The company's first model, the Cortina, was released in cooperation with Ford Motor Company in 1968.

Under Murphy's orders, Moore destroyed the taxi and bought a yellow Ford Cortina, which was to be used in subsequent murders.

The " Cortina Wars " also caused disturbances, especially when Juan Nepomuceno Cortina, on his way to a robbery, was intercepted by a force of Texas Rangersqv.

Albertville was selected as host in 1986, beating Sofia, Falun, Lillehammer, Cortina d ' Ampezzo, Anchorage and Berchtesgaden.

Later, Cortina d ' Ampezzo was awarded the 1956 Games, and Lake Placid — which had hosted the 1932 Winter Olympics — was chosen to host the 1980 Winter Games.

Cosworth began its association with Lotus Cars by work on the longer stroke version of the Kent, which had a capacity of and was used in the Lotus 7. and units were developed in 1963 for use in Formula B and sports car racing, and a twin overhead camshaft version was developed to power the Lotus Cortina.

A year before the introduction of the MAE the SCA was introduced, a 1000 cc engine based on a Ford Cortina 116E block that raced in Formula 2, and featured the first totally Cosworth-designed head.

The Cortina engine was also the basis for the FVA, an F2 engine introduced in 1966, and developed under the same contract as the DFV, for the new 1. 6-litre engine rules.

By 1973, however, the Victor was losing sales in a market that was becoming increasingly dominated by the Ford Cortina.

Vauxhall's sales began to increase in 1975, with the launch of two important new models – the Chevette, a small three-door hatchback that was the first car of its kind to be built in Britain, the Chevette carrying the name Opel Kadett in Europe, and Chevrolet Chevette and in the US and Canadian markets ; and the Cavalier ( Opel Ascona elsewhere ), a stylish four-door saloon designed to compete head-to-head with the all-conquering Ford Cortina.

The host was selected in 1981 after having beat Falun, Sweden and Cortina d ' Ampezzo, Italy.

In 1970 a new Taunus, the Taunus Cortina ( TC ), was introduced, as a two-or four-door sedan, station wagon ( or Turnier ) and coupé.

Also, the Taunus was available as a coupe, a bodystyle that the Cortina was never made in.

From 1976 Taunus and Cortina models were identical in all but name, ' Taunus ' being the name used in left hand drive ( LHD ) markets, and ' Cortina ' in right hand drive ones, although the Cortina name was used in LHD South Korea and Taiwan.

The Ford Taunus TC series was conceived in the late 1960s to be a " world car " alongside its technical sibling the Cortina Mk III, with construction and design work taking place on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Taunus / Cortina was replaced in Europe by the Sierra in late 1982.

The Sierra carried over the Cortina / Taunus OHC Pinto Engines and RWD configuration but was otherwise an all new car with independent suspension all round.

The " TC2 "/ 1976-78 Cortina Mk 4 was never produced, switching instead to the " TC3 "/ Cortina 80 ( late mk IV ) bodies directly and also introducing the uniquely Argentine facelift-version of the " TC1 " fastback coupe with the " TC3 " nose and its own taillights only found on this version.

There are also several mountain ranges such as the Dolomites, the Carnic and Julian Alps and first-class ski resorts like Cortina d ' Ampezzo and Madonna di Campiglio.

This model also formed the basis of the UK-only Cortina Mk. III, but with different door skins and rear wing pressings to lose the " coke-bottle " styling of the Cortina.

Cortinas were also built in small numbers starting with the predecessor Cortina Mk II throughout the model serie ´ s European / east Asian lifespan under license by Korean automaker Hyundai.

The Otosan factory also came to take over the tools for manufacturing the previously South African-built Cortina mk V-based Ford P100 pick-up truck, although building it with their own loading bed with foldable sides ( reminiscent of the Peugeot U10 ) and its own front end with dual square headlights and a colourmatched grille.

Even though the Taunus / Cortina is not a usual sight anymore in many countries where it used to be a best-seller, it is indeed pretty common in Argentina, where a number of Clubs keep the cars in top condition, but it is also a regular transport with many families in the country.

For a certain time, it also had a unique A-frame rear suspension, but this proved fragile and the model soon reverted to the standard Cortina semi-elliptic rear end.

It was the best-specified Cortina produced to date and 30, 000 were sold, which also made it Ford's best-selling special edition model.

1982 was also the year in which the Cortina lost its title as Britain's best selling car, having held that position every year since 1972.

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.

The Cortina was also a very popular selling car in New Zealand throughout its production and continued to be sold new until 1984.

The Cortina also raced in rallies and Lotus did some sportier editions of the Cortina Mark I and Mark II referred to as the Lotus Cortina.

The Cortina was also sold in other right hand drive markets such as the Republic of Ireland where it was assembled locally, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Malta and South Africa.

The Cortina was also assembled in left hand drive in the Philippines, in South Korea ( by Hyundai ) and in Taiwan ( by Ford Lio Ho ) until the early 1980s.

The third generation Cortina was also sold in some continental European markets, such as Scandinavia, alongside the Taunus.

The Ford Cortina was also assembled in the Amsterdam Ford Factory from the launch in 1962 until 1975.

At present the Alps are one of the more popular tourist destinations in the world with many resorts such Oberstdorf, in Bavaria, Saalbach in Austria, Davos in Switzerland, Chamonix in France, and Cortina d ' Ampezzo in Italy recording more than a million annual visitors.

In a popular referendum in October 2007, the inhabitants of Cortina d ' Ampezzo overwhelmingly voted to leave Veneto and return to South Tyrol.

The Taunus and Cortina models are very easy to service and share a lot of mechanical components with the other European Ford cars of the period ( excluding the Ford Fiesta ), making them extremely easy to fix, although they are now a rare sight in even the markets where they were most popular.

All variants of the Cortina sold over one million, with each successive model proving more popular than its predecessor.

The Cortina was Britain's most popular new car in 1967, achieving the goal that Ford had been trying to achieve since it set out to create the original Cortina back in 1960.

Even during its final production year, 1982, the Cortina was Britain's second best selling car and most popular large family car.

The Cortina was a top selling model in New Zealand for years ; in 2. 0L trim ( not offered in England ) it was a popular ' rep's special '.

The Ford Cortina was a very popular car in Britain throughout its lifespan.

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 still hugely popular with buyers.

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 Kent engines used in the Cortina ( popularly known as the " Crossflow "), being lightweight, reliable and inexpensive, were popular with several low-volume sports car manufacturers, including Morgan who used them in the 1962 – 81 4 / 4 ( and continue to use Ford engines in most of their current models ).

Unlike Australia, the Cortina was always a popular car in New Zealand, and was missed by many when it ceased production in mid-1983, notably after Ford New Zealand had scoured the globe for surplus assembly kits, a number of which came from Cork in Ireland.

The last brand new Cortina was sold in South Africa by mid 1984, and it was often the countries top selling car, and was far more popular than the Sierra and Mondeos which followed it.

At first, many found the design blob-like and difficult to accept after being used to the sharp-edged, straight-line styling of the Cortina, and it picked up nicknames such as " Jellymould " and " The Salesman's Spaceship " ( the latter thanks to its status as a popular fleet car in the United Kingdom ).

The 1600, popular for modification and racing, not least due to its independent rear suspension ( when contemporary rivals like the Ford Cortina and Toyota Corona had live, leaf-sprung rear axles ), was replaced by the 180B in 1972 and was sought after used for many years afterwards.

Overall the car was very expensive to produce and in the latter part of its production was running alongside the very popular Ford Cortina.

The most popular 1600 cc engine was the Cosworth FVA, the sixteen-valve head on a four-cylinder Cortina block that was effectively the " proof of concept " for the legendary DFV.

In the 1970s the most popular mid-size cars in Europe were still traditional sedans like Ford Taunus, Ford Cortina, Opel Ascona ( Vauxhall Cavalier ) and Peugeot 305.

While offered in many model forms, the Escort, like the Cortina, was not popular on the Australian market, largely due to expanding competition from Japanese imports and also the established preference of Australian drivers for larger six-cylinder vehicles.