines from 1.3 to 1.6 and 2.0, the model was listed in brochures as of a higher specification than the GL, with just Ghia showing as higher up the
