The Taunus was a very successful car in West Germany, when I was stationed there in the 1980's, many American GI's had them, liked them, & found them to be reliable.
as a U.S. Army kid in West Germany, we had M-B 180A while I was in Kindergarten in a Quonset Hut ... M-B 280S, 190SL, 280SEL 3.5, 300TD + Kharmann Ghia, 912, 924, Passat Drove the last 2 on #Autobahn Gießen to Marburg in a college summer ...
For a car that wasn't officially imported to the US, there were quite a few Taunuses (how do you pluralize that... Taunii?) here in Oregon when I was a kid. I think some G.I.'s brought them back from Germany after being stationed there.
I bought a very used 63 Ford Falcon that ran on, and on, and on, and on, and on..... The Ford inline six was indestructible to say the least. That old Falcon got me through high school, college and the first year of my first "real" job. Thanks ED for another great watch.
Had to drive a '64 Comet with the 200ci 6 and 2 speed auto. It was history by 120k miles, leaked at every seal and low compression on two cylinders. Whoever designed the head/intake manifold should have been sacked. The "ears" that held the outside exhaust studs were prone to break off leading to exhaust leaks. My grandfather had a '62 Falcon with the 170ci version, broke a lifter at 135k. I had to pull the oil pan to remove it. While I was down there I noticed that the rod bearings were nearly gone. Oh and I didn't mention that the voltage regulators tended to regularly burn out the contacts. Old VWs were much more reliable.
Heck man, that ain't too awful much for a vehicle. I can imagine for the time period it's more so, but my grandpa has drove a 2004 silverado for 13 years now. I'm 18. I grew up in that truck and drove myself to high school in it, and we still use it. I know it sounds like it's just in good shape because it's an old person vehicle, but he abuses it. It takes it like a champ.
An automobile is a tool. Nothing more. This sort of vehicle design is exactly what America needs right now. Basic, cheap and effective. We are now paying more for our vehicles than we paid for our homes.
You forgot the largest legacy of the Cardinal project: the Engine. The Cardinal fit nowhere in Ford Germany's line up but it gave them a desperately needed replacement for their pre war flat head i4 engines that dated back to the model Y. The V4 was complicated to make and quickly replaced by the Pinto a decade later. But it was the perfect base for a six cylinder. With two additional cylinders added it became the eternal Cologne V6.
"He already had a hard-on for the Falcon..." I just spit whisky through my nose. I live for these videos, Ed. Hartelijk dank voor je kennis en je humor.
I love your show. You come up with some fascinating content and you presented in a very humorous way that makes it irresistible to watch. Thank you for giving us all the experience.
After we emigrated to the States from Germany in the 50s, my father fell in love with Ford cars and bought the first Falcon to hit the showroom in our city. We drove it to California on Rt 66 in those iconic years of mass migration. It became my first car in high school. But Dad had to replace its troublesome engine and I ended up with a Mustang under the hood. I remember drag racing some guys from school off a green light. I left them in the dust and at the next red light they jumped out and quickly opened my hood to see what I had. I was the coolest girl in school that day.😂 My next car was a green VW, the first car I drove off a showroom floor. Guess my German blood was still intact 😊
Very enlightening. If it were not for SAAB's desperation to replace their two-stroke, the venerable Ford V4 might have died. However, it saved SAAB for a while. The last iteration, tuned by the Swedes was making close to 170hp. Excellent work, thanks!
The Ford V4 was also used in the MK1 Ford Transit commercial vehicle. That made Ford Europe to create and build other versions of the 1.2L V4 (1.3 , 1.5 , 1.7 and 2.0L) for the selling as hotcakes Transit modelrange.
The V4 was a dog of an engine due to its intrinsic imbalance and fiber timing gear and balance shaft but I do agree that Saab did get it to perform well and propel myself and the trusty Saab through a few Rally's sadly the driver had less talent than the car, planting it straight into a felled tree which neatly stuffed the engine which exited the vehicle as designed leaving a neat hole in the front grill, I was the angry Navigator. The V4 engine was also in the Ford Corsair which is a later version of the Taunus both cars suffered from zero visibility in a snowy night as the lights were very efficient snow collectors. Gearbox was pretty good. I cant say the V6 was much of an improvement other than less vibration as it held too much heat and my 2.8 Granada Ghia X Executive (limited edition) always struggled cooling down after stretch on the motorway. My father had a Corsair for a company car and it had engine problems from the start. After a long journey with frequent stops when the large crescent warning lights came on indicating more oil needed the engine eventually got us to our destination. The local dealer had a look as said it probably needed a new engine which would be a few weeks once cleared by Ford. Dad getting very ticked off with the situation and miles from our home over Christmas sent a Telex message to some chums he knew when he worked for Pressed steel a car body supplier in the UK. They apparently made a few calls to their chums at Ford in the US explaining who the car belonged to and bla bla, This motivated Ford UK to kick arse and two days later and much to the surprise of the local Ford dealer they found a crate containing a new engine with all the ancillaries and another crated gearbox. I remember a smartly dressed chap returning the car cleaned with a full tank and being very apologetic to dad as he handed some flowers to mum. I think my dads chums may have exaggerated his status.. The problem was over lean combustion from the single downdraft carb burning exhaust valves the engine only had a few k on it. The Saab I ran a duel 28/30 Solex which was a great improvement on the standard setup.
This model Taunus was everywhere in West Germany in the early 70's when I was a soldier...the Police had them as patrol cars.........they were everywhere.
The UK Cortina gets a quick mugshot but no mention. Big seller and arguably the first British performance car based on a boggo saloon (the Lotus Cortina). Then gradually integrated with the Taunus where the that car appears to be a Cortina Mk3 without the cool coke bottle.. Idea for a video about Ford's amalgamation of European operations through the 1970s perhaps 🤔
Ed, another great video on a car that I remember my dad reading about in a 1960s Mechanix Illustrated magazine as he had recently bought a used 1959 English Ford Consul. Your quality videos reminds me of the great Dutch engineers I used to work with at IBM Austin from 1968 to the last one's return to IBM Amsterdam in the late 1970s. Great guys like Henk Dijksman, Hans Overliese, Fritz van Baar and Hans van der Bijl. Sadly, many of them are gone much like the IBM Amsterdam plant, Austin's manufactring and IBM's greatness.
In the early '60s, cars like the Falcon were popular as second cars primarily driven by the housewife/mom, and as the cars aged, first cars for teens. One of my friend's mom drove a '63-ish Falcon, and I rode in it a few times when she dropped us off or picked us up somewhere. A few years later in the '70s, three friends of mine in HS had the Mercury version of the Falcon (Comet) as their first car, and I sometimes got to do some practice driving in them. Two of the three were Comet wagons, and all three were '60s vintage. Between those three cars, I spent quite a bit of time in Falcon/Comets either as a passenger or driver. As a kid or teen, any ride was better than no ride, but I thought they were crude, gutless, and cheap feeling, even for a '60s car. No power anything, no AC (of course), AM radio only. Two of them were automatics, one was a "three on the tree". On the positive side, I remember them as being generally reliable. They and their competitors defined inexpensive, basic transportation in those days. I think that was part of the plan for cars of that class, to make you aspire to move up to something nicer ASAP.
@@CaSuMog No Lotus used Renault 16 Gearbox Citroen gearbox were the basis for the 1950's Colotti racing gearbox used by Cooper and even the very early GT40
Lotus actually used Ford UK 4 cylinder engines...mainly the Kent series, to produce their masterful high performance twi cam engines. Not the other way round
@@JonosBtheMC The UK version ended up in the Corsair, Zephyr & Transit. The Cologne V4 which was totally different powered the 12M, 15M & 17M.. Both engines powered the Capri, since it was made in both countries...
You missed a major bit of irony where Iacocca later found himself at Chrysler, the home of large sports and luxury cars that was going bankrupt, and he saved it with the compact, 4 cylinder, front wheel drive K-car.
Totally unrelated to the video but I just saw a Volkswagen Karmann walking home from school! Stopped by at the grocery store to buy soap for carving and there was this beautiful orange one there! The owner must’ve loved it because it seemed near immaculate!
Slightly unrelated but the other day I saw a car I thought to be a Kharmann Ghia while at the "mandatory yearly car inspection" (Technical Review in my country) and I went up to the owner and a asked him what it was. It turned out to be a Simca Bertone. It looked pretty nice but sadly it didn't pass the inspection
The Taunus later developed in Europe to share its design with the British Cortina and a big engined variant was developed in Australia in the 1970s. All rear-wheel drive using a two piece prop-shaft with a 'doughnut' flexible coupling. This co-operation between Ford of Britain and Ford of Germany occurred when Ford rationalised European operations with the establishment of Ford of Europe in Brentwood, England taking advantage of the single European market created with the foundation of the EU.
One day in September he stepped out of his Cord Into the street to face a bullet spittin' Ford Now he's jitterbug, just a name in the news Said, "He finally paid the price, he finally paid his dues"
Extra irony occurred when Ford USA decided to sell the imported English Ford Cortina in preference to the Taunus! Though at least the 1970's Pinto, Cortina & Taunus shared more mechanically & suspension wise, if not in body styling.
Another wonderful story, well told by you, Ed. I had to laugh when you showed that clip of Ford vs. Ferrari, though. I'm quite sure Henry Ford II would NEVER have shut down a production line like that. Doing so, even in the early 1960s, would have cost well over $100K. One of the few really untrue things in that movie. I always liked the Taunus and Cortina. Both great little cars, and I always experience a little thrill when I see one here in the US.
I worked at Ford in Cologne for some years as a design engineer. Higher Management from across the pond had zero understanding of the European market and constantly meddled in local projects, preferring large engines and US styling. They still do and are the main cause of Ford being close to death in Germany. I like the photo shown of the Cologne site along the Rhine River, walked along that spot many times.
Another Episode... but to be fair J. Walter Christie of the United States patented a design for a front-wheel-drive car, the first prototype of which he built in 1904. and Cord L-29 was the first American production front wheel drive car in 1929.
Correct but FWD was first designed and built in Austria by Gräf & Stift. (1895) I don't know if they had a patent on it. (It was also the car brand in which Franz Ferdinand and his wife were shot. This triggered the start of world war 1.) Front wheel drive was first widely adopted in Europe. Think Citroen 2CV, Citroen Traction Avant (= front traction). Both were pre-WW2 designs although the mass production of the 2CV was only started after the end of WW2
The Traction came to life in 1934. The 2CV a bit later, just 1938/ 39 but then came the germans. Before the Traction was the DKW Front, but it was not real mass product imho / 750 tsd tractions were made…
I had a '69 Opel Kadet wagon. It was the most unreliable car I ever owned. The one thing it reminded me of every time I got in was that I should have bought a VW Beetle. After two years I replaced the heater core, the clutch cable - twice and the fuel pump.
The Ford Taunus 15M 1.5L V4-engine was an excellent engine. It was a nippy and responsive engine that liked high revs. It had a balance axle which gave it a smooth and vibration free running and it ended it's days powering the SAAB V4 95/96 between 1967 and 1980. I owned three SAAB V4 95/96 back in the 1980s and I liked the engine very much. A well tuned example as the one I had in my beige 1972 SAAB 96 was capable of over 100mph or 160km/h without any problem. The speedometer topped out at 160km/h so it was a little hard to tell how fast the car was going flat out but I estimate 175km/h or so..
Awesome episode! My first car ever was one third of a 1963 Taunus P4 my 2 buddies and I bought in 1986 to cruise around in. It had a bench seat in the front and a 4 on the tree gear shifter; Only now I get why it felt so american in spite of its puny size. Not a bad car with that funky little V4 engine. Thanks for the reminder, Ed!!
Ford's interest in FWD during this period was an interesting side story. Ford owned the patents on the UPP powertrain configuration which GM ultimately licensed to build the Toronado and Eldorado. The Falcon's front suspension was even designed (by Earl McPherson, no less) so that it could accommodate the half-shafts needed for FWD, if the need arose. It just never did. GM must have lost enough money on the Corvair and the "rope drive" Pontiac Tempest to steer Ford away from any new drivetrain configurations for a while.
The Falcon, Chevy II and Valiant were cars for poor people. GM made some slightly upscale compacts at that time, but generally the American compacts of that time gave off the scent of poor. That's the way the car companies wanted it. They didn't want their basic cars to siphon off sales from their more profitable cars. It's also the main reason why such cars don't exist today. No one wants to be seen in a car that marks them as poor..even if they are poor.
@MrSloika BMW was impressed at the sales of USA compacts and thought Americans might like an upmarket economy car. When the tinny Japanese cars became popular, BMW began to sell a more expensive little car at entry Buick prices
It was all about options, if you drove a falcon sprint with a hi-po 289 (I think it was part of the option pkg) and a 4 speed it’d come with nice bright work and wheels…no one would have thought you were poor
The thumbnail was an immediate reminder of my first car - a 1963 Taunus 17M I bought private in 1967 ($250 CAD) I assumed it came to Canada via a returning serviceman as it had a big D decal on it. It was a pain to get parts and had its quirks e. g. Lousy gas mileage likely from running without an air cleaner, 4 on the column, loose tie rod end held in place by a spring, tapped out at about 55 MPH on the highway and the gas line slipped off the carb one day dumping gas over the hot exhaust manifold until the carb ran dry. However, it always started. I believe it also had a collapsible steering wheel.
I think that Lee was correct. By the early 60's, the very small car market was shrinking in the US. The buying public was moving back to larger cars such as senior compacts and intermediates. Even the vaunted Falcon grew in 1966 and pooped out after 1969.
I remember reading in one of Iacocca's books he was talking about how timing is so sensitive in the car market. The market can change overnight. He said a problem is that a car can be too far ahead of what the market wants. A lot of videos on classic cars and car features that were not successful might have been been a success if they had either survived longer or had been introduced later. An example that comes to mind is the Pontiac Overhead Cam Six. Really in the 60s the only Econo import with big sales was the VW Beetle. So hard to say the Cardinal would have been a success in USA/Canada.
Interesting video! I have always wondered why Ford switched to FWD + V4 engine only to later go back to the old fashioned RWD live rear axel layout. But this video explains that Ford Germany was basically forced to do it.
As I recall from my time over there the FWD 1962-66 'P4' & the 1966-70 'P6' Taunus 12m & 15m were known for transmission issues (at least among the G.I.'s) where as the RWD 1960-63 'P3',1964-67 'P5',the 1967 'P7a' and the 1968-71 'P7b' didn't have such serious issues? (Note: While over there,I had a '69 P7b 17m in the early '80s) When the 1971 Taunus Mk I (similar to the UK's Cortina Mk III) came out that replaced the P6,those cars were RWD.
I can't believe that I guessed Ford Cardinal for Ed's teaser pic posted in the Community section the other day! Especially since I've never seen that original prototype before. I did know about the Cardinal becoming the Ford Taunus, tho. Great video, Ed! Love the humor!
Another fun fact, the rights to the V4 engine were also licensed to SAAB who used it in many of their passenger cars as well as the sonnet II and III. SAAB being SAAB mounted them reversed through weird Swedish shenanigans. A Sonnet III is on my bucket list
Ford in the US was not the only American automaker working on a sub-compact family car at the time. Harold Churchill at Studebaker was working on a 100" WB car smaller than the 108" wheelbase Lark. It was to be powered by a water-cooled 139 cubic inch, horizonally-opposed flat 4-cylinder engine, with conventional RWD layout. In-house, it was code-named 'B-61' and 'B-62', and unofficially called 'Sparrow' by outsiders. Like McNamera at Ford, Harold Churchill got ousted by Studebaker's Board of Directors, along with his 'sub-Lark' small vehicle project. Admittedly, both the Cardinal from Ford, and the Studebaker 'Sparrow' would have both suffered from a cheap 'built-down-to-a-price' appearance, with not enough chrome trim on the outside and very spartan interiors.
Seems some even smaller UK Fords may have been sold in the US , but hard to find information on them. Some 105E Anglias seemed to have made it to the US with either the 1 litre or 1.2 litre Kent engine. Saw one on a J.F Kennedy TV documentary parked outside an Alabama University related to the desegregation upheavals of 62 or 63. Not sure if it was a private import or a local Ford dealer sold one. I would be interested to know more about small Ford US sales that early. Even in the late forties and early fifties the earlier flathead four Anglia was US sold. Many ended up as the bodywork for very high powered drag cars. Was it Jesse James Monster Garage that controversially destroyed a survivor Anglia by trying, unsuccessfully, to make a drag car out of it.
And Ford came up with the Cortina and smaller Anglia 105 E, which both sold extremely well and made Ford UK a fair bit of cash, even though the Anglia looked like a Pike! The Condul Classic however lost Ford UK a fortune due to the complex rear end styling, the steel panels would rip when being pressed, resulting in lots of scrap steel
I remember in the 80's that to drive, or even be a passenger in a Chevette was the single most embarrassing thing someone could ever do. You were better off riding a bike, or walking because once you were associated with a Chevette it was over, you'd never get a date, a job, go to college, or even live past 30 years old. Then Hyundai swooped in and nobody ever bought a Chevette again. In fact there are no Chevettes surviving, they were all rounded up in 1990 and dumped in the Marianas Trench, only to start the cycle of embarrassment all over with Blobfish at the wheel.
Ed I love your interpretations of English speaking dialects, especially when you decided to give the Americans a southern drawl, when Ford HQ is the Glasshouse in Michigan. Nicely done! ;) I’m from NYC. Michiganders would call it “the Big Aepple!”
9:42 Point of clarification. The old Edsel factory referenced here was known as Fern Valley Assembly. (Today Louisville Assembly, home of the Escape, et al.) Somewhere on the chain of research, it was mentioned that the Cardinal was scheduled for "Louisville" while failing to understand Ford operated Fern Valley but also Louisville West End Assembly. West End was scheduled to close following the opening of Fern Valley in 1955, but the demand for F-100 trucks kept the facility operating through the '50s. Yes, Fern Valley was where all the Edsel-specific bits were made. Cardinal was scheduled for West End, not Fern Valley or "the old Edsel factory".
I worked in a motorist shop as a teenager and lokkiqng in the parts catalogue always wondered why cernan cars were different in that period, it just didn't make sense and now I know why!
This is one car that knew nothing about. Mom worked part time at a Ford dealer and the owner gave me all the plastic display models, my favorite being a Galaxy. I probably wouldn't have liked a Cardinal model because it would be too small. Mom's previous car was a Buick Special which came from my Uncle's dealership. It was delivered to dad in Israel for our vacation their. The Buick then went to Turkey where we lived. After my parents were divorced dad drove it Greece where closed up his engineering office. He then drove the Buick though communist Balkans and ferried to the UK where it weighed more than a black maria. He shipped it back to the USA where he gave it to mom. Dad's next car was Mercury jolopy with a giant engine and lots if chrome. Not as good a car as the newer Buick, but I think dad it as chick magnet. Mom eventually bought a Falcon from her boss (at a very good price). Mom was in love with Robert McNamara because she liked smart men (dad is very smart, but McNamara was handsome as well as smart). Mom's next husband was very handsome and drove a Jaguar sedan with all the beautiful appointments. It didn't seem to bother my step father that it seemed to be the repair shop frequently and he ended up paying for a loaner Jaguar. It was very comfortable and went with my mom's cocktail gowns. (My step dad was movie star handsome). I once opened up the hood to check the oil and never wanted to do that again. My step dad did me the spanner from Jaguar's repair kit. The repair kit was the only items of Jaguar I liked. My 1st car was a 1960 VW because it was cheap and easy to work on.
You missed one point: FORD DID import both the MK-1, and the MK-ll British CORTINA to the United States. Oddly enough, the Cortina was built on the SAME Platform as the German TAUNUS. ‼️ 🚗🙂
I think none of the German Taunuses in the 60s shared their platform with the Cortinas. Cortina MkI and MkII were RWD with inline 4 engines whereas the Taunus P4/P6 were FWD with V4. More upmarket Taunus P3/P5/P7 series were larger, RWD vehicles. P3 used an inline 4 engine and the later P5/P7 adopted the V4 engines.
Agree, FORD USA decision to import the Cortina in preference to the Taunus is a signifigant point. Perhaps this was due to rising value of the DM, but it's not convincing. Later 1970's Taunus & Cortina shared the same basic RWD structure, unlike the early '60's FWD / RWD, and even shared basic drivetrain with Pinto.
My Father had a Taunus P2 (Germany) with black-and-white painting - and it was the best looking car our family ever had. Even by today's standards (in my opinion). It was stylish, some American touch, but still well sized for German cities. We also had a P3 (I would call it ugly) and a P7, then my father switched to Granada models
Interesting as I have never heard of it, but a bit before my time. You do mention the v4 Corsair however, now my neighbours had one of those and would like a historical view of that car if possible? I Ford range in general infact for Euro 60's, questions too, where did the Corsair fit in with the Cortina s it seems rather similar?
The V4 Corsair and the UK-designed mk1 Transit had entirely different engines (Essex) to the German( Cologne) models, the German models were thought better... well because. they were German. The Corsair was designed by the same British Ford man as the US cigar shape 61 Thunderbird. it was a replacement for the UK Ford Capri/ Classic models which didn't sell well. It was positioned above the Cortina with a longer wheelbase but shared many components, the reason was Ford UK had got their fingers burnt with the costly development of the Classic/Capri. and tried a new approach. The Corsair sold very well with a straight 4 engine but did not so well with the V4 engine but enough to keep it into production until 1970 making it with the Anglia the longest-running UK Fords of the 1960s.
Today, Ford produces 'world cars'. Unfortunately, that means compromises on what Americans and Europeans want. BMW and Audi in 2024 outsold Ford in the UK, with Mercedes very close behind. That would have been considered impossible not that long ago. Escort, Fiesta, and Cortina were for Europe and perfect for the market.
so an Opel Kadett of that era you show is in our neighborhood -- a 1967 light blue 3-door wagon In High School in NoVA, a friend had a white 1973 Kadett 3-door wagon - 4-speed & RWD, great on gravel roads around the back of Ft. Belvoir, w. throttle-steering on curves. Robust steering alignment set by bending frame rails ... The Military Police stayed off those roads since they had been issued ChrySSler K-Cars (in the same era, my Rossow Grandparents were stranded on a gravel road due to too-thin-steel oil pan hole along a gravel road in their Chevy Citation -- Grandpa Rossow had bought a new Chevy sedan every 3 years for decades, but in 1983 switched to a Ford Crown Vic LTD in Two-Tone Brown -- the Wife & I got it as a wedding present 1992 -- kept it to 2000 )
so that white 4 door Falcon was my maternal Grandfather's car !! - Rudolf Ranier Wittmeier - grew up on a farm in So. Dak.; 100% Ethnic German from Ukraine Back seat + trunk full of tools + materials for maintenance on several rental houses he + Grandma Edna Boehler Wittmeier owned (same background; all Lutherans + a 10th generation back Jewish woman) My Mom & I lived in one of those rental houses while my Dad was on 2nd tour in RVN -- was too young to remember it so the car was now a 2-seater; me + Grandpa; no parents along ...
One of Ford's greatest lost opportunities was that they didn't borrow body and chassis engineers from Ford's British division when they were designing the original Falcon. Ford of England had been building unibody cars in Great Britain since the early 50s and even the early British Fords had much better chassis rigidity than the American Falcon. It's a pity that the Not Invented Here mindset kept Ford's experts on unibody construction in Europe.
From memory the early Falcon suffered more from inadequate front suspension and wheel bearing strength quickly giving it a bad name in Australia, where previous English Ford were more thoroughly tested beforehand. 'Export' spec. Mk1 Cortina were also structurally reinforced compared to the basic UK Cortina 1200.
So Ford being Ford, if they had stuck with the US Cardinal, along with its mid-'60s redesign would have come models with performance enhancements. What if the Mustang had been built on the Cardinal platform instead of the Falcon? How would that have rippled through time?
Very impressed with your multilingual sense of humour.
Yeah, Ed's sense of humor is very refreshing to an American ear.
The Taunus was a very successful car in West Germany, when I was stationed there in the 1980's, many American GI's had them, liked them, & found them to be reliable.
That makes sense, since they were buying a car that had a lot of American DNA in it.
and had a V4
as a U.S. Army kid in West Germany, we had M-B 180A while I was in Kindergarten in a Quonset Hut ...
M-B 280S, 190SL, 280SEL 3.5, 300TD
+ Kharmann Ghia, 912, 924, Passat
Drove the last 2 on #Autobahn Gießen to Marburg in a college summer ...
For a car that wasn't officially imported to the US, there were quite a few Taunuses (how do you pluralize that... Taunii?) here in Oregon when I was a kid. I think some G.I.'s brought them back from Germany after being stationed there.
@@skucera8116
I bought a very used 63 Ford Falcon that ran on, and on, and on, and on, and on.....
The Ford inline six was indestructible to say the least. That old Falcon got me through high school, college and the first year of my first "real" job. Thanks ED for another great watch.
Had to drive a '64 Comet with the 200ci 6 and 2 speed auto. It was history by 120k miles, leaked at every seal and low compression on two cylinders. Whoever designed the head/intake manifold should have been sacked. The "ears" that held the outside exhaust studs were prone to break off leading to exhaust leaks. My grandfather had a '62 Falcon with the 170ci version, broke a lifter at 135k. I had to pull the oil pan to remove it. While I was down there I noticed that the rod bearings were nearly gone. Oh and I didn't mention that the voltage regulators tended to regularly burn out the contacts. Old VWs were much more reliable.
@@stevereimer5254 The Falcon was designed to be scrapped 5-10 years after it hit the road or about !00,000 miles, whichever came first.
A straight 6 is incredibly balanced. BMW did it best.
Heck man, that ain't too awful much for a vehicle. I can imagine for the time period it's more so, but my grandpa has drove a 2004 silverado for 13 years now. I'm 18. I grew up in that truck and drove myself to high school in it, and we still use it. I know it sounds like it's just in good shape because it's an old person vehicle, but he abuses it. It takes it like a champ.
So, basically Lee Iacocca set America's ability to manufacture a small, efficient, cost effective car back by about 20 years.
He just decided to hold off on it until he moved to Chrysler.
Yeah, but no. Economics set back sub-compact cars 20 years. Lee was just giving the public what they wanted.
Not totally. The market was not ready for this car in the early 60s. We did get the Pinto and Vega within 10 more years.
Ford and GM tried small cars in the early 60's. Chevy II had a four cylinder. Nobody wanted them when gasoline was 0.29 a gallon.
An automobile is a tool. Nothing more. This sort of vehicle design is exactly what America needs right now. Basic, cheap and effective.
We are now paying more for our vehicles than we paid for our homes.
You forgot the largest legacy of the Cardinal project: the Engine. The Cardinal fit nowhere in Ford Germany's line up but it gave them a desperately needed replacement for their pre war flat head i4 engines that dated back to the model Y.
The V4 was complicated to make and quickly replaced by the Pinto a decade later. But it was the perfect base for a six cylinder. With two additional cylinders added it became the eternal Cologne V6.
Didn't the same V4 found it's way into Saab Sonnet ?
Interestingly, the Americans had already decided on an internal vee-angle of 60°, which seems to anticipate the possibility of a later V6.
"He already had a hard-on for the Falcon..." I just spit whisky through my nose.
I live for these videos, Ed.
Hartelijk dank voor je kennis en je humor.
I love your show. You come up with some fascinating content and you presented in a very humorous way that makes it irresistible to watch. Thank you for giving us all the experience.
7:50 I'm pretty amazed to hear Ed, a Dutch man, speak English with a very forced over-the-top German accent XD
That banjo music for us Americans was pretty funny.... nice job.
Ry Cooder is awesome 😎
After we emigrated to
the States from Germany in the 50s, my father fell in love with Ford cars and bought the first Falcon to hit the showroom in our city. We drove it to California on Rt 66 in those iconic years of mass migration. It became my first car in high school. But Dad had to replace its troublesome engine and I ended up with a Mustang under the hood. I remember drag racing some guys from school off a green light. I left them in the dust and at the next red light they jumped out and quickly opened my hood to see what I had. I was the coolest girl in school that day.😂 My next car was a green VW, the first car I drove off a showroom floor. Guess my German blood was still intact 😊
Very enlightening. If it were not for SAAB's desperation to replace their two-stroke, the venerable Ford V4 might have died. However, it saved SAAB for a while. The last iteration, tuned by the Swedes was making close to 170hp.
Excellent work, thanks!
The Ford V4 was also used in the MK1 Ford Transit commercial vehicle.
That made Ford Europe to create and build other versions of the 1.2L V4 (1.3 , 1.5 , 1.7 and 2.0L) for the selling as hotcakes Transit modelrange.
The V4 was a dog of an engine due to its intrinsic imbalance and fiber timing gear and balance shaft but I do agree that Saab did get it to perform well and propel myself and the trusty Saab through a few Rally's sadly the driver had less talent than the car, planting it straight into a felled tree which neatly stuffed the engine which exited the vehicle as designed leaving a neat hole in the front grill, I was the angry Navigator.
The V4 engine was also in the Ford Corsair which is a later version of the Taunus both cars suffered from zero visibility in a snowy night as the lights were very efficient snow collectors. Gearbox was pretty good. I cant say the V6 was much of an improvement other than less vibration as it held too much heat and my 2.8 Granada Ghia X Executive (limited edition) always struggled cooling down after stretch on the motorway.
My father had a Corsair for a company car and it had engine problems from the start. After a long journey with frequent stops when the large crescent warning lights came on indicating more oil needed the engine eventually got us to our destination. The local dealer had a look as said it probably needed a new engine which would be a few weeks once cleared by Ford. Dad getting very ticked off with the situation and miles from our home over Christmas sent a Telex message to some chums he knew when he worked for Pressed steel a car body supplier in the UK. They apparently made a few calls to their chums at Ford in the US explaining who the car belonged to and bla bla, This motivated Ford UK to kick arse and two days later and much to the surprise of the local Ford dealer they found a crate containing a new engine with all the ancillaries and another crated gearbox. I remember a smartly dressed chap returning the car cleaned with a full tank and being very apologetic to dad as he handed some flowers to mum. I think my dads chums may have exaggerated his status.. The problem was over lean combustion from the single downdraft carb burning exhaust valves the engine only had a few k on it. The Saab I ran a duel 28/30 Solex which was a great improvement on the standard setup.
This model Taunus was everywhere in West Germany in the early 70's when I was a soldier...the Police had them as patrol cars.........they were everywhere.
I'm an American and I want to say your depicton of Americans is impeccable and perfect, if not a little too tame
The UK Cortina gets a quick mugshot but no mention. Big seller and arguably the first British performance car based on a boggo saloon (the Lotus Cortina). Then gradually integrated with the Taunus where the that car appears to be a Cortina Mk3 without the cool coke bottle..
Idea for a video about Ford's amalgamation of European operations through the 1970s perhaps 🤔
Ed, another great video on a car that I remember my dad reading about in a 1960s Mechanix Illustrated magazine as he had recently bought a used 1959 English Ford Consul.
Your quality videos reminds me of the great Dutch engineers I used to work with at IBM Austin from 1968 to the last one's return to IBM Amsterdam in the late 1970s. Great guys like Henk Dijksman, Hans Overliese, Fritz van Baar and Hans van der Bijl. Sadly, many of them are gone much like the IBM Amsterdam plant, Austin's manufactring and IBM's greatness.
In the early '60s, cars like the Falcon were popular as second cars primarily driven by the housewife/mom, and as the cars aged, first cars for teens. One of my friend's mom drove a '63-ish Falcon, and I rode in it a few times when she dropped us off or picked us up somewhere.
A few years later in the '70s, three friends of mine in HS had the Mercury version of the Falcon (Comet) as their first car, and I sometimes got to do some practice driving in them. Two of the three were Comet wagons, and all three were '60s vintage. Between those three cars, I spent quite a bit of time in Falcon/Comets either as a passenger or driver.
As a kid or teen, any ride was better than no ride, but I thought they were crude, gutless, and cheap feeling, even for a '60s car. No power anything, no AC (of course), AM radio only. Two of them were automatics, one was a "three on the tree". On the positive side, I remember them as being generally reliable.
They and their competitors defined inexpensive, basic transportation in those days. I think that was part of the plan for cars of that class, to make you aspire to move up to something nicer ASAP.
As a Texan I am proud to say you nailed the southern accent in the world car scene!! Good job Brother haha 👏👏
Ford US and Germany were beefing over who can make the best fwd shitbox. Meanwhile Ford GB was putting Lotus engines in a Cortina.
…. And Lotus was putting Citroen gearboxes in their cars…😅
@@CaSuMog No Lotus used Renault 16 Gearbox
Citroen gearbox were the basis for the 1950's Colotti racing gearbox used by Cooper and even the very early GT40
@ Early Esprit had the Citroen SM box, later a Renault GTA one.
Lotus actually used Ford UK 4 cylinder engines...mainly the Kent series, to produce their masterful high performance twi cam engines. Not the other way round
@@jeremywestenra4178 aye and that twin cam was then adapted for the Cortina and MK1 Escort.
On first sight it looks like british Ford Corsair
So it was not just me?
Yeah, headlights are sure Corsair, the rest P3 Taunus aka The Bathtub...
I thought Corsair also :-)
I was wondering if the V4 was the same V4 that found it's way into the Capri...
@@JonosBtheMC The UK version ended up in the Corsair, Zephyr & Transit. The Cologne V4 which was totally different powered the 12M, 15M & 17M..
Both engines powered the Capri, since it was made in both countries...
You missed a major bit of irony where Iacocca later found himself at Chrysler, the home of large sports and luxury cars that was going bankrupt, and he saved it with the compact, 4 cylinder, front wheel drive K-car.
Those V4s are killer. I used to have mountains of SAAB 96s with that mill.
My family owned several Fords over the years. I had never hear of the Cardinal project so it was good to hear the story.
Totally unrelated to the video but I just saw a Volkswagen Karmann walking home from school! Stopped by at the grocery store to buy soap for carving and there was this beautiful orange one there! The owner must’ve loved it because it seemed near immaculate!
I saw my first Karmann in person last saturday in my friend's shop
I didn't fit 😂
A car walking home from school - interesting idea! - lol
Haha nice one!
Slightly unrelated but the other day I saw a car I thought to be a Kharmann Ghia while at the "mandatory yearly car inspection" (Technical Review in my country) and I went up to the owner and a asked him what it was. It turned out to be a Simca Bertone. It looked pretty nice but sadly it didn't pass the inspection
@@felipesanchoWhy did it fail inspection?
episode 69 nice
Came here for this comment
Ooooooo I'm going to tell mom on you..................
I'm surprised that Ed didn't pulled a joke with this one
Came to say this
two more likes makes this comment 69 as well
The Taunus later developed in Europe to share its design with the British Cortina and a big engined variant was developed in Australia in the 1970s. All rear-wheel drive using a two piece prop-shaft with a 'doughnut' flexible coupling. This co-operation between Ford of Britain and Ford of Germany occurred when Ford rationalised European operations with the establishment of Ford of Europe in Brentwood, England taking advantage of the single European market created with the foundation of the EU.
The Cord 810 was the first American car with independent front suspension and front wheel drive... In 1936.
One day in September he stepped out of his Cord
Into the street to face a bullet spittin' Ford
Now he's jitterbug, just a name in the news
Said, "He finally paid the price, he finally paid his dues"
And before that was Cord l29
Extra irony occurred when Ford USA decided to sell the imported English Ford Cortina in preference to the Taunus!
Though at least the 1970's Pinto, Cortina & Taunus shared more mechanically & suspension wise, if not in body styling.
My first car was a 1964 Falcon that I bought from a buddy for $150.
Always been a fan of the Falcon.
I’ve always loved the European and British cars of the 50s and 60s.
Yay, another episode! 🎉
Another wonderful story, well told by you, Ed. I had to laugh when you showed that clip of Ford vs. Ferrari, though. I'm quite sure Henry Ford II would NEVER have shut down a production line like that. Doing so, even in the early 1960s, would have cost well over $100K. One of the few really untrue things in that movie. I always liked the Taunus and Cortina. Both great little cars, and I always experience a little thrill when I see one here in the US.
I worked at Ford in Cologne for some years as a design engineer. Higher Management from across the pond had zero understanding of the European market and constantly meddled in local projects, preferring large engines and US styling. They still do and are the main cause of Ford being close to death in Germany. I like the photo shown of the Cologne site along the Rhine River, walked along that spot many times.
Another Episode... but to be fair J. Walter Christie of the United States patented a design for a front-wheel-drive car, the first prototype of which he built in 1904. and Cord L-29 was the first American production front wheel drive car in 1929.
I was about to write the same thing. 👍
Correct but FWD was first designed and built in Austria by Gräf & Stift. (1895) I don't know if they had a patent on it.
(It was also the car brand in which Franz Ferdinand and his wife were shot. This triggered the start of world war 1.)
Front wheel drive was first widely adopted in Europe. Think Citroen 2CV, Citroen Traction Avant (= front traction). Both were pre-WW2 designs although the mass production of the 2CV was only started after the end of WW2
The Traction came to life in 1934. The 2CV a bit later, just 1938/ 39 but then came the germans. Before the Traction was the DKW Front, but it was not real mass product imho / 750 tsd tractions were made…
I had a '69 Opel Kadet wagon. It was the most unreliable car I ever owned. The one thing it reminded me of every time I got in was that I should have bought a VW Beetle. After two years I replaced the heater core, the clutch cable - twice and the fuel pump.
Thanks Ed! We enjoy your videos!
I love the way Ed presents his videos !! It cracks me up!!
You did it again Ed. 2 thumbs up.
The Ford Taunus 15M 1.5L V4-engine was an excellent engine. It was a nippy and responsive engine that liked high revs. It had a balance axle which gave it a smooth and vibration free running and it ended it's days powering the SAAB V4 95/96 between 1967 and 1980. I owned three SAAB V4 95/96 back in the 1980s and I liked the engine very much. A well tuned example as the one I had in my beige 1972 SAAB 96 was capable of over 100mph or 160km/h without any problem. The speedometer topped out at 160km/h so it was a little hard to tell how fast the car was going flat out but I estimate 175km/h or so..
The Taunus V4 engine went on to power the later versions of the Saab 96 (and Saab 95 wagon and Saab Sonnet).
Never heard of this one, nice video!
Awesome episode! My first car ever was one third of a 1963 Taunus P4 my 2 buddies and I bought in 1986 to cruise around in. It had a bench seat in the front and a 4 on the tree gear shifter; Only now I get why it felt so american in spite of its puny size. Not a bad car with that funky little V4 engine. Thanks for the reminder, Ed!!
Ford's interest in FWD during this period was an interesting side story. Ford owned the patents on the UPP powertrain configuration which GM ultimately licensed to build the Toronado and Eldorado. The Falcon's front suspension was even designed (by Earl McPherson, no less) so that it could accommodate the half-shafts needed for FWD, if the need arose. It just never did. GM must have lost enough money on the Corvair and the "rope drive" Pontiac Tempest to steer Ford away from any new drivetrain configurations for a while.
Your imitation of various language accents is great!
Thanks Ed this was a fun video!
When I was a kid I thought that the Ford Falcon was a car for poor people. Now I have a 64 model.
The Falcon, Chevy II and Valiant were cars for poor people. GM made some slightly upscale compacts at that time, but generally the American compacts of that time gave off the scent of poor. That's the way the car companies wanted it. They didn't want their basic cars to siphon off sales from their more profitable cars. It's also the main reason why such cars don't exist today. No one wants to be seen in a car that marks them as poor..even if they are poor.
It was! But if you wanted a new car it was the cheapest for a young family.
So you're poor.
@MrSloika BMW was impressed at the sales of USA compacts and thought Americans might like an upmarket economy car. When the tinny Japanese cars became popular, BMW began to sell a more expensive little car at entry Buick prices
It was all about options, if you drove a falcon sprint with a hi-po 289 (I think it was part of the option pkg) and a 4 speed it’d come with nice bright work and wheels…no one would have thought you were poor
Lee Iaccoca didn't hate The Falcon in those days. Remember that it was The father of the 64 and a half Ford Mustang.
It was the basis of the Mustang because Iaccoca had no choice but to use it. Hank the Deuce refused to pay for a clean sheet design.
I think the Ford Falcon should have been called the Canary because it was a warning of things to come.
That's a clever one indeed. 👍
Original proposals and conceete models, like Adam W.,
makes this content way more high quality than almost every other, reporting about vintage cars!
The thumbnail was an immediate reminder of my first car - a 1963 Taunus 17M I bought private in 1967 ($250 CAD) I assumed it came to Canada via a returning serviceman as it had a big D decal on it. It was a pain to get parts and had its quirks e. g. Lousy gas mileage likely from running without an air cleaner, 4 on the column, loose tie rod end held in place by a spring, tapped out at about 55 MPH on the highway and the gas line slipped off the carb one day dumping gas over the hot exhaust manifold until the carb ran dry. However, it always started. I believe it also had a collapsible steering wheel.
Your American is spot-on. Give him immediate citizenship!
69th episode? Nice!
*noice
I think that Lee was correct. By the early 60's, the very small car market was shrinking in the US. The buying public was moving back to larger cars such as senior compacts and intermediates. Even the vaunted Falcon grew in 1966 and pooped out after 1969.
I remember reading in one of Iacocca's books he was talking about how timing is so sensitive in the car market. The market can change overnight. He said a problem is that a car can be too far ahead of what the market wants. A lot of videos on classic cars and car features that were not successful might have been been a success if they had either survived longer or had been introduced later. An example that comes to mind is the Pontiac Overhead Cam Six. Really in the 60s the only Econo import with big sales was the VW Beetle. So hard to say the Cardinal would have been a success in USA/Canada.
The Falcon name may have passed, but the underbody & size became the Maverick...
When I was little, my dad drove a 1966 Ford Taunus 12m Super. In the communist Poland it was something really super.
I had an English Ford Cortina station wagon. A great little 4 cylinder car and like my Datsun 510, I wish I would have kept it.
Interesting video! I have always wondered why Ford switched to FWD + V4 engine only to later go back to the old fashioned RWD live rear axel layout. But this video explains that Ford Germany was basically forced to do it.
As I recall from my time over there the FWD 1962-66 'P4' & the 1966-70 'P6' Taunus 12m & 15m were known for transmission issues (at least among the G.I.'s) where as the RWD 1960-63 'P3',1964-67 'P5',the 1967 'P7a' and the 1968-71 'P7b' didn't have such serious issues? (Note: While over there,I had a '69 P7b 17m in the early '80s) When the 1971 Taunus Mk I (similar to the UK's Cortina Mk III) came out that replaced the P6,those cars were RWD.
One of your best.
I can't believe that I guessed Ford Cardinal for Ed's teaser pic posted in the Community section the other day! Especially since I've never seen that original prototype before. I did know about the Cardinal becoming the Ford Taunus, tho. Great video, Ed! Love the humor!
Another fun fact, the rights to the V4 engine were also licensed to SAAB who used it in many of their passenger cars as well as the sonnet II and III. SAAB being SAAB mounted them reversed through weird Swedish shenanigans. A Sonnet III is on my bucket list
Guy in my town restored a sonnet 3. It was red with a brown interior. Very unique car.
Brillant as usual
Ford in the US was not the only American automaker working on a sub-compact family car at the time. Harold Churchill at Studebaker was working on a 100" WB car smaller than the 108" wheelbase Lark. It was to be powered by a water-cooled 139 cubic inch, horizonally-opposed flat 4-cylinder engine, with conventional RWD layout. In-house, it was code-named 'B-61' and 'B-62', and unofficially called 'Sparrow' by outsiders. Like McNamera at Ford, Harold Churchill got ousted by Studebaker's Board of Directors, along with his 'sub-Lark' small vehicle project. Admittedly, both the Cardinal from Ford, and the Studebaker 'Sparrow' would have both suffered from a cheap 'built-down-to-a-price' appearance, with not enough chrome trim on the outside and very spartan interiors.
2:36 I was literally eating a hot dog as I watched this! 'MERICA!
Great video, Ed!
Wow! Your accents are bang on!!! 👍
Really nice story and video, Ed! 👏
Robert McNamara; Shortly after foisting the Falcon on us, he got us into the war in Vietnam under false pretenses. Gee, THANKS, Bobby.....
He gave us the 'Kill Ratio' and McNamara's morons.
Seems some even smaller UK Fords may have been sold in the US , but hard to find information on them.
Some 105E Anglias seemed to have made it to the US with either the 1 litre or 1.2 litre Kent engine.
Saw one on a J.F Kennedy TV documentary parked outside an Alabama University related to the desegregation upheavals of 62 or 63.
Not sure if it was a private import or a local Ford dealer sold one. I would be interested to know more about small Ford US sales that early.
Even in the late forties and early fifties the earlier flathead four Anglia was US sold. Many ended up as the bodywork for very high powered drag cars.
Was it Jesse James Monster Garage that controversially destroyed a survivor Anglia by trying, unsuccessfully, to make a drag car out of it.
Seems to be a North American 1961 Ford Anglia ad to buy one from Ford dealers :
ua-cam.com/video/lAzHKj0HpYA/v-deo.htmlsi=chDKa1FmATVoBq7V
More on the US Anglia sales starting in 1959 :
ua-cam.com/users/shortsD3UaqVw9xio?si=mCQhXfA9v58PPm5S
Yep! Nein! Yep! Nein!
I love your humour, mate! 😂
👋 🇨🇦
Final product reminds me of an Anadol, Turkeys first passenger car. As always, great video Ed!! 😊
And Ford came up with the Cortina and smaller Anglia 105 E, which both sold extremely well and made Ford UK a fair bit of cash, even though the Anglia looked like a Pike! The Condul Classic however lost Ford UK a fortune due to the complex rear end styling, the steel panels would rip when being pressed, resulting in lots of scrap steel
Perfect description of the Anglia. Maybe they should have called it the "Angler".
I know this one as the Ford 12m, my parents first car, i was driven around in as a toddler ...
I remember in the 80's that to drive, or even be a passenger in a Chevette was the single most embarrassing thing someone could ever do. You were better off riding a bike, or walking because once you were associated with a Chevette it was over, you'd never get a date, a job, go to college, or even live past 30 years old. Then Hyundai swooped in and nobody ever bought a Chevette again. In fact there are no Chevettes surviving, they were all rounded up in 1990 and dumped in the Marianas Trench, only to start the cycle of embarrassment all over with Blobfish at the wheel.
Ed I love your interpretations of English speaking dialects, especially when you decided to give the Americans a southern drawl, when Ford HQ is the Glasshouse in Michigan. Nicely done! ;) I’m from NYC. Michiganders would call it “the Big Aepple!”
YES!! WE FINALLY MADE IT!! EPISODE 69, BABY!! NICE!!!
EL Cord had an American front wheel drive car in 1929. No magic about it.
OMG We are at episode 69! Nice!
9:42 Point of clarification. The old Edsel factory referenced here was known as Fern Valley Assembly. (Today Louisville Assembly, home of the Escape, et al.) Somewhere on the chain of research, it was mentioned that the Cardinal was scheduled for "Louisville" while failing to understand Ford operated Fern Valley but also Louisville West End Assembly. West End was scheduled to close following the opening of Fern Valley in 1955, but the demand for F-100 trucks kept the facility operating through the '50s. Yes, Fern Valley was where all the Edsel-specific bits were made.
Cardinal was scheduled for West End, not Fern Valley or "the old Edsel factory".
I worked in a motorist shop as a teenager and lokkiqng in the parts catalogue always wondered why cernan cars were different in that period, it just didn't make sense and now I know why!
Good mix of history and humour.
What about Nash? They had an on again, off again relationship with making sub compact and compact cars.
This is one car that knew nothing about. Mom worked part time at a Ford dealer and the owner gave me all the plastic display models, my favorite being a Galaxy. I probably wouldn't have liked a Cardinal model because it would be too small. Mom's previous car was a Buick Special which came from my Uncle's dealership. It was delivered to dad in Israel for our vacation their. The Buick then went to Turkey where we lived. After my parents were divorced dad drove it Greece where closed up his engineering office. He then drove the Buick though communist Balkans and ferried to the UK where it weighed more than a black maria. He shipped it back to the USA where he gave it to mom. Dad's next car was Mercury jolopy with a giant engine and lots if chrome. Not as good a car as the newer Buick, but I think dad it as chick magnet. Mom eventually bought a Falcon from her boss (at a very good price). Mom was in love with Robert McNamara because she liked smart men (dad is very smart, but McNamara was handsome as well as smart). Mom's next husband was very handsome and drove a Jaguar sedan with all the beautiful appointments. It didn't seem to bother my step father that it seemed to be the repair shop frequently and he ended up paying for a loaner Jaguar. It was very comfortable and went with my mom's cocktail gowns. (My step dad was movie star handsome). I once opened up the hood to check the oil and never wanted to do that again. My step dad did me the spanner from Jaguar's repair kit. The repair kit was the only items of Jaguar I liked.
My 1st car was a 1960 VW because it was cheap and easy to work on.
What a great story!
You missed one point:
FORD DID import both the MK-1, and the MK-ll British CORTINA to the United States. Oddly enough, the Cortina was built on the SAME Platform as the German TAUNUS.
‼️
🚗🙂
I think none of the German Taunuses in the 60s shared their platform with the Cortinas. Cortina MkI and MkII were RWD with inline 4 engines whereas the Taunus P4/P6 were FWD with V4. More upmarket Taunus P3/P5/P7 series were larger, RWD vehicles. P3 used an inline 4 engine and the later P5/P7 adopted the V4 engines.
Agree, FORD USA decision to import the Cortina in preference to the Taunus is a signifigant point. Perhaps this was due to rising value of the DM, but it's not convincing.
Later 1970's Taunus & Cortina shared the same basic RWD structure, unlike the early '60's FWD / RWD, and even shared basic drivetrain with Pinto.
My Father had a Taunus P2 (Germany) with black-and-white painting - and it was the best looking car our family ever had. Even by today's standards (in my opinion). It was stylish, some American touch, but still well sized for German cities. We also had a P3 (I would call it ugly) and a P7, then my father switched to Granada models
Interesting as I have never heard of it, but a bit before my time. You do mention the v4 Corsair however, now my neighbours had one of those and would like a historical view of that car if possible? I Ford range in general infact for Euro 60's, questions too, where did the Corsair fit in with the Cortina s it seems rather similar?
The V4 Corsair and the UK-designed mk1 Transit had entirely different engines (Essex) to the German( Cologne) models, the German models were thought better... well because. they were German. The Corsair was designed by the same British Ford man as the US cigar shape 61 Thunderbird. it was a replacement for the UK Ford Capri/ Classic models which didn't sell well. It was positioned above the Cortina with a longer wheelbase but shared many components, the reason was Ford UK had got their fingers burnt with the costly development of the Classic/Capri. and tried a new approach. The Corsair sold very well with a straight 4 engine but did not so well with the V4 engine but enough to keep it into production until 1970 making it with the Anglia the longest-running UK Fords of the 1960s.
Thanks good job 👍🇺🇸
Ep. 69
Nice.
Ed you missed the easiest joke right off the bat, but no worries man. This series is absolutely fantastic.
Today, Ford produces 'world cars'. Unfortunately, that means compromises on what Americans and Europeans want. BMW and Audi in 2024 outsold Ford in the UK, with Mercedes very close behind. That would have been considered impossible not that long ago. Escort, Fiesta, and Cortina were for Europe and perfect for the market.
so an Opel Kadett of that era you show is in our neighborhood -- a 1967 light blue 3-door wagon
In High School in NoVA, a friend had a white 1973 Kadett 3-door wagon - 4-speed & RWD, great on gravel roads around the back of Ft. Belvoir, w. throttle-steering on curves. Robust steering alignment set by bending frame rails ...
The Military Police stayed off those roads since they had been issued ChrySSler K-Cars
(in the same era, my Rossow Grandparents were stranded on a gravel road due to too-thin-steel oil pan hole along a gravel road in their Chevy Citation -- Grandpa Rossow had bought a new Chevy sedan every 3 years for decades,
but in 1983 switched to a Ford Crown Vic LTD in Two-Tone Brown -- the Wife & I got it as a wedding present 1992 -- kept it to 2000 )
My dad had a 12m TS back then. Sounds weird nowadays but 65hp made it a power house of his class in mid 60s Germany.
I just have to say that I'm amused and intrigued by the idea of an alternate universe where a line of cars had ecclesiastical names.
Now I'll be renaming cars for the rest of the day, thanks a lot.
Thanks Ed
That was an interesting piece of history
so that white 4 door Falcon was my maternal Grandfather's car !! - Rudolf Ranier Wittmeier - grew up on a farm in So. Dak.; 100% Ethnic German from Ukraine
Back seat + trunk full of tools + materials for maintenance on several rental houses he + Grandma Edna Boehler Wittmeier owned
(same background; all Lutherans + a 10th generation back Jewish woman)
My Mom & I lived in one of those rental houses while my Dad was on 2nd tour in RVN -- was too young to remember it
so the car was now a 2-seater; me + Grandpa; no parents along ...
I wish we had gotten the Cardinal. I guarantee I would have at least one project one right now.
One of Ford's greatest lost opportunities was that they didn't borrow body and chassis engineers from Ford's British division when they were designing the original Falcon. Ford of England had been building unibody cars in Great Britain since the early 50s and even the early British Fords had much better chassis rigidity than the American Falcon. It's a pity that the Not Invented Here mindset kept Ford's experts on unibody construction in Europe.
Ford USA had plenty of experience with unibody by the time they Falcon came out. The enormous....and ugly...1958 Continental was unibody.
From memory the early Falcon suffered more from inadequate front suspension and wheel bearing strength quickly giving it a bad name in Australia, where previous English Ford were more thoroughly tested beforehand. 'Export' spec. Mk1 Cortina were also structurally reinforced compared to the basic UK Cortina 1200.
I love the Cardinal concept so much that I actually stole the name for my Falcon competitor of my Automation company, Fenser Automotive.
The cardinal looks great! I would like to see if the 1st gen falcon next to a 50 ford to see how small it really is.
Thanks for sharing.👍
Now we are back to land yachts, but are now pickups …
That was new to me although watching the design I did get some 12M ideas.
So Ford being Ford, if they had stuck with the US Cardinal, along with its mid-'60s redesign would have come models with performance enhancements. What if the Mustang had been built on the Cardinal platform instead of the Falcon? How would that have rippled through time?