Today's video is about (in my opinion) Ford's best ever car: the MK1 Cortina GT
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Ford MK1 Cortina GT
Ford produced some absolutely belting cars in the 60s and the Ford Cortina came to market in September 1962 and was Britain’s second best selling car of the decade, only being pipped to the post by the also lesser spotted ADO16.
The Cortina was a Ford of Britain car - before the Ford of Europe creation later in the decade - and was put to market to attract buyers who were looking at the Oxford Farina and Vauxhall Victor. Both fine competitors, which is why Ford decided the Cortina needed to be economical, cheap to run and easy and cheap to produce to really take the market share they were after.
The rear wheel drive car which was known at first under the project name of Archbishop, and which doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as well as Cortina, was initially available in two specs: the standard or deluxe.
Both specs had the 1198cc Kent engine which had been used in the Anglia Super and was in the Anglia we tested last year. The overhead valve engine was used alongside Ford’s known commodities of the four speed all synchro box and Macpherson strut front suspension. It’s worth noting the Borg-Warner auto box wasn’t an option until late on in 1963.
Unlike other big motoring names of the time, Ford didn’t sit about and wait until a new model was released to make timely updates and in early 1963, they updated the Cortina line up.
The new line up saw the 1500 super added to the range and then the car we’re testing today as top of the range for the time: the Ford Cortina GT.
The GT was fitted as standard with the twin choke Weber carb, discs to front, remote gear change as we’ll show you in video later on and modified suspension. The GT was fitted with the 1500 engine and tuned to give an output of 78 brake horsepower against the 1500 engine fitted in the Cortina super which had 60 brake horsepower. It’s worth mentioning as well that the GT engine also contained a different camshaft profile and a superior cylinder head casting which had larger ports and those tubular exhaust headers.
1963 wasn’t just the year of the GT and also saw the launch of the Estate and the Lotus Cortina.
The range continued to be updated and it’s worth mentioning these changes, because with this being a 66 car, you get to see the big changes brought in across the range in 1964.
These changes included: front discs going from just the GT to all models as standard, a redesigned front grille and the Aeroflow ventilation system which I’ll show you when we hop into the car later. As we’d noted, the GT had from launch come with discs to front as standard, the braking system in 64 was revised and it then gave GT buyers larger front discs and self adjusting rear brakes.
The MK1 production came to an end in October 66 and Ford beckoned in the MK2. Although the Cortina is a rare spot in the UK today, at the time it was so popular it sold over one million units in the first four years of production.
The Cortina today across all five marques is supported by an owners club, with a club existing solely for the MK1 Cortina should you purchase one and wish to join a club full of great knowledge and support.
23 окт 2021
