Oxford OO Ford Cortina MkIII GXL Bronze

The Cortina was introduced in 1962 and changed the face of British motoring. It was a risk Ford took and one which paid off. In 1963 the Cortina became the market leader, a trend it kept up for the next two decades. Introduced in 1970, the Mk III couldn’t have been more different from its predecessors. Technically it was almost all new, the car had a 3.5″ longer wheelbase than the Mk II giving a larger cabin, but was the same overall length, it was 2″ wider and 4″ lower giving it a bigger look. With styling influences from Detroit, the Cortina had a “cokebottle” look to them similar to the American Pinto and LTD models.

The car was a bold step for Ford, swapping from the usual suspension setup of other models for a wishbone front suspension and coil springs with trailing and semi-trailing arms. The facelift in 1973 saw the GLX model dropped in place of the very plush 2000E, this was the flagship of the Cortina range. The new facelift models got twin rectangular “halogen” headlamps as well as the new dash. The Cortina in all its forms lasted 20 years and made Ford a lot of money, a car that brings back memories for lots of people in so many different ways.