Cortina print ad, 1965

The UK-manufactured Ford Cortina ceased production in 1982.

Seems like a car that was part Jekyll & part Hyde might not have always run smoothly...

"I heard you got a new car! So, are you getting good gas mileage?"

"Well, sometimes. It depends."

"Bucket seats?"

"Umm, so far only at night."

"Two-door or Four-door?"

"Yes."

We very rarely saw the Cortina on the road here in the States, so we're pretty well outside of its sphere of influence.

Except - - as what seems a once fairly ubiquitous economy car in much of the world is all but unknown here, it can thus carry a downright exotic mystique.

After having been made available via US Ford dealers for a time during the 1960's, the Cortina was withdrawn from the American market when Ford decided to produce a domestic small car in 1971, the Ford Pinto, though it continued in Canada until the end of the 1973 model year.

Be sure to take a look at the extensive galleries at the exhaustive Ford Cortina Website, an Australian enthusiasts page that screams 'labor of love'.