The original Mark 1 Cortina

The Ford motor Company was launched in Michigan, USA, in June 1903 by Henry Ford and a few colleagues.
They started with an initial budget of some 28.000 US Dollars !.
Henry Ford’s initial interest came from being thrown from a horse on his his Father’s farm at Dearborn, Michigan, he felt that there should be a more reliable (and of course more comfortable !) method of transport than that offered by animals. The first model they produced was the now famous Model A, known as a Gas Buggy and was propelled by an 8 Horse Power engine.

Since this time, Ford cars have been available and of course manufactured in the far flung corners of the globe..However, in England…..The Ford Cortina was one of the UK’s most popular car, being manufactured from 1962 until 1982, when it was replaced by the Ford Sierra.

Ford’s huge plant at Dagenham in Essex, UK, is considered to be the home of the Cortina. The first Cortina was launched in 1962, wary of alienating it self with the buying public, Ford called the early models Consul Cortina, the original name was to be Ford Consul 325, however in early 1963 this was soon changed to Ford Cortina; the name Cortina being “borrowed” from the Italian Skiing resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo, currently home to many events in the 2026 Winter Olympics, in the Dolomite mountains; Who else used this mountainous name ?

Original advertising billed the car as “The medium sized car at a small car price”, at the time this “small car price” was around £550 and was launched to compete with technically advanced Mini which although popular, was selling at a loss of around £ 5.00 per car.

The rear lights on this model where a source of trouble in the early days as both Mercedes Benz and the CND movement threatened legal action over the design as it looked a little like their own logos. I often refer to them as looking like a cake cut into 3 pieces, what do you think ?

Mark 1 Cortina Gallery.

This red and white Cortina is from the Czech Republic and was restored by Radek and his Dad . Thanks to Radek for sending them and allowing me to use them.