The name Ford Corsair was used both for a car produced by Ford of Britain between 1963 and 1970, and for an unrelated Nissan -based automobile marketed by Ford Australia between 1989 and 1992.
97-609: The Ford Consul Corsair (later known simply as the Ford Corsair ), manufactured by Ford UK , is a midsized car that was introduced at the London Motor Show in October 1963 and available as either a saloon or estate from 1964 until 1970. Also, a convertible version was built by Crayford Engineering , which is now very rare and highly sought-after as a classic. Two-door Corsair saloons are also rare, being built only to order in
194-471: A bell crank (an L-shaped rotating bracket trailing the upper hub carrier joint) conveyed the vertical motion of the wheel to a fore-and-aft-horizontally mounted spring fastened to the rear wall of the engine compartment. A single hydraulically damped arm was mounted on the bulkhead for the steering. The front suspension was designed to allow as much width for the engine compartment as possible so that Rover's gas turbine engine could be fitted. The styling outline
291-425: A 2.2 L (2,205 cc or 134.6 cu in) version of the 2000 engine with the bore increased from 85.7 mm (3.4 in) to 90.5 mm (3.6 in): the stroke was unchanged at 85.7 mm. Gear boxes on the manual transmission cars were strengthened to cope with the increased low speed torque. Nominal output fell to 98 bhp (73 kW; 99 PS) and 115 bhp (86 kW; 117 PS) for
388-632: A 3.5 V8 engine from its June 1976 launch, with the 2.3 and 2.6 six-cylinder units joining the range during 1977. This car was first sent, in August 1977, to the Leyland Historic Vehicle collection, then to Donington Park until 1980, when it was moved to Syon Park along with the rest of the collection, which became the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust Collection. It remained an exhibit at Syon until 1990, when
485-506: A Corsair 1500 GT. (Monza Yearbook 1965) The Corsair Deluxe was initially offered with the larger 60 bhp (45 kW), single-carburettor, 1.5 L Kent engine that was also used in the smaller Cortina , and the Corsair GT came with the same 78 bhp (58 kW), 1.5-litre engine as the Cortina GT. The car received positive reviews from motoring journalists, with some reservations about
582-543: A Henry Ford business. The new chairman, Sir Percival Perry, had been, and now was again, central to the development of Ford in Europe. Perry's association with Henry Ford dated from 1905, when Perry became a shareholder of Ford's first British agency, but the very first link between them was earlier, in 1903. The two men first met in 1906 in Detroit. From Britain, Perry envisioned Ford making vehicles outside USA and selling them across
679-447: A capital of £7 million. This company acquired all Ford's European and Middle Eastern business in exchange for 60% of its capital. The balance of 40% of the capital of the new Ford Motor Company Limited, 2.8 million shares of £1 each, was now available for public subscription. These shares were heavily over-subscribed. There was considerable investing interest from America, as US investors had had no previous opportunity of investing in
776-530: A car was converted when new, the conversion would be liable for Purchase Tax like the car itself. Due to the cost of the conversion (about £ 800) it would appear that most were carried out on the 3500 rather than on the 2000, with even fewer 2200s made. In comparison with the Triumph 2000 estate, the Rover Estoura was of limited practicality. The quality of the conversion also left a great deal to be desired, with
873-487: A complete halt to all car production. The Dagenham sewing machinists walked out when, as part of a regrading exercise, they were informed that their jobs were graded in Category B (less-skilled production jobs), instead of Category C (more-skilled production jobs), and that they would be paid 15% less than the full B rate received by men. The strike ended three weeks after it began, following the intervention of Barbara Castle ,
970-554: A complete new set of electrical cables. The car had spent 114 of its first 165 days in a workshop. The runner-up prize in this rogue's gallery was awarded to an Austin Allegro with forty faults reported over ten months, and a Triumph Stag came in third. The story was picked up and reported in other publications, not only domestically but also in Germany, at the time Europe's largest national car market and an important target export market for
1067-451: A drooping bonnet with headlamps in pods and projecting sidelights. Luggage compartment space was limited due to the complex rear suspension and, in Series II vehicles, the boot mounted battery. The spare wheel competed for space also, and was stored either flat on the boot floor or vertically to the side. A later optional 'touring package' allowed the spare to be carried on the boot lid; with
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#17328510081111164-514: A joint-venture to be known as Matford and devoted to the full manufacture of Ford or Matford products. More capital was required. There were consequential exchanges in shareholdings between Dagenham and Dearborn and other shareholders. As an indication of the British and Irish company's sense of independence, in 1938 Henry Ford and Harry Ferguson came to 'a gentlemen's agreement ', whereby Ford would manufacture tractors designed by Ferguson , using
1261-655: A large research and development facility in Dunton , Essex, which employ around 35,000 people in product development, manufacturing, sales and marketing, and service roles. In 2010, Ford had been the UK's biggest-selling car and commercial vehicle brand for 34 and 45 consecutive years respectively. The first Ford cars, three Model As , were imported into the UK in 1903, and the first dealership opened in Southampton in November 1910. In 1909
1358-726: A linear speedometer and toggle switches continued on the 2000SC versions. The final years of the Rover P6 coincided with production problems at British Leyland . This was highlighted in August 1975 when Drive , the magazine of the British Automobile Association awarded a trophy to a Rover 3500 as the worst new car in England. It reported that a Rover 3500 purchased in 1974 had covered 6,000 miles (9,600 kilometres) during its first six months, during which period it had consumed three engines, two gearboxes, two clutch housings and needed
1455-419: A locking fuel cap were optional extras. Early instrument panels were not made of plastic. The speedometer only went up to 110 mph and the centre console and pedals were different on later cars. There are a number of very early cars still in existence in some form. The earliest surviving production P6 is 102 FJJ which has a good number of original panels. It is being rebuilt around a 1965 base unit. Three of
1552-619: A new smaller model, the Escort , had already filled in the size below. The new Ford Capri took on the performance and sporty aspirations of the company. Over its six-year production, 310,000 Corsairs were built, of which about 600 are thought to survive in the UK as of 2019. Conversely, of the 200 convertibles built, around 75 have survived. The Corsair was also manufactured by Ford in Ireland and South Africa. A small number of Corsairs were exported to Australia and New Zealand. Between 1989 and 1992,
1649-448: A plant opened in Cork , Ireland, initially for tractor manufacture, but from 1921 cars were built there as well. This factory was the first to be purpose-built by Ford in Europe. The company of Henry Ford and Son Limited—Fordson—was officially incorporated on 17 April 1917, starting its life on the site of an old Cork racecourse. Its first registered office was at 36 South Mall , Cork. Although
1746-406: A position on the right side of the boot. Nevertheless, the overall length and width of the body were unchanged when compared with the smaller-engined original P6. Having invested heavily in the car's engine and running gear, the manufacturer left most other aspects of the car unchanged. However, the new Rover 3500 could be readily distinguished from the 2000 thanks to various prominent V8 badges on
1843-449: A publicly quoted company, its shares freely listed on British exchanges, with more than 10,000 stockholders. The Ford Motor Company of Dearborn Michigan then held just 54% of its shares. That year, after eighteen months of rumour and denial, the US company offered to buy out the other shareholders. The offer was accepted, and Ford completed payment for the other 46% of Ford Motor Company Limited at
1940-505: A standing quarter-mile in 17.6 seconds. It was necessary to modify the under-bonnet space to squeeze the V8 engine into the P6 engine bay: the front suspension cross-member had to be relocated forward, while a more visible change was an extra air intake beneath the front bumper to accommodate the larger radiator. There was no longer space under the bonnet for the car's battery, which in the 3500 retreated to
2037-419: A vinyl weatherproof cover. When not in place, the mounting bracket was concealed by a circular Rover badge. Series II models briefly offered Dunlop Denovo Run-flat tyre , eliminating the need for a spare, though this was not commonly selected and is very unusual on surviving examples. The car's primary competitor on the domestic UK market was the Triumph 2000 , also released in October 1963, just one week after
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#17328510081112134-442: A £2 million investment programme was announced to rebuild, re-equip and modernise the assembly plant. As a result, the plant was to become the largest and most modern factory of its kind in Ireland. In the same year, Ford of Europe was formed with Henry Ford and Son Limited. It was an important partnership from the start. Another £2 million was spent on assembly facilities and operations, to ensure that Cork production equalled
2231-596: Is a British wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Technologies Limited (formerly called Blue Oval Holdings), itself a subsidiary of Ford International Capital LLC, which is a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company . Its business started in 1909 and has its registered office in Laindon , Essex. It adopted the name of Ford of Britain in 1960. Ford of Britain operates two major manufacturing sites in the UK, in Dagenham (diesel engine production) and Halewood (transmissions). It also operates
2328-672: The 2000 , 2200 , or 3500 , depending on engine displacement) is a saloon car produced by Rover and subsequently British Leyland from 1963 to 1977 in Solihull , West Midlands, England, UK. The P6 was the first winner of the European Car of the Year award. The P6 was announced on 9 October 1963, just before the Earls Court Motor Show . The vehicle was marketed first as the Rover 2000 and
2425-555: The Karl Deutsch GmbH in Germany. Only four are known to survive. The Corsair's performance was good for a car of its type and period, with a top speed in its later 2.0 L V4 version of 110 miles per hour (180 km/h) as measured by the speedometer, thanks to the progressive 28/36mm twin-choke Weber downdraught carburettor. The Corsair was replaced by the Mk 3 Cortina in 1970, when the enlarged Cortina became Ford's midsized car, and
2522-519: The Land Rover Freelander . Halewood was included in the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors in 2008, although Ford retained ownership of its transmission works. Another new factory opened at Basildon in 1964 to make tractors, and, in 1965, a further plant was acquired at Crymlyn Burrows , Swansea , to make chassis components and axles. The Cork factory celebrated the 50-year anniversary in 1967. As part of that landmark event,
2619-600: The Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity . The deal brokered immediately increased their rate of pay to 8% below that of men, rising to the full category B rate the following year. Ford produced a range of commercial vehicles, starting with the Model TT in 1917. From 1933 to 1939 these were badged Fordson ; this changed to Fordson Thames until 1957, after which it became plain Thames . From 1965 they reverted to Ford. After
2716-682: The "Ferguson System". Production commenced in the USA in June 1939, and the product was outstandingly successful, but Henry Ford was unable to persuade Ford in Britain to manufacture the Ford-Ferguson, though they did sell the US-made tractors. In 1945 Ferguson arranged British production with Standard Motor Company . Harry Ferguson sued US Ford for illegal use of his patents, asking for compensation of £90 million; this
2813-487: The 2000 TC engine was around 110 bhp (82 kW) net. The standard specification engines continued in production in vehicles designated as 2000 SC models. These featured the original single SU . Rover saw Buick 's compact 3.5-litre V8 from the Buick Special as a way to differentiate the P6 from its chief rival, the Triumph 2000 . They purchased the rights to the innovative aluminium engine and once it
2910-578: The 933 cc Model Y , a car much more suited to the market, becoming in 1935 Britain's first £100 car (accounting for inflation £8768 ). This was Ford's first car specifically designed for sale outside North America. Between 1932 and 1937, over 157,000 were made at Dagenham and Cork, and at its peak it captured 41% of its market sector. In 1938, Ford's Cork factory hit an important milestone, producing its 25,000th vehicle since becoming an assembly plant in 1932. In all, 73,000 cars, trucks and tractors had been built at Cork up to that time. The original 1928 plan
3007-598: The British Empire and Europe. He raced the company's cars, organised a chain of exclusive dealers, and superintended the Trafford Park assembly plant. In 1919, Henry Ford chose to run operations from Detroit, but Perry was determined to run all European business himself. Perry resigned in May 1919. His American managers having failed him, Henry Ford offered Perry the chairmanship of this new Ford Motor Company Limited in 1928. At
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3104-556: The Dagenham factory started production in October 1931 rolled from the assembly line on 27 August 1946, a cream Ford Prefect 10 hp saloon . Henry Ford resigned in 1945 in favour of grandson Henry Ford II, and died in April 1947. Perry, founder-chairman of Ford Motor Company Limited and each of the Ford Group's European subsidiaries, retired in 1948. In 1950, Ford's controlling interests in
3201-475: The European businesses were sold to Ford Dearborn. In 1953, following the death of its Detroit founder, Briggs Motor Bodies, whose parent provided bodies to Ford America, was purchased, giving the company more control of its supplies and so acquiring plants at Doncaster , Southampton , Croydon and Romford . By 1953, Ford of Britain directly employed 40,000 people. Until 1960, Ford Motor Company Limited remained
3298-673: The FLK cars exist 143, 145 and 149, two of which have been lovingly restored. The gold car or the 100th 2000 off the production line also survives in restored condition. Rover later developed a derivative of the engine by fitting twin SU carburettors and a redesigned top end and marketed the revised specification vehicles as the 2000 TC. The 2000 TC was launched in March 1966 for export markets in North America and continental Europe. Limited availability of
3395-760: The Ford Corsair name was used by Ford Australia for a badge-engineered version of the Nissan Pintara (a version of the Bluebird ). Known during development as 'Project Matilda ', the Corsair was produced under a model-sharing scheme known as the Button Plan . It was offered as a four-door sedan and as a five-door liftback , in GL and Ghia trim levels with 2.0 L (CA20E) and 2.4 L (KA24E) four-cylinder engines. The Corsair
3492-600: The Ford Motor Company (England) Limited was established under the chairmanship of Percival Perry , opening an office at 55 Shaftesbury Avenue , London, in 1909. An assembly plant in an old tram factory in Trafford Park , Manchester, was opened in 1911, employing 60 people to make the Model T , and the company was re-registered as Henry Ford & Son, Ltd. This was the first Ford factory outside North America. At first,
3589-797: The Manchester plant was served by the Manchester Ship Canal , Ford decided that access to a deep water port was required, and in 1923 a new site was chosen by the River Thames at Dagenham , east of London. In December 1928 Ford (since 1924 entirely owned by Henry Ford, his wife and their son Edsel) announced in London that it had formed a new company, Ford Motor Company Limited, with three US directors (Henry Ford, Edsel Ford , Charles E. Sorensen ) and four British directors ( Sir Percy Perry , Roland Kitson , Sir John T Davies and Lord Illingworth ), with
3686-447: The NADA (North American Dollar Area) model, equipped to a higher standard than UK cars and meeting federal safety and later also emissions requirements. These are also often referred to as being "Federal Specification". Notable differences on the outside of the 3500S NADA were wraparound bumpers, three air scoops on the top of the bonnet, front and rear wing reflectors and the "Icelert" sensor on
3783-566: The NZMC-built Rover 3500 was that it was exported from New Zealand – 2,400 were shipped to Australia for sale there, in return for CKD kits of the Leyland P76 . After a production run of almost 14 years, the last Rover P6 off the production line, registered VVC 700S, was built on 19 March 1977, when it was phased out in favour of the Rover SD1 . The SD1 was initially only available with
3880-591: The P6. In continental Europe, the Rover 2000 competed in the same sector as the Citroën DS which, like the initial Rover offering, was offered only with a four-cylinder engine – a situation which was resolved in the Rover when the V8 was engineered to fit into the engine bay. The Rover 2000 interior was not as spacious as those of its Triumph and Citroën rivals, especially in the back, where its sculpted two-person rear seat implied that customers wishing to accommodate three in
3977-517: The Rover's four-cylinder engine was particularly hard to adapt for reduced octane lead-free fuels without an unacceptable reduction in the car's performance. The Rover 3500 was assembled in New Zealand from 1971 to 1976, at New Zealand Motor Corporation 's assembly plant in Stoke, Nelson , alongside the Triumph 2000 /2500, Jaguar XJ6 (Series 1 and 2) and Land Rover (Series 3). A notable factor about
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4074-497: The SC (single carburettor) and TC (twin carburettor) versions respectively, on the road largely concealed by the improved torque. The last 2200 came off the production line on 19 March 1977, a left-hand drive export version that was then converted to right-hand drive by Tourist Trophy Garage, Farnham. The 2200 originally fitted Pirelli Cinturato 165HR14 tyres (CA67) when leaving the factory. While Triumph enjoyed considerable success with
4171-534: The UK Mark II car, including a new instrument cluster and seat piping. Despite being badged as "3500S" cars, the export models were all fitted with the Borg Warner 35 automatic transmission. The cars were not popular with American buyers, and a large number ended up being diverted to Continental Europe instead as they were already left-hand drive. Rover discontinued selling the P6 in North America in 1971: in that year
4268-703: The UK, although two-doors were produced in quantity for some export markets. The Consul Corsair S was an export-only model with a two-door Deluxe body and 1500GT engine, sold in Austria and Sweden, and also in South Africa as the Corsair 83. Only one example of the fleet model, the Consul Corsair Standard, is known to survive. Unlike the Ford Cortina which had five versions (Mks), or the Ford Capri which had face-lifts,
4365-452: The US had taken fewer than 1,500 Rovers. In true British Leyland fashion, several UK cars also ended up with single scoops on their bonnets in an attempt to use up the surplus parts from the now defunct export models. The company told their US dealers that modifying the P6 to meet new US federal safety and pollution requirements would be prohibitively expensive, while experience elsewhere suggests that
4462-507: The accommodation of the Buick -derived Rover V8 engine made available in the P6 from April 1968. Sculptor Flaminio Bertoni 's Citroën DS body inspired David Bache . With a nod to the new Kamm tail, the finished Rover appearance incorporated a necessarily enlarged boot filled otherwise by Rover's de Dion rear suspension. It lacked the Citroën shark nose, which it was planned to introduce later as
4559-425: The back of a Rover should opt for the larger and older Rover P5 . The first P6 used a 2.0 L (1,978 cc or 120.7 cu in) engine designed specifically for the P6. Although it was announced towards the end of 1963, the car had been in "pilot production" since the beginning of the year, therefore deliveries were able to begin immediately. Original output was in the order of 104 bhp (78 kW). At
4656-567: The cars were assembled from imported chassis and mechanical parts, with bodies sourced locally. Six thousand cars were produced in 1913, and the Model T became the country's biggest selling car, with 30% of the market. In 1914, Britain's first moving assembly line for car production started, with 21 cars an hour being built. After the First World War , the Trafford Park plant was extended, and in 1919, 41% of British registered cars were Fords. In 1917,
4753-459: The closure of the Trafford Park factory, most of the larger commercials were built at Langley. The truck operation was sold to the Iveco group of Italy in 1986, and became Iveco Ford (48% owned by Ford). The Langley plant closed in 1997. At midday on Wednesday, 26 July 2013, Ford ended more than 100 years of vehicle manufacturing in the UK, with end of assembling Transit vans , by moving production of
4850-517: The collection moved to Studley Castle (then owned by Rover) and went into storage until 1993. In 1993, the collection then moved to its new home, The British Motor Industry Heritage Trust site at Gaydon , now known as the Heritage Motor Centre . VVC 700S was on display until 2003 when it sold at the Bonhams sale of Rover-owned items. In 2006, VVC 700S revisited Gaydon for the first time since
4947-509: The company. Further evidence of poor quality control on the 3500 assembly line at the Solihull plant appeared in a report in Autocar magazine in October 1976, surveying the experiences of company car fleet managers with the model, although the report also suggested, apparently wishing to appear even-handed, that at least part of the problem might have arisen from excessively optimistic expectations of
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#17328510081115044-487: The cylinder bore and stroke were the same (85.7 mm or 3.4 in) to minimise piston speeds and bearing loads, which was very unusual amongst British saloon cars: these tended to have under-square (long stroke) engines , a lingering legacy of the pre-1947 horsepower tax system and the driving conditions encountered on British roads in the pre-motorway era. Cars that were built until 1966 are referred to as early cars. The Rover 2000 had many detailed differences that changed over
5141-579: The dash layout and the closeness of the steering wheel to the driver. Although the 1963-65 Corsair range outsold the Classic, the car was not a best-seller like the Cortina, but given the low development costs it was presumed to be profitable for Ford. The range was revised in September 1965, gaining a better dashboard and interior ventilation, but adopting new Ford Essex V4 engines which were rough at idle and coarse on
5238-414: The driver to see the front corner of the car in low-light conditions, and also confirmed that they were operative. The relatively sharp plastic projections did not meet homologation standards in some export markets (including Germany ), however, and so a lens with a smooth top was substituted where the law demanded. One unique feature of the Rover 2000 was the design of the front suspension system, in which
5335-412: The end of January 1961. Ford of Britain, properly Ford Motor Company Limited, then became a wholly-owned Ford subsidiary. In 1962, Ford opened a factory at Halewood , Liverpool , to make the Anglia. This ceased to be a Ford plant (although remained under Ford ownership) when the last Escort came off the production line in 2000, and was then converted to make the Jaguar X-Type in 2001, and latterly
5432-399: The entire production run of the Ford Corsair was a consistent Mk 1, with the body remaining the same, and the design changes being confined to the interior, engine, and mechanicals. The Corsair was designed by the same team as the Mark 1 Cortina , with Roy Brown Jr. overseeing the styling by Charles Thompson, and Fred Hart in charge of the engineering. Replacing the Consul Classic range, it
5529-540: The estate are known, due to a fire that destroyed the company records, amateur investigations by several Rover enthusiasts show a little over 200 cars were known to have been produced. The first estate was not an approved conversion, but from 1970 onwards the car was marketed (with the factory's blessing) by BL dealers HR Owen Limited and therefore factory warranties were carried forward. The conversions were completed by H.R. Owen and Crayford Engineering , with bodywork executed by FLM Panelcraft . Crayford's involvement in
5626-403: The estate conversion being pop-riveted on to the back end of the modified vehicle, with little rust-proofing or paint applied. As a result, the back end of the vehicles often rusted out, and several estate "pods" were subsequently transferred from one car to another. Rover made an attempt to break into the North American market with the P6, beginning with the Rover 2000 TC. This version was called
5723-414: The estate version of their 2000 saloon , Rover seemed happy to leave that sector of the market entirely open to their old rival. However, Battersea -based coachbuilders FLM Panelcraft picked up Rover's dropped ball and produced their own estate conversion of the P6, called the Estoura . The name is presumably a contraction of the words 'estate' and 'tourer'. Although no actual figure for the production of
5820-406: The first 3 years of production. Items such as exhaust systems, gear linkages and most visibly the front valance. It had vertical slats and was curved with no extra bumps which gave the car the nickname "sharks tooth". Also on these cars the boot-shuts and the door-shuts of the base unit were painted body colour. The cars varied very slightly in appearance because radio aerials, a heated rear window and
5917-404: The first meeting of shareholders in London on 6 March 1929, Perry reported "during the first three months of our first year we and our associated companies in Europe have delivered upwards of 50,000 Model 'A' vehicles into the hands of satisfied owners. The improved Fordson tractor is not yet in production but it is hoped to deliver the first tractors completely manufactured at our Cork works within
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#17328510081116014-481: The front grill. The "Icelert" system warned the driver of falling outside temperatures and the possibility of ice forming on the road. Inside, depending on the location, the North American 3500S was also equipped with electric windows, power steering and air conditioning, all of which are extremely unusual in UK market P6 cars. The earlier 2000 and 2000 TC NADA featured the Icelert system and side reflectors only. The NADA P6 introduced features which would later appear on
6111-405: The highest European standards of quality. By 1977, the total area of the plant was well over 450,000 square feet. The rationalisation plan put in place meant that, in 1972, the Cork plant became a two-car plant that was producing the two best selling cars in Ireland: the Escort and Cortina. Between them, these two models were accounting for 75% of Ford sales in Ireland at the time. The Irish company
6208-415: The imported Telstar once again became Ford's main offering in the midsized segment, until being replaced by the Mondeo in 1995. The unrelated Edsel Corsair was produced by the former Mercury-Edsel-Lincoln Division of the Ford Motor Company in the United States and sold under its Edsel marque in 1958 and 1959. Ford of Britain Ford Motor Company Limited , trading as Ford of Britain ,
6305-417: The model. In order to try to meet exhaust emission requirements particularly in California various changes were made to carburation and exhaust. The engine capacity was increased ten percent to increase torque and minimise the loss in reported power output and the 2200 SC and 2200 TC replaced the 2000 SC and TC. Announced in October 1973 and produced through to the early part of 1977, it used
6402-407: The need for sliding splines in the drive shafts, with consequent stiction under drive or braking torque, while still keeping the wheels vertical and parallel in relation to the body. The Rover 2000 won industry awards for safety when it was introduced and included a carefully designed "safety" interior. One innovative feature was the prism of plastic on the top of the front side lights. This allowed
6499-405: The next generation Transit to the Ford Otosan plant in Turkey . Ford Southampton plant built 28,000 vans, barely a third of its 2007 production. Ford of Europe was created in 1967 by the merging of the businesses of Ford Motor Company Limited and Ford-Werke GmbH . Note – cwt is the abbreviation of hundredweight (112 pounds or 1/20 ton) The Story of Ford – The fifth largest automaker in
6596-418: The next month." Construction started at Dagenham in 1929, and, in October 1931, Britain's and Europe's largest car plant opened, producing the Ford Model AA truck and Model A car. This was at the height of the Great Depression , and the Model A was too expensive to tax and run in Britain; very few were sold: only five in the first three months. A smaller car was urgently needed, and this came in 1932 with
6693-446: The normal 1.5-litre models in style, design and luxury but which offered more modern driving dynamics than the big three-litre class and lower purchase and running costs than sports saloons such as the Jaguar Mark 2 . Automotive technology had improved significantly in the mid-to-late 1950s, typified by the introduction of cars such as the Citroën DS and Lancia Flavia in Europe and the Chevrolet Corvair in America. The replacement for
6790-414: The outside and beneath the radio. The 3500 was also delivered with a black vinyl covering on the C-pillar, although this decoration later appeared also on four-cylinder cars. A 3-speed Borg Warner 35 automatic was the only transmission until the 1971 addition of a four-speed manual 3500S model, fitted with a modified version of the gearbox used in the 2000/2200. The letter "S" did not denote "Sport", it
6887-439: The project was limited to the interior of the car, and the company had no bearing on the external design of the estate conversion. Nonetheless Crayford badged them as Crayfords for a while (implying that they built them) and only stopped after FLM threatened legal action. Conversions could be carried out at any time in the car's life. Most conversions appear to have been carried out when the cars were 12 months old or older because if
6984-410: The redesigned induction manifold needed for the twin-carburetter engine was given as one reason for restricting the 2000 TC to overseas sales. The manufacturers also stated pointedly that the UK's recently introduced blanket 70 mph (113 km/h) speed limit would make the extra speed of the new car superfluous on the domestic market. Fortunately for performance-oriented UK buyers, supplies of
7081-467: The redesigned inlet manifold must have improved and the company relented in time for the London Motor Show in October 1966 when the 2000 TC became available for the UK market. The 2000 TC prototypes had run in the Rally of Great Britain as part of their test programme. It featured a bigger starter motor and tachometer as standard and was identifiable by "TC" initials on the bodywork. The power output of
7178-572: The road. The Essex engine was made in 1.7 L (1,663 cc) capacity for the Corsair V4 Deluxe, and a 2.0-litre version with high fuel consumption and disappointing performance was installed in the Corsair V4 GT. One marketing tagline for the V4 models was "The Car That Is Seen But Not Heard", which was a real stretch of the ad man's puff, given the inherent characteristics of the engine. The other tag
7275-556: The sale and is still in original condition having never been restored. The car came out of the collection having only ever covered 12,300 miles (19,800 km). The last MOT expired in August 2010. The Rover chair , designed by Ron Arad in 1981, incorporated seats from P6 cars. The P6 was replaced by the Rover SD1 . A Rover P6 and British Police P6 were both included in the Wii, PlayStation 2 and PC game: Classic British Motor Racing , released in 2008. The character Jack Irish drives
7372-454: The same as the four-cylinder unit of the Rover 2000, and the more powerful car's maximum speed of 114 mph (183 km/h) as well as its 10.5-second acceleration time from 0–60 mph (97 km/h) were considered impressive, and usefully faster than most of the cars with which, on the UK market, the car competed on price and specifications. (The glaring exception was the Jaguar 340 , which
7469-577: The time the engine was unusual in having an overhead camshaft layout. The cylinder head had a perfectly flat surface, and the combustion chambers were cast into the piston crowns (sometimes known as a Heron head ). With the rapid construction of motorways around the world, many of which (including those in the United Kingdom in this period) had no upper speed limits, the P6's engine was developed to be efficient, smooth and reliable when driven at high speeds for long periods. It had 'square' dimensions where
7566-504: The traditionally-designed P4 would therefore be a smaller car with a two-litre engine (although a gas turbine was envisioned as power unit in the future) utilising the latest design, engineering and styling, thus making the Rover one of the earliest examples of what would now be classified as an executive car . The P6 would be lower-priced than the P4 and sales volumes were anticipated to be significantly higher. The more upmarket and conservative P5
7663-473: The very front of the car into which round headlights were inset. This gave the car a relatively aerodynamic shape; the top speed of the Corsair 1500 was higher than the equivalent Cortina 1500 even though the Corsair was slightly larger and heavier. The jet-like styling extended to the rear where sharply pointed vertical light clusters hinted at fins, recalling the Ford Consul Mark 2. The overall styling theme
7760-590: The world and manufacturer of some of the best-selling cars of all time Only models sold in Continental Europe and the British Isles are shown, overseas territories often have different offerings. Developed in collaboration with other manufacturers Manufactured in Ford factories in other continents Rover P6 The Rover P6 series (named as
7857-541: Was "I've got a V in my bonnet". These V4 engined cars were poorly regarded by the public, and sales began to taper off. In January 1967 a much improved version of the 2.0 L engine was released, and in April 1967 the problematic V4 GT was replaced by the 2000E model. A 3.0-litre conversion using the Ford Essex V6 engine was one of the options available via Crayford Engineering. Two-door Corsairs were almost all LHD cars, destined for Europe/export. An estate car by Abbott
7954-515: Was 24 mpg compared to the automatic's 22 mpg. The Rover 3500 was also assembled by Leykor in South Africa. A high compression version was added in 1971, with a high compression version of the V8 producing 184 hp (137 kW). The P6 continued in South African assembly until being phased out during 1975; the SD1 arrived in 1977. The Series II, or Mark II as it was actually named by Rover,
8051-761: Was a complete "clean sheet" design intended to appeal to a larger number of buyers than earlier models such as the P4 it replaced. Rover had identified a developing market between the standard '1.5-litre' saloon car class (such as the Ford Consul and the Singer Gazelle ) and the accepted 'three-litre' large saloon cars (typified by the Wolseley 6/99 and the Vauxhall Cresta ). Younger and increasingly affluent professional workers and executives were seeking out cars that were superior to
8148-533: Was added to the range on the eve of the Geneva Motor Show in March 1966, and in 1967, the Corsair underwent the Executive treatment like its smaller Cortina sibling, resulting in the 2000E model with dechromed flanks, which necessitated non-styled-in door handles, special wheel trims, reversing lights, a vinyl roof, and upgraded cabin fittings including a polished wood dashboard. The 2000E, priced at £1,008 in 1967,
8245-463: Was also exporting around 4,000 cars (mostly Escorts) to Britain. The Cork plant closed in 1984. The Ford sewing machinists strike of 1968 was a landmark labour-relations dispute in the United Kingdom. The strike began on 7 June 1968, when women sewing machinists at Dagenham plant walked out and were later followed by the machinists at Halewood Body & Assembly plant . The women were responsible for car seat covers, and their strike eventually led to
8342-401: Was chosen because it stood for something specific on those cars: "Synchromesh". However it is important to note that the 3500S was noticeably quicker than the automatic version of this car with a 0-60 mph time of 9 seconds, compared with 10.1 for the default, i.e. automatic, car. Moreover, due to the fuel-guzzling nature of automatic gearboxes of this era, the manual car's official cycle
8439-408: Was essentially a long wheelbase re-skinned Cortina with extra soundproofing and more comfortable seating for high speed long-distance driving. The windscreen and side windows are shared with the Cortina, the mechanical components with the Cortina GT, and the body's internal panels are basically similar. The Corsair had unusual and quite bold styling for its day, with a sharp horizontal V-shaped crease at
8536-461: Was first seen in the 1961 prototype T4, a front-engined front-wheel-drive gas turbine saloon, one of a line of gas turbine prototypes built by Rover in the 1950s and 1960s. T4 survives today and can be seen at the British Motor Museum . In the event, the gas turbine engine was never used for the production vehicle, but the engine compartment width (with slightly amended shape) did facilitate
8633-450: Was for Canada, having the benefit of Imperial Preference tariffs , to manufacture components for Ford assembly plants in the British Empire. Dagenham was to do, and did, the same for assembly plants in Europe, but in 1932, mired in the financial depression, both France and Germany announced their intention to impose heavy new tariffs on imported components. In France, urgent arrangements were made with Mathis for their plant to be leased by
8730-562: Was intended to replace the Mazda 626 -based Ford Telstar , which was imported from Japan. The two were sold side by side in the Australian Ford range, with the Telstar only available as the high-performance TX5 hatchback. However, it proved less popular than the Telstar had been, losing sales dramatically during 1991. When Nissan closed its Australian plant in 1992, the Corsair was discontinued and
8827-418: Was launched in 1970. All variants carried the battery in the boot and had new exterior fixtures such as a plastic front air intake (to replace the alloy version), new bonnet pressings (with V8 blips even for the 4-cylinder-engined cars) and new rear lights. The interior of the 3500 and 2000TC versions was updated with new instrumentation with circular gauges and rotary switches. The old-style instrumentation with
8924-493: Was modified to allow its use by Rover, it became an instant hit. The Rover V8 engine , as it became known, outlived its original host, the P5B , by more than thirty years. The 3500 was introduced in April 1968 (one year after the Rover company was purchased by Triumph's owner, Leyland ) and continued to be offered until 1977. The manufacturer asserted that the light metal V8 engine weighed
9021-457: Was positioned as a cut price alternative to the Rover 2000 , the introduction of which had effectively defined a new market segment for four cylinder executive sedans in the UK three years earlier: the Corsair 2000E comfortably undercut the £1,357 Rover 2000 and the £1,047 Humber Sceptre . A five-seater convertible and a four-seater cabriolet conversion were available via Crayford Engineering . Only 18 Cabriolets were built, using technology from
9118-882: Was settled out of court in 1952. Charles E. Sorensen 's autobiography—he was a director of this company—described Ferguson so unfavourably that his UK publishers were obliged to scrap all copies and pay costs; Sorensen made a public apology. During the Second World War , the Dagenham plant turned out 360,000 vehicles, and a new factory in Trafford Park , Manchester, made 34,000 Rolls-Royce Merlin engines. After World War II, civilian production resumed. Dagenham made 115,000 vehicles in 1946, and factories in Walthamstow in Essex (later London) and Langley in Buckinghamshire (later Berkshire ) were acquired. The millionth vehicle made since
9215-536: Was shared with the early 1960s Ford Thunderbird ; both cars were inspired by Uwe Bahnsen's design for the 1960 Ford Taunus P3 , but the Corsair was an economical medium-sized motorway cruiser with smooth light-weight bodywork, and very like the Taunus in concept. In 1964 Tony Brookes, with his twin brother as one of the drivers, and a group of friends captured 15 International class G World endurance records at Monza in Italy with
9312-420: Was sold alongside the P6 until 1973. The 2000 was advanced for the time with a de Dion tube suspension at the rear, four-wheel disc brakes ( inboard on the rear), and a fully synchromesh transmission. The unibody design featured non-stressed panels bolted to a unit frame, inspired by the Citroën DS. The de Dion set-up was unique in that the "tube" was in two parts that could telescope, thereby avoiding
9409-555: Was substantially quicker than the Rover 3500 and was advertised at a 15 per cent lower manufacturer's recommended price, the Jaguar representing exceptional value as a "run-out" model, to be replaced later in 1968 by the Jaguar XJ6 .) In comparison, the Rover 3500 auto tested by Motor magazine in the issue published on 20 April 1968 achieved a maximum speed of 117 miles per hour (188 km/h) (mean), 0–60 mph in 9.5 seconds, with
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