Background: Using the project name 'Archbishop', management at Ford of Britain in Dagenham created a family-sized car that they could sell in large numbers.

The chief designer was Roy Brown Jr., the designer of the Edsel, who had been banished to Dagenham following the failure of that car.

The Cortina, aimed at buyers of the Morris Oxford Farina and Vauxhall Victor, was launched on 20th September 1962.

The Car: This 1963 Cortina is a highly collectible and rare early Mk1.

Originally supplied in France, this car spent its entire life there before coming to the UK and undergoing a full three year restoration in 2015.

The restoration truly left no stone unturned, with the owner (and restorer) being a garage owner himself.

The complete shell was stripped completely and glass-blasted.

Any necessary metalwork was carried out before the shell was etch-primed, given a zinc primer, followed by three coats of red oxide and then finished in its factory Ermine White.

A light coat of stone...