Cortina lives on as pick-up
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The new model will have a one-tonne payload capacity and will be assembled at the Ford plant at Port Elizabeth in South Africa.
A shorter version has been assembled there since 1977 and has been market leader despite strong opposition from Japanese competition.
In its UK guise, the load space will be double-skinned with an internal length of 2.13m (7ft.). Rearwards of the cab, there is separate chassis frame with multi-leaf suspension, while the front end will show its Cortina
ancestry. Power will be provided by Ford's 1.6-litre ohe petrol engine, developing. 54.5kW (73bhp).
The UK launch is scheduled for the end of June and although no price has yet been released Ford says it will be competitive with the other one-tonne pickups — notably the Japanese models — available in Britain.
This market sector stood out last year as a strong growth area and sales of one-tonne pick-ups rose from 7,200 in 1980 to 9,900 in 1981, with Mazda being market leader.