By the dawn of the 1960s, Ford had already done more to democratise the motor car than any other marque, but, never a firm to miss an opportunity to make a few extra quid, the Blue Oval brought high-performance machinery to a whole new section of society with the Lotus Cortina of 1963. And it has been at it ever since. While others have dipped in and out of the market, with cheap sports cars or hotted-up versions of family cars, Ford has offered a virtually unbroken line of attainable performance models in Britain to the present day.
Despite that continuity, it has taken markedly different approaches to reach those ends. Most famous have been the motorsport-inspired RS models, but it all began with external input from Lotus - and there would be collaboration once again with Cosworth, a name attached to the most extreme products of the 1980s and '90s. Simultaneously, a lower-priced line was introduced wearing the XR moniker, followed by the modern ST badge. To mark six decades of blue-collar performance, we've gathered our pick from each arm of the ubiquitous 'Fast Ford'.
LOTUS CORTINA
The Lotus Cortina was transformative for Ford of Britain. Like switching from black-and-white to colour TV, it brought depth and pizzazz to a worthy but rather dull brand and aligned it with the chutzpah of the '60s. That its sporting legacy permeated through successive decades at Ford was testament to the vision not of a designer or engineer, but a PR man.
Denne historien er fra August 2023-utgaven av Classic & Sports Car.
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Denne historien er fra August 2023-utgaven av Classic & Sports Car.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
RAY HILLIER
Double-chevron oddity proves a break from the norm for this Crewe specialist
SHORT BACK & GLIDES
Eccentric enthusiast Captain RG McLeod's series of Manx-tailed Bentley Specials reached its zenith with this unique S2 Continental.
People's choice
The diminutive but multi-million-selling Fiat 850 packed a remarkable diversity of form and function into its compact footprint
PLASTIC BREAKS FROM THE NORM
Glassfibre revolutionised niche car-body production, but just occasionally strayed into the mainstream.
A SENSIBLE SUPERCAR
The cleverly conceived four-seater Elite secured Lotus a place at the big players' table, but has it been unfairly maligned since then?
"I had a habit of grabbing second place from the jaws of victory"
From dreams of yachting glory to the Le Mans podium, via a stint at the top of the motorsport tree, Howden Ganley had quite the career
Still going strong
Herbert Engineering staked its reputation on the five-year warranty that came with its cars. A century on, this Two Litre hasn't made a claim
One for the kids
General Motors was aiming squarely at the youth market with the launch of the Pontiac GTO 60 years ago, and its runaway success popularised the muscle-car movement
A NEW BREED OF HERO
Launched at the turn of the millennium, the GT3 badge has already earned a place alongside RS, CS and turbo in Porsche lore.
Brits with SIX appeal
The straight-six engine is synonymous with a decades-long legacy of great British sports cars. Six variations on the sextet theme convene for comparison
