This “aero” look influenced Fords worldwide; the 1983 Ford Thunderbird in North America introduced similar rounded, flowing lines, and some other new Fords of the time adopted the look. The aerodynamic features of the Sierra were developed from those first seen in the Escort Mark III — the “Aeroback” bootlid stump was proved to reduce the drag coefficient of the bodyshell significantly, which was a class leading 0.34 at its launch,[1] though not as good as the 0.22 of the visually similar Ford Probe III concept car of the previous year.

The aerodynamic styling of the Sierra would later be seen in North America’s equally revolutionary Ford Taurus.

It was designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz and Patrick le Quément. The code used during development was “Project Toni”.

Released on 21 September 1982, it replaced the Ford Cortina and Ford Taunus. Its aerodynamic styling was ahead of its time but many conservative buyers did not take fondly to the styling.

Focus RS WRC 06, following the launch of the new road-going version of the car. The engine chosen for this Focus was a Duratec motor developed by the French engine specialist Pipo Moteur.[2] The car took twelve world rally wins, starting with the 2006 season opener Monte Carlo Rally in the hands of Marcus Grönholm.

Like all contemporary World Rally Cars, the car is heavily modified from the production version, with which it shares only the basic shape and some parts of the bodyshell. The car features four wheel drive, rather than the front wheel drive of the road car. The engine used in the 2007 Focus WRC is based on Ford’s 2.0 Litre Duratec from other models in the Focus range as rallying rules do not permit the standard 2.5 Litre engine of the Focus ST. As with most rally cars, the 2.0 Litre engine is heavily modified and performance was increased using a turbocharger.

The Fairlane name continued to be used for lower level models, and the Torino was considered a sub-series to the Fairlane during this time. The 1968 Fairlane and Torino used the same wheelbases as its 1967 predecessor— 116 in (2,946 mm) on 2 and 4-door models, and 113 in (2,870 mm) for station wagon models.

Styling was all new for the 1968 Fairlane/Torino, and it was drastically changed from the 1967 models. The new intermediate had grown in size and weight, and a new fastback model was added.

American market between 1968 and 1976. It was initially an upscale version of the intermediate sized Ford Fairlane, which Ford produced between 1962 and 1970. After 1968 the Fairlane name was retained for the base models with lower levels of trim from those models which wore the Torino name. During this time, the Torino was considered a subseries to the Fairlane. By 1970 the Torino name had become the primary name for Ford’s intermediate, and the Fairlane was now a subseries of the Torino. In 1971 the Fairlane name was dropped altogether and all Ford intermediates were called Torinos. Torino is Italian for the city of Turin, which is considered the Detroit of Italy. This name was one of several originally proposed for the Mustang while in development.

It had the shape of a low slung two seat roadster with no top, but it was powered by an electric motor. The design was flexible enough, though, to accommodate a small internal combustion engine.

Very few of the parts were painted and there were none of the usual hydraulic fluids or industrial adhesives common in most cars, making it 96% recyclable.

It was designed to be assembled and disassembled easily with a minimal amount of equipment. There were no welds holding it together: Instead, its 500 or so pieces of bamboo, aluminum and carbon fibre were held together with 364 titanium bolts. The total weight was said to be 900 pounds (410 kg).

Some automotive columnists have presented the Ford MA as the forerunner to a small series kit car, much like the Lotus Seven. Others have called it an IKEA-mobile.

Ford’s VP of design J. Mays. It was exhibited as an art object in museums as well as a traditional concept car in auto shows. It received an IDSA Silver Industrial Design Excellence Award in 2003.

The MA displayed many unusual automotive practices. It had the shape of a low slung two seat roadster with no top, but it was powered by an electric motor. The design was flexible enough, though, to accommodate a small internal combustion engine.

Very few of the parts were painted and there were none of the usual hydraulic fluids or industrial adhesives common in most cars, making it 96% recyclable.

The Cortina was also a very popular selling car in New Zealand throughout its production and continued to be sold new until 1984.

Although the last Cortina rolled off the production line in 1982, thousands of them remained in stock (with more than 11,000 being sold in 1983), and the final six examples didn’t find homes until 1987.

As recently as the early 1990s, Cortinas were still a common sight on British roads, and in May 1992 The Times newspaper revealed that the Mark IV / Mark V models were still among the 10 most common cars on Britain’s roads.

By 2000, however, the vast majority of them were no longer roadworthy. In August 2006, following a survey by Auto Express, it was identified as the second most scrapped car to be sold in Britain since 1976. Of the 1,065,682 Mark IV and Mark V Cortinas registered in the UK, just 2,010 were still on the road — fewer than one in 500. It was second only to the Morris Marina, which had ceased production two years before the Cortina and fared even worse with less than one in 1000 still registered.

The Cortina was launched a few weeks before the London Motor Show of October 1962 with a 1197 cc 3-bearing engine, which was an enlarged version of the 997 cc engine then fitted in the Ford Anglia.[1] A few months later, in January 1963, the Cortina Super was announced with a 5-bearing 1499 cc engine.[1] Versions of the larger engine found their way into subsequent variations, including the Cortina GT which appeared in Spring 1963 with lowered suspension and engine tuned to give a claimed output of 78 bhp ahead of the 60 bhp claimed for the Cortina 1500 Super. The engines used across the Mark I range were of identical design, differing only in capacity and setup.

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