Sales Success
In 1967, the Ford Cortina interrupted the Austin/Morris 1100/1300s reign as Britain's best selling car. From 1972 to 1981, the Cortina enjoyed an unbroken run as Britain best selling car. At the end of its life it was facing competition from the more advanced and practical second generation Vauxhall Cavalier.
The final incarnation of the Cortina was Britain's best selling car for the 1980 and 1981 calendar years, also topping the sales charts for 1979 when the range was making the transition from the fourth generation model to the fifth. Even in 1982, when during its final year of production it was pushed off the top of the charts by the Ford Escort.
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 unsold. More than 11,000 were sold in 1983, and the final six examples didn't find homes until 1987.
A total of nearly 2,600,000 Cortinas were sold in Britain, and in March 2009 it was revealed that the Cortina was still the third most popular car ever sold there, despite having been out of production for nearly three decades.
The BBC Two documentary series Arena had a segment about the car and its enthusiasts.
Read more about this topic: Ford Cortina
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