Just a few months later, it would be swept aside by the radically aerodynamic, lozenge-shaped Sierra, but in early 1982 the Ford Cortina MkV was still a market-dominating machine in the U.K. Indeed, even after the Sierra first appeared Cortinas kept selling in pretty good numbers. Consumers liked them so much that dealers had stockpiled the final iterations of what had been Britain’s best-selling car for much of the previous decade. It was the end of a remarkable run for any car, but especially one essentially designed on the cheap.

Although usually referred to as the “MkV,” the final Cortinas were really just lightly reworked versions of the circa-1976 MkIV, itself a very big reskin of the circa-1970 “Coke Bottle” Cortina MkIII TC. A late 1979 update turned the MkIV into the “Cortina 80,” with a slightly altered greenhouse and an updated front fascia in addition to some under-the-hood refinements.

As is often the case in the late stages of automotive refreshes, the Estate (er, Wagon) versions of the Cortina MkV were left largely unaltered behind the B-pillar and still used the basic body shell introduced on the German Ford Taunus TC in the fall of 1970.

This penchant for recycling had more to do with Ford’s American management than local buyer preferences in the U.K. or Germany, but as it happened, keeping the Cortina recipe consistent proved to be a hugely successful choice. It also spun lots of much-needed cash for Dearborn via Dagenham and Cologne in the late 1970s.

Ford of Europe

The roots of this situation go back to the formation of Ford of Europe in 1967 but more acutely to the product-planning decisions in 1972.

Even in the 1960s, Ford was looking for ways to rationalize its huge global set of models, many of which were quite different even when produced in relatively close proximity, particularly the British and German-built Fords. 1970’s British Mk3 TC and its German sister, the Taunus TC, replacements for the former German Taunus and British Cortina Mk2, were a huge step forward, sharing a platform and many components, but Dearborn wanted more.

In 1972, the company formed its Product Planning and Research (PPR) division with the specific goal of finding ways to create more commonality. One of this group’s first ideas, led by U.S. planner Hal Sperlich, was to replace the Pinto, Maverick, Mustang, Cortina and Taunus TC with a single front-drive car. Sperlich’s Audi 80-inspired idea even drew its name from the U.S. version of that car: Fox.

Unfortunately for him, regulatory problems and general reluctance on the part of Dearborn’s executives (including Henry Ford II) ultimately scuttled that plan. The “Fox” did emerge in 1978 as a completely conventional rear-drive platform, but the final product wasn’t at all what was originally intended. By then, HFII had fired Sperlich, who landed at Chrysler, bringing ideas like the first domestic Minivan with him.

Ford’s OPEC Apocalypse

Things got much worse after OPEC. In 1974, HFII unilaterally cut development funds from every division, resulting in a generation of conservative continuation cars, apart from the U.S. Fox and Panther designs, until the Sierra, Mk3 Escort, Taurus and other new-gen vehicles, most of them front-drive, arrived.

Ford’s European divisions were in a better position than Dearborn. They had hugely popular and very profitable products and at least one new design, the Fiesta (also in part shepherded by Sperlich). Carrying over the Cortina was not really a problem because the market really liked it, conservative or not. Under the skin, the Cortina Mk3 had ditched struts for A-arms and coil springs and broke little technical ground, but it looked good and ran well.

So it was that in 1974-75, on a limited budget, Ford simply restyled the Cortina Mk3/Taunus TC into the MkIV and Taunus TC2, carrying over virtually all of the mechanical hardware but giving them a new, much more Taunus-like set of clothes designed by Patrick Le Quément working under Uwe Bahnsen. It had already established this practice with the Mk2 Ford Escort, which had been a low-budget major refresh of the Mk1 thanks to the cost of developing the front-drive Fiesta, so it was an easy pattern to repeat.

The car also got a raised driving position and an updated interior, and suddenly, it was fresh again and immediately a best-seller. The Cortina MkIV would remain the U.K.’s best-selling car from 1976 to 1981. Even in 1982, it was only beaten by the then-still-new Escort Mk3.

Cortinas and Taunuses were almost identical after this, but that also allowed production to be common to both Germany and the U.K. This in turn made the supply of cars less vulnerable to strikes, which would prove a very useful move.

Cortina 80 or Cortina MkV?

The “Cortina 80” (often called the MkV but never officially dubbed that by Ford) reportedly cost £30M to tool up for even if it didn’t look so different from what came before. Still, it simplified construction and created a much airier greenhouse on the non-estate bodies.

At the time, everyone within Ford understood that it was a stopgap model as serious development on the Sierra had begun in 1978. Rather than putting off buyers, however, the “Cortina 80” simply gave them more of what they wanted. It was a reliable, handsome, known quantity at a time when many cars struggled with finicky new tech, emissions issues, and build quality problems — particularly the Cortina’s domestic British Leyland and Chrysler competition.

Ford had its own labor issues, just like BL, including a nine-week strike in 1978 that made national headlines and was the catalyst of the infamous “Winter of Discontent,” but the Cortina was generally considered a very hardy and reliable machine by 1970s standards.

It helped that the Cortina’s mechanical pieces were simple and already fitted to many thousands of existing cars, making it a natural choice for fleet managers at a time when “repmobiles” were a common work perk in the U.K. and manufacturers specifically tailored their model and trim ranges to suit. Although “company cars” were definitely a thing in the 1970s and 1980s America, in the U.K., they were a way of life. “Repmobiles” were a staple of sales jobs throughout the country.

Beyond the fact that the mechanical pieces were simple and durable, the Cortina could also be configured in a huge range of trims, engines, and bodies.

Most “Repmobiles” were sedans, but the Cortina was an extremely popular family car and these estates were absolutely a staple of many people’s childhoods in the 1980s, just like GM’s big wagons in the U.S. It offered lots of room for what wasn’t a huge car overall, and a very practical load carrying area. U.K. Cortinas used everything from a 1.3L four to a 2.3L V6, though many used the 1.6-liter Ford Crossflow or Pinto units. Even more choices were available in other markets, including the 3.0 Essex V6 in South Africa and the big 3.3 and 4.1 Falcon sixes in Australia.

The Sierra’s arrival meant an end to the Cortina dynasty, but the car remains well-loved to this day.

Though we’ve included a variety of Cortinas here, our favorite is the Blue ’82 1.6 Estate, which remains the most liked item Old Motors has ever posted to social media. These pictures are from 2023, but we caught up with it again in 2024. It’s a family heirloom, and owner Brian (pictured behind the wheel) grew up in it. His father bought it new in 1982, and it’s been in the family ever since.