ROOM TO GO PLACED IN THE CONSUL CORTINA
MOTORMAN PART OF THE KIWI LANDSCAPE: CORTINA
“THE MISSING MODEL” BECOMES A STAR
Roy Brown’s punishment for designing the awkward-looking, slow-selling Ford Edsel was a transfer from Detroit to Dagenham where he clearly turned over a new leaf and shaped the eye-catching, well-proportioned Mk1 Cortina. It was a sensibly sized, well-priced car and an immediate hit in New Zealand.
Launched in Britain on 20 September 1962, the Cortina was being put through its paces in New Zealand just four days later — in itself, quite remarkable. The multinational company had imposed strict security following excited rumours about a new medium-size saloon. Such was the level of interest that cameras were focused through the wire fence at Ford’s Seaview plant in Lower Hutt as media attempted to catch scoop photos of the Cortina.
The two most prominent local motoring journalists of the day, Peter Greenslade and Jim Webber, were among those invited to a formal press preview at the Levin Motor Racing Circuit — a first for any New Zealand motor company. Christchurch-based Greenslade, motoring editor of The Press newspaper for years, was well known in local motor sport, and Webber also came with good credentials. While chief reporter and motoring writer for the Coventry Standard on his UK overseas experience, Nelson-born Webber got to know fellow motor enthusiasts Harry Secombe and George Formby.
When he returned home, Jim’s journalistic roles
included The Dominion newspaper in Wellington, news editor of the New Zealand Truth and the Automobile Association magazine Motor World. Caught in the 1948 polio epidemic, Webber acquired a long-term disability, and, after giving up road testing for publications in the late ’90s, he took up an active role in the welfare of disabled people.
Webber, who died late last year aged 83, always remembered that day at Levin 57 years ago, “Certainly it was an exciting event, because, to the best of my knowledge, no motor company ever had invited us to drive a new car in New Zealand on a motorsport circuit. Ford put on some movies and lunch and the test-drive Cortinas were lined up, along with the then new Mark III Zephyr and Zodiac,” he recalled.
“I remember the handling contrast clearly between the Cortinas and the bigger cars. Levin was a fairly tight and twisty course in place, and the sixes were just out of comparison. They wallowed through the hairpin while the Cortina zipped round comparatively neatly.”
Value for money
“The other major impression they made on that fairly chilly day was value. At the time the main competitor was the Triumph Herald, which had a smaller engine and was about the same price. The Cortina was cheaper than the Vauxhall Victor, the Skoda Octavia, and the Renault 850, and a lot cheaper than the Austin A60 and the Hillman Minx which
were popular then. Since then we’ve had a lot of enjoyable road test kilometres in Cortinas, but the original certainly stays in the memory as a newcomer that had a lot of impact,” Webber said.
Another journalist, David Manton, was also present at the Levin function, and provided a brief report for the October 1962 edition of Motorman magazine while I, its young editor, was at school, outwardly swotting for School Certificate but more likely reading about cars. Manton recalled how the modestly powered Consul Cortina (the ‘Consul’ nametag was later dropped) was available here with both a floor and column change and that the four-speed floor-shifter was clearly superior. Local buyers would favour the column change, because the car was then fitted with a bench front seat.
The Cortina Super fitted with the later 1500 engine became highly popular, especially with the three-stage Borgwarner 35 automatic. At $2218, it was also one of the least costly four-door sedans available locally, although, when I tested a New Zealand–built example in mid 1964, the model was still only available to holders of overseas-funds deposits. Norm Wilson’s phone calls The late Norm Wilson, an All Black from 1949 until 1951, was the highly vocal public affairs manager of Ford New Zealand back in the days of the Cortina and later went on to become a controversial TV sports commentator in the early ’80s.
I was often the recipient of loud and notalways-happy phone calls from him when I had written something about Ford that displeased him. At least you always knew where you stood. Ebullient Norm would remind motoring scribblers that the Cortina had played a major role in keeping Ford New Zealand in a number-one sales position, and that, in its time, there were few sales and production records that the Cortina had not broken. In the first four years, he maintained that it was the first car to sell a million, with more than half of those exported. Indeed, New Zealand was one of six territories outside Dagenham to assemble the Mk1, and, during its reign, there were always more customers than cars. When this first-generation Cortina made its debut, it was identified by Ford as “the missing model”, filling a gap between the small car class and more expensive medium saloons. Its chief objectives were that it should be roomy enough to take five adults at a pinch, lively, and economical. This meant a weightlimit guideline of less than 800kg. The car was also open to many options of engine and body styles with minimum production tooling complexity. Finally, it had to be inexpensive. In Britain, the original basic model was a keen $1278 equivalent in our currency. The entry-level two-door Cortina
Launched in Britain on 20 September 1962, the Cortina was being put through its paces in New Zealand just four days later — in itself, quite remarkable
went on sale in New Zealand for $1846 (or £923 in the pre-decimal-currency days). In 1963, the local range was extended to the 1.2-litre four-door, 1.5-litre Super and Estate, while the $2K barrier was only broken by the arrival of the so-called Aeroflow facelift version in 1965 with a $2046 sticker price. Build quality was often patchy, not only on New Zealand– assembled examples but also those built elsewhere. But assembly finish on rival cars at the time was often just as bad.
Range extended to six models
By 1965, the local Cortina range had been extended to six models, topped by the $2284 two-door GT and iconic 1.6-litre twin-cam Lotus at $3112, although both these versions were imported fully built up and usually only available to buyers with an overseasfunds deposit. The rare GT is highly prized by classic car people, as it was a pioneer of the compact high-performance cars that would become so popular.
One of the first Mk1 GTS to come to New Zealand really shone. Kerry Grant and Frank Hamlin drove one to a remarkable third place in the 1963 Wills Six Hour production race at Pukekohe, beaten only by a six-cylinder Jaguar 3.8 and a Ford Zodiac. Power was up from 60bhp to 78bhp (45kw to 58kw) and there was also a useful boost in torque. The extra output came via the fitting on a two-stage Weber carburettor, modified camshaft, larger exhaust valves, reshaped combustion chambers, and freeflow manifolding.
The clutch was beefed up and larger front disc brakes and stiffer spring rates were GT high points, while the basic, highly conventional suspension remained intact. Inside, with bucket seats and floor change, the GT lacked the full instrumentation of the Lotus Cortina but had a rev counter tacked on to the left side of the steering column.
With a strengthened rear end and aluminium unstressed panels, the Lotus is a unique Cortina. Bonnet, boot lid, and doors
are all aluminium and the rear suspension has its axle mounted on trailing arms with lateral positioning by an A-bracket. A week after Jim Palmer and Paul Fahey took an example to victory in the 1964 Wills Six Hour, I was able to try the same car both on the car and at an airfield. Jim was able to display the Ford’s great handling and strong performance, yet, because of the lack of flexibility and harsh ride, we came to the conclusion that the GT was a better road car.
Advance planning in the ’50s
One of the last decisions was the car’s name. The home of the 1960 Winter Olympics, Cortina d’ampezzo, eventually provided the answer
But how did the original Cortina emerge? Advanced planning of the car began in the mid ’50s when Ford realized that it needed a third product line to plug the gap between the Consul/zephyr/zodiac and the small 100E Anglia. The Mk1 Cortina formed the pivot point of future product strategy and soon became the best-selling car in Britain.
Cortina’s design brief was ‘keep it simple’. The design team was headed by light car engineering manager Fred Hart, chief stylist Roy Brown, and production-planning chief Terry Beckett. Each engineer and designer was given specific weight, performance, cost, and timing targets for every item on the car. The engines were developed from the established Kent range, which included the original 997cc oversquare Anglia engine and the 1340cc motor used in the Consul Classic.
Body design was dominated by the competing objectives of light weight, rigidity, and ease of manufacture, and it had to be stylish. The fluid spear along the car’s side is one example of style and function blending. Terry Beckett reckoned that this made people appreciate the length of the car. He said, “It broke up the large mass of the body, gave some apparent motion to it, and it increased the stiffness of the body panels.”
One of the last decisions was the car’s name. The home of the 1960 Winter Olympics, Cortina d’ampezzo, eventually provided the answer, and, when the model broke cover two years later, 20 of the world’s top race and rally drivers gathered in the snowy location to romp down the twisting Olympic bobsleigh run in Cortinas, celebrating the car’s early motor sport victories.
Ford, of course, went on to produce another four generations of the Cortina right up until 1982, and, today, around 3400 of them — 0.1 per cent of the 2.6 million sold in Britain — are still on the road. By comparison, 4.7 per cent of the 3306 Mk1 Lotus Cortinas produced are still registered and in use, a not-unexpected outcome for the specialist version. New Zealanders were so sad to see the Cortina go that we were the last country to stop building the car. So, are bread-and-butter Cortinas in fine shape and with sound history good enough to be considered classics? Of course! Especially when considering the significance of the model.