One of the most elusive cars in my endless CC treasure hunt is the Ford Cortina, which was sold in the US during the sixties in both Mk1 and Mk2 form. And it was reasonably popular, as it offered an attractive package: a roomy, boxy body, lively performance from its ‘Kent’ 1600cc four, crisp steering and sporty handling. Frankly, it was a much more practical package than the Pinto, which borrowed much of its chassis and running gear from the Cortina, but in a vastly less space-efficient body.
These shots were sent to me by my sister-in-law; quite likely her son Aidan pointed it out to her. Ironically, I did see a Mk1 Cortina in her neck of the woods (Bay Area mid-peninsula) a few years back, but didn’t have my camera on me. So here’s to the first US Cortina sighting and posting on CC!
And it’s a GT, not surprisingly. I briefly wondered whether this car might have been brought over in more recent times from Europe, given the ‘NL’ badge, but it has the US-spec red turn signals, and there have to be some survivors in California. These did have a rep for rusting badly, but that’s not an issue in the Golden State.
were these sold through Ford dealers, or did importers bring some in?
Dealers: I remember Bizantz Ford in Glendora CA having a white-on-blue “Cortina” sign near their repair entrance, even after they ceased selling them. I always respected Ford & GM’s captive imports.
My guess at Detroit’s market rationale re Pinto packaging: budget family buyers would go for a Maverick/Dart/Nova/Hornet instead of anything smaller, so the Pinto/Vega/Gremlin had to look “sporty” to make up for being smaller & lacking bench seats.
It’s my understanding that, in the ’50s and early ’60s, European Fords were sold primarily through independent import dealers (maybe some Ford dealers sold them, if they happened to want a franchise?) but at some point in the mid ’60s, Ford brought sales in-house. After that, I don’t know if every Ford dealer sold them, or if there was some element of choice or selection involved. Except for the newly introduced Capri (which was handled through Lincoln-Mercury dealers), European Fords were dropped from the U.S. market after the 1970 model year, due to the introduction of the Pinto.
British Fords’ all-time U.S. sales peak was 42K in 1959, during the 1958-60 import boom. After 1960, like many European imports, sales retreated rapidly, falling as low as 4k around 1963-64. Once Ford took things in house, the best years were 1968 and 1969, both in the 21K-22K range.
In Phoenix, one of the big Ford dealers (Read Mullan) had a separate lot for these, with sign reading “Read Mullan English Ford.” As indicated in today’s earlier post, some time in the ’70s the lot was closed and the parts inventory sent back across the pond.
My buddy had a used one in the early ’70s, refrigerator white. He called it the “Ground Hog” for reasons long forgotten. He drove it for a few years until the exhaust manifold cracked; it could be heard coming a long way away. He ended up selling it to his kid brother’s friend who drove it several more years.
Cortinas sold well in NZ but just like the equally popular Hillmans are a rare sight now and I also live where stuff doesnt rust much, I did however see this genuine MK1 Lotus Cortina at a local show its got real race winning history B&H winner back in its day.
It must have been around 1976….I was around 8 years old and spending the summer vacations with my family in Austria for the first time.
Next to our hotel I spotted a Ford I had never seen before.
It looked almost like a Ford Taunus but not exactly. I sneaked around the car for days as I always thought I would know the entire Ford models. I had no idea, that there could be Ford models being sold elsewhere but not in our home country.
In later years I learned that the Cortina to the Brits was what the Taunus was to the Germans. I think with the Ford Taunus Mk2 (1976) the Cortina name disappeared from Europe and there was only the Taunus for both markets.
The 1976 Taunus and Cortina mk IV were the same car, but with different names. The Taunus name was never used in the UK.
The 1970 Cortina III and Taunus were common under the skin but the British car had more flamboyant styling.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-european/carshow-classic-1975-ford-cortina-1600xl-the-first-swiss-army-knife-car/
Oh you´re right Roger. From Taunus Mk2 on the cars were identical yet they kept the Cortina name plate for the UK market.
I remember seeing these in Ontario as a kid in the early Seventies, but I haven’t seen one in the metal since then. Heavily salted roads have a way of melting most of these cars…not to mention that most British cars weren’t designed for North American conditions.
In the owners manual they said the Cortina had been designed for world conditions, guess that didn’t include us.
There’s a Mk.II Cortina in the film ‘Christine’ though it gets a bit of a battering from the star car.
In the ’60s the German Ford Taunus was front wheel drive, but was replaced with the RWD Mk.III Cortina based Taunus in 1970. Whereas the Mk.II was basically a rebody of the Mk.I (with the engines changing about halfway through the run) the Mk.III was very different, wider and lower with all new suspension that was very similar to Vauxhall’s 1966 Viva HB: double wishbones front and coil sprung trailing arms on a live axle at the rear in place of McPherson struts and leaf springs.
My grandparents had a 67 powder blue Mark I Cortina. They kept it until about 1983 or so and then sold it for a few hundred dollars. I saw it driving around town for a couple of more years after that. Funny thing was that their other car at the time was a 1970 Chrysler Newport coupe, probably about twice as long as the Cortina.
I’ve never seen a Ford Cortina, Mark I or Mark II, where I live.
Wow! The picture is in my neck of the woods!
This is in San Mateo, California, northbound on El Camino Real (also known as State Route 82), near the 92 Freeway onramp.
Isn’t that actually Delaware Street (still Northbound)? Note the Ross store sign after the freeway, on El Camino there is a Starbucks and then a Safeway in that location, no?
Yeah, you’re right! Didn’t see the Ross sign that clearly.
On Delaware Street there is also an empty TV or home appliance store on the other side…and before the Ross store there is a breakfast eatery called The Pantry, run by a Filipino family.
Oh man, I used to have one *just* *like* *that”. Same colour and everything.
I bought a first year Cortina GT mk2 new, in the late sixties. I drove the hell out of it for several years. While I was on a local short track, I spun a bearing in the engine. The dealer repaired it under warranty, and I quit driving it on the track. It became the tow car for my race car. Unfortunately, it was lost in a fire shortly thereafter. I did enjoy it very much for the time that I had it. If I recall, it had one hundred horsepower out of the sixteen hundred cc engine. I had been used to driving a Morris Minor and Minis up until that time. The difference in horsepower was amazing. I have attached a photo of the Cortina along with my then very young son.
I’ve seen A Handfull of British fords at shows, but never one of these.
If the licence plate (3KRK224) is that car’s original California registration, the initial ‘3’ pegs it to having likely been first on the road (or re-registered) there somewhere in the mid- to late-1990s. Current plates start with a ‘7’, which was first seen around 2013.
Nice Cal Poly sticker (Go Mustangs!). There is another in that area, an older white Lotus Cortina at that. It’s just North of the 92 and about one or two streets to the west, kind of behind “The Old House” restaurant. Well, at least it was back when I lived there and used to walk around the neighborhood back in ’97-’98…
Bought a ’66 Lotus Cortina in April ’71 in Ann Arbor. Like has been mentioned, the body essentially melts away from rust. The fender over the headlights are mud traps, same at the bottom rear of the fenders. The strut towers on mine rusted away and that’s all folks.
Stripped all the Lotus bits and towed it off to the scrapyard. Got all of $400 for a Lotus Twin Cam with the two Weber Carbs; just wasn’t a market for them in and around Detroit in 1974. That would be a $6000 engine today. I still have all the badges, steering wheel, and shift knob.
Feb. 1965 pair of ads by same dealer (Long Beach, CA):
Nice to see one still doing Yeoman Duty .
When I worked in the Indie Peugeot Garage in…’73 (?) there was of course the usual gaggle of middle aged French ex pats all of whom drove various French cars except this one who thought him self hip and routinely came by with his newest G.F. bragging his wife (who was hotter & nicer than any of his Sanchas) didn’t know ~ he drove a white Cortina Coupe and ran the living hell out of it ~ one day he came in with a fan blade sticking through the hood ~ we remove the opposing fan blade and off he went , took him a few weeks to get a new fan and the hood repaired or replaced and painted to match .
My Boss called him a dumbsh*t and said ‘ he’s always over revving the engine in that poor thing ‘ .
That thing *flew* .
-Nate
When I lived in north California in the late 70s-early 80s I saw a fairly ratty looking Mk I Cortina GT while walking around Palo Alto. I remember thinking what a neat little car that would be if restored. Even 35 years ago, Mk I Cortinas were a rare sight…heck, even Mk IIs and Capris were rarely seen.
I grew up in So. California, Norwalk to be specific, our neighbor and older gentleman had one, it was a purpleish color. I recall writing wash me on it when it was dirty, but for some reason as the paint was faded, the wash me would not wash off! My brother told my neighbor it was me who did this, and got in a bit of trouble afterwards. After the Cortina, he bought an early 80’s Buick Skylark.
A friend had a Mk2 (’68?) that he said needed an engine still sitting in his drive way around 1976. It was his high school car. Never was running by the time I saw it, eventually it was junked. That’s about my only experience with one of these cars. It had the 1.6 Kent engine, I imagine a Pinto engine from the junkyard would have fit. I thought it was a decent looking car, would have liked to ride in or drive it but was not to be.
My brother had one! Back in Minnesota in the early-mid 70s. I have no idea what ever happened to it.
There’s usually a couple of Cortinas at Fab Fords, but I missed it this year.
The top photo looks like Delaware St. and 19th Ave. in San Mateo. The Cortina is headed north, between the Arco and 76 gas stations, right?
A friend of mine owns a mkII Cortina sedan, and I own an early Pinto. Both our cars are Kent powered, but the Cortina has a column auto. It’s interesing to make detailed comparisons between the two. The Cortina is vastly more space efficient and the seating very upright. Slighty better put together than the Pinto too. Although I find the Pinto far more appealing stylistically, and it’s a more unusual car. Especially given its low stance and absurd width. And who doesn’t love sabertooth-esque bumper overriders?
just discovered this cute English video “Private life of the Ford Cortina.” A glimpse into the past of Thatcherite Britain.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x12nq1d_private-life-of-the-ford-cortina_shortfilms
If anybody on here ever see’s a complete ( even if it’s not running) 70 Cortina, let me know. I want one for the “collection”.
I have an X California 1966 Lotus Cortina which was originally red.
It has been extensively modified and suffered several crashes
Does anyone have a memory of a red race car oldest history I
have is owner in San Diego.
Some mods include lower rear panel cut wider for exhaust outlet,
top strut mounts slotted for castor,rear inner arches and outer
hammered to allow room for wider wheels.
It has had both rear wings replaced and left front wing replaced.
Any memories of this car would be hugely appreciated
I saw that same Cortina a couple of months ago. I did some inquiring with the EnFo forum and the owner has had it for more than 35 years. I have 3 Mk2 Cortina’s 1970, 68 Estate Wagon and 67.
My 1970 GT
Estate Wagon
68 Super