CORTINA 1962-1982

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There are a number of reasons why Ford developed the Cortina, but a key one was that Ford in Germany were developing a new Taunus in cooperation with Ford in America, and the UK branch had nothing that would compete with it in European showrooms. Ford UK were also worried about the forthcoming Austin/Morris 1100, but even though both the 1100 and the Taunus were to be FWD, there was never any question that the new Ford would be more conventional. Having stripped a Mini down to its last spot welds in 1959 and concluded that BMC were making a loss on each one sold, costs on the Cortina were to be rigidly controlled, and that meant conventional running gear taken from the parts bins whenever possible, or at least developed from what was already available.

That did mean it was relatively unadventurous. The engine was the 1340cc unit from the Classic, de-stroked to sweep just 1198cc. The gearbox came from the Classic and Anglia, but was given synchromesh on first. The front suspension was, of course, MacPherson strut, and the rear axle was suspended on leaf springs. Brakes were drums all