RACE TO THE MOUNTAINS
If you were a front-line team manager in the 1960s, there were a few world-class rallies which everyone enjoyed — the Monte, the Safari, the Acropolis, the French Alpine, the Liege-Sofia-Liege and the RAC. But ask any driver which he wanted to do and he always chose the Alpine. Why? Well both the start and finish were on the Riviera, the weather was great, there were Tarmac speed tests on public roads in the South of France and sometimes Northern Italy, and it was a real test of a powerful car.
Just like Austin-Healey, Triumph, and Sunbeam, Ford always wanted to be there. When Ford’s lumbering Zephyrs and Zodiacs turned out though, they just weren’t fast enough; the works team turned up and often won classes and team prizes, but outright victories always eluded them.
However, that was before the Cortina arrived. From 1963, and with
