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BEST FORGOTTEN - THE FORD CORSAIR : Peter Baker


Let’s forget the Ford Corsair
  Words by Peter Baker


The Ford Corsair, in all its various forms, was not a good car. Sluggish and decidedly unattractive, it was destined to become a hopeless case from the moment it first appeared at the London Motor Show in October 1963. Let’s be honest, if any car was born without future ‘classic’ status, this was it.

The Ford Consul Corsair was no more than an expanded Cortina; indeed, they shared many parts, including suspension, windscreen and the ‘Kent’ engine – a power unit that even when enlarged to 1500cc could not pull the skin of a rice pudding. Basic models, aimed at the fleet market, came with two doors, slippery bench seat and a dreadful column change.


Sporting motorists on the other hand were offered the posh ‘GT’, which came equipped with remote gearshift and centre armrest, wider wheels, a rev-counter and, under the bonnet, a progressive choke Weber carburettor. Downhill with a following wind the Corsair GT could just touch 90mph. For those buyers, where time was of less consequence Ford offered automatic transmission.

In late 1965 the men who had made such a hash of the Corsair were given a second bite at the cherry, but they threw away the past only to re-create it, with a car still nobody wanted. The new V4 engine was as rough as old boots, it was uncomfortable over long distances and, for city use, the steering lock was terrible. Even the up-market, bookmaker’s 2000E with its vinyl roof, rostyle (fake alloy) wheels, eight-track tape player and metallic paint, struggled to compete against ‘proper’ executive cars such as the Triumph 2000 and Humber Sceptre.


Competition-wise the Corsair was useless, dwarfed by the Anglia, Cortina and finally the Escort, with just a couple of endurance publicity stunts by Eric Jackson and Ken Chambers keeping the brand alive.

In the end only 310,000 Corsairs left the production line, and I’m not sure they all got sold…