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  Ford Cortina MkIV  

My first company car was a MkV 1.6L in Diamond White on a V plate, I really rather liked it. At the same time my parents had the MkIV 2.0 Ghia in Jupiter Red on a T plate, which was very swanky and quite fast.

The fourth-generation Cortina was a more conventional design than its predecessor, and this was largely appreciated by fleet buyers. Generally, it was an integration of Ford's model range being a rebody of the Mark III with little mechanical change and sharing its new body shell with the German Ford Taunus, they now differed only in badging. Although the updated Taunus was introduced to Continental Europe in January 1976, Ford were able to continue selling the Cortina Mark III in undiminished numbers in the UK until they were ready to launch its successor as the Dagenham-built Cortina Mark IV, which went on sale on 29 September 1976. Cinema audiences saw the new Cortina (actually a Taunus) chasing James Bond in his Lotus Esprit in the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me.

The most obvious change from the MkIII was the new, squarer body in line with contemporary folded paper fashion of the time  which achieved the marketing department objective of larger windows giving a better view out and a brighter feel to the cabin, but at the expense of body weight, which was increased, albeit only marginally, by about 30 lb (14 kg).

This series spawned the first Ghia top-of-the-range model, which replaced the 2000E. The 2.3-litre Ford Cologne V6 engine was introduced in 1977 as a step up from the 2.0-litre Pinto engine, already established in the Capri and Granada ranges. However, 2.3-litre Cortinas never sold particularly well in the UK. The Cologne V6 was certainly a much smoother and more refined power unit than the Pinto, but the V6 models were more expensive to fuel and insure, and were only slightly faster, being about 0.5 seconds faster from 0–60 and having a top speed of about 109 mph compared to the 104 mph of the 2.0-litre models.

Despite its status as Britain's best-selling car throughout its production run, the Mark IV is now the rarest Cortina, with poor rustproofing and the model's popularity with banger racers cited as being the main reasons for its demise. Particularly scarce are the 2.0 and 2.3S models, which were discontinued when the Mark V was introduced in August 1979. The MkV is largely similar to the MkIV but with an updated grille, larger headlamps and tail lights and some small changes to the body panels.

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Last Edit: 12/06/2024   Page Added 31/12/2022