"[1] Using the project name of "Archbishop", management at Ford of Britain in Dagenham created a family-sized car that they could sell in large numbers.

The formula used was a four-cylinder pushrod (overhead valve) design that came to be known as the "pre-crossflow" version, as both inlet and exhaust ports were located on the same side of the head.

Advertising of the revised version, which appeared at the London Motor Show in October 1964, made much of the newly introduced "Aeroflow" through-flow ventilation, evidenced by the extractor vents on the rear pillars.

[5] Twelve years later, however, the painted steel dashboard, its "knobs scattered all over the place and its heater controls stuck underneath as a very obvious afterthought" on the 1964 Mark I Cortina was felt to have aged much less well than the car's ventilation system.

[13] Its other improvements included a smaller turning circle, softer suspension, self-adjusting brakes and clutch, and the availability on the smaller-engined models, for the UK and some other markets, of a new five-bearing 1300 cc engine.

[17] Again, two- and four-door saloons were offered with base, Deluxe, Super, GT, and later, 1600E trims available, but again, not across all body styles and engine options.

A few months after the introduction of the saloon versions, a four-door estate was launched, released on the UK market on 15 February 1967:[18] much was made at the time of its class-topping load capacity.

It combined the lowered suspension of the Cortina Lotus with the high-tune GT 1600 Kent engine and luxury trim featuring a burr walnut woodgrain-trimmed dashboard and door cappings, bucket seating, leather-clad aluminium sports steering wheel, and full instrumentation inside, while a black grille, tail panel, front fog lights, and plated Rostyle wheels on radial tyres featured outside.

The four-door only GTE had a wooden dash, a vinyl roof, a blacked out tail panel, semi-high back front seats, centre console with floor shifter and clock, Australian Capri full wheel trims plus special stripes and badging.

[25] Weight was also increased by the stout cross-member incorporated into the new simplified front suspension set-up,[27] and by the inclusion of far more sound-deadening material, which insulated the cabin from engine and exhaust noise, making the car usefully quieter than its predecessor, though on many cars, the benefit was diminished by high levels of wind noise apparently resulting from poor door fit around the windows.

The Kiwi 2000E sedan initially lacked the cloth seats and never had the factory sunroof of the UK version and a radio was never standard, wagons were only ever offered in base or L trim.

[34] For Japan, the cars were narrowed by a few millimetres on arrival in the country to fit into a lower tax bracket determined by exterior dimensions which impose a maximum width of 1,695 mm (66.7 in).

The Mark IV Cortina (or TC2, as it was the second generation of the unified Taunus-Cortina platform) was a more conservative design than its predecessor, and this was largely appreciated by fleet buyers.

Generally, it was a rebody of the Mark III/TC with little mechanical change as an integration of Ford's model range, and as a result, the Cortina and Taunus now differed only in badging.

The most obvious change was the new, squarer body in line with contemporary "folded paper" fashion of the time – although it still featured a subtle 'Coke-bottle' waistline as a reference to its predecessor – along with a lowered boot lid height which achieved the marketing department objective of larger windows giving a better view out and a brighter feel to the cabin, but at the expense of body weight, which was increased, albeit only marginally, by about 30 lb (14 kg).

Despite its status as Britain's best-selling car throughout its production run, the Mark IV is now the rarest Cortina, with poor rustproofing and the model's popularity with banger racers cited as being the main reasons for its demise.

[39] Interior door hardware and steering columns were shared with the Falcons, and the Australian versions also had their own instrument clusters, optional air conditioning, and much larger bumpers.

[43] Officially, the programme was code named Teresa, although externally it was marketed as "Cortina 80", but the Mark V tag was given to it immediately on release by the press, insiders and the general public.

[46][47] The Drive website later suggested very firmly that the model, in its six-cylinder versions, was a " 'Lemon' ": as well as "dubious build quality" and a "hard ride", it had "a large six under the bonnet and no weight in the back", and was therefore "an ill-handling and unwieldy monster".

The BBC Two documentary series Arena had a segment about the car and its enthusiasts, aired in January 1982, six months before the end of production, by which time Ford had confirmed that the Cortina name would be axed in favour of Sierra, which prompted a notable backlash from comedian Alexi Sayle.

British punk rock band The Clash referenced the car in the song "Janie Jones", singing "He's just like everyone, he's got a Ford Cortina that just won't run without fuel.

"[54] British indie band Arctic Monkeys put to music a poem "I Wanna Be Yours" by John Cooper Clarke in 2013, which contains the line "I want to be your Ford Cortina, I will never rust.

The Pinto OHC engines used in the Mk.III onwards, as well as being fitted to contemporary Capris, Granadas, and Transits, were carried over to the Sierra for its first few years of production, before gradually being phased out by the newer CVH and DOHC units.

The Zetec, although originally intended only for front-wheel drive installation, can be adapted fairly easily owing to the engine's use as a replacement for Kent units in Formula Ford.

Available on the Australian (And South African, however very different) Cortina Mark III, was the XLe variant, the top specification, and a widely recognised nameplate in the country.

[39] It was missed by many when it ceased production in June 1983, notably after Ford New Zealand had scoured the globe for surplus assembly kits, a number of which came from Cork in Ireland.

[61] Compared with Britain and many other countries where the Cortina was originally exported, in New Zealand, it has a far superior survival rate due to the climate being far drier and more favourable to the preservation of rust-free classic cars.

From July 1971, a locally designed pick-up truck version (known in Afrikaans as a "bakkie") was also offered, and this remained in production even after the Cortina was replaced by the Sierra.

They featured triple Weber DCNF carburetors, aggressive camshaft, tubular exhaust manifold, suspension revisions, and wider Ronal 13-inch wheels.

The later Hyundai Pony and Stellar, although not directly based on the Cortina/Taunus still used common componentry – most notably the rear suspension and axle which were interchangeable with the Ford car.