1:76 Scale

The Cortina was introduced in 1962 and changed the face of British motoring. It was a risk Ford took and one which paid off. In 1963 the Cortina became the market leader, a trend it kept up for the next two decades. In total there were 1,013,391 Mk1's. 1,024,869 Mk 2's.1,126,559 Mk 3's and 1,131,850 Mk4 and 5's giving a grand total of 4,296,669.
In 1970 Ford introduced the mk3, it couldn't have been more different from it's predecessors. Technically it was almost all new, the car had a 3.5" longer wheelbase than the Mk2 giving a larger cabin, but was the same overall length, it was 2" wider and 4" lower giving it a bigger look.
The Mk3 was the first collaboration between Ford of Britain and Ford of Germany, the Mk3 and the Ford Taunus were developed together under the umbrella of Ford of Europe sharing the same platform and inner structure. Both cars were released in autumn 1970 with styling influences from Detroit, they had a "cokebottle" look to them similar to the American Pinto and LTD models.
The only components carried over from the Mk 2 were the "Kent" engine and its gearbox, everything else was new including a new engine that would power millions of Fords throughout the world. The car was a bold step for Ford, swapping from the usual suspension setup of other models, for a wishbone front suspension and coil springs with trailing and semi-trailing arms. The facelift in 1973 saw the GLX model dropped in place of the very plush 2000E, this was the flagship of the Cortina range. The new facelift models got twin rectangular "halogen" headlamps as well as the new dash. The Cortina in all its forms lasted 20 years and made Ford a lot of money, a car that brings back memories for lots of people in so many different ways. Our first release carries the registration KJM 212K, which will be familiar to those who watched the recent series Life On Mars.