THE GRAND TOURER

ONE FOR THE ROAD AND STAGE

Launched in April 1963 the GT could be thought of as a more affordable and perhaps usable version of the Lotus Cortina – although offering a comfortable ride on an uneven road surface with its softer-sprung, lowered suspension. Strictly speaking, the Cortina GT was a GrandTourer in name only, but that’s not to say they weren’t capable of long journeys — while the Lotus was wining on the race circuit, the GT became Ford’s rally car with an outright victory in the 1964 East African Safari Rally. Under the bonnet the GT had a 1498cc engine boasting a Cosworth-designed camshaft, larger-port head, tubular exhaust manifold and a twin-choke-Weber carburettor. It was tuned for 78 bhp — 18 more than the 1500 Super. The Mk1 was built until October 1966 when the Mk2 Cortina superseded it.The GT model would survive through the reign of the Mk3 Cortina until 1976, but was not available on the Mk4 or Mk5.