Ford Corcel

The **Ford Corcel** wis a caur sauld bi Ford Motor Company in Brazil, Chile an Venezuela.

The Corcel's oreegins lay in the Renault 12. Willys-Overland's Brazilian operation included manufacturin the Renault Dauphine an Gordini an, when it wis bought bi Ford do Brasil in 1967, plans war underway tae replace it wi the Renault 12, an Ford inherited the project.

Housomeivver, the stylin o the Corcel wis unique tae Brazil afore 1978. Frae this year, the Corcel II, as it became kent, bore a strong resemblance tae the Ford Escort an Ford Taunus sauld in Europe an in Argentina, but its underpinnings war the same.

The first year o production o the Brazilian Ford Corcel wis 1968, when it came as a fower-door sedan wi a 1.3-litre, 68&nbsp;hp (51&nbsp;kW) watter-cooled ingine. A coupe an a three-door station wagon version o the Ford Corcel, latter cawed Belina, wur eventually launched. Later, a L (for "Luxury") an a GT version wur produced. Each passin year mony stylin chynges wur made, borraein several details frae the Ford Maverick, an becomin mair an mair lik a Pony caur.

The facelifted Corcel I (mk1.5) haed a mair aggressive leuk in contrast frae the conservative 1968 version. On the ither haund, the Corcel II haed a vera conservative an faimily-oriented design.

Some o the L an aw GT versions an aa came wi 1.4-litre 85&nbsp;hp (63&nbsp;kW) watter-cooled ingine wi dooble-barrel carburetor, which wis vera easy tae modify for greater pouer. Some shops haed the option tae install an unoffeecial sma tunin kit that wad improve the ingine's horsepouer tae 95. Note that aw o thir HP values wur accoontit uisin the law quality, law octane sooth-American petrol o the time. Uisin the day's better fuel wad improve thir values significantly.

The Corcel GT wis moderately successfu in Brazilian Tarumã, Interlagos an beach rally street caur championships durin the seiventies, thanks tae its front-wheel-drive stability an law wecht (920&nbsp;kg), which alloued a hie pouer-tae-wecht ratio. It wad no be faster than the V-8 Maverick an Chevrolet Opala, but it wad beat awthing else, includin 4- an 6-cylinder Mavericks an some Dodge Chargers that subscribed the events. Those championships unveiled that the front drive universal joint wis prone tae break unner hivy stress, sae in 1976 the Corcel line adoptit the Constant-velocity joint.

In 1978, follaein the Corcel, Ford launched the Corcel II, wi completely re-made design an straucht lines opposin the pownie caur style. Thir chynges wur an aa applee'd tae the Belina, while the 4-door version wis dropped. But the Corcel II wis hivier too (970&nbsp;kg). The Ford Corcel II oreeginatit a pick-up version cawed the Ford Pampa in 1982, which wad eventually be available wi fower wheel drive.

The Ford Del Rey wis introduced in 1981, wi a mair upricht roofline an a fower-door model available. A station wagon version (Ford Scala) differed frae the Belina ae in trim. The traditional Ford name Victoria wis tae be uised on this version but wis dropped at the last minute.

Aw haed a slicht face lift for the 1985 model year. The Corcel II became kent again simply as the Corcel. The interior wis nou the same for aw fower models. Ootside, while the Corcel an the Del Rey wur fastback an sedan versions o the same cr, the Belina an the Scala, which war the same car wi some interior/exterior differences war nou awmaist identical; anly a few details, sic as the taillamps, differentiated thir twa models. The Belina wis made available wi the same fower-wheel-drive seestem uised in the Pampa. This seestem seemed tae hae questionable reliability; *Quatro Rodas* magazine did a lang-term test o a Belina 4x4 (50,000&nbsp;km) in which break downs war very frequent.

1986 wis the last year for the Corcel. The Belina wis an aa discontinued in 1986, but its name wis, frae then on, applee'd tae what haed been the Scala (a name that haed never really caught on).

The ingine wis a CHT, an improved version o the Ventoux ingine uised in the first Corcel o 1968. Bi nou it haed been  bored an stroked tae 1555 cc, wi a redesigned cylinder head, a rotating valve design an mony ither peripheral improvements.

In 1989, as a result o the Autolatina joint-venture, the heicher ootput Volkswagen AP-1800 ingine replaced the 1.6L in aw models o the Del Rey an Belina, made available in aw models o the Pampa except for the anes wi fower wheel drive.

The Del Rey an the "new" Belina weur discontinued in 1991, bein replaced bi the Ford Versailles an Ford Royale respectively (Passat B2 version fascia). The Pampa wad soldier on till 1996, when Ford introduced the smawer, Fiesta Mk2-based Ford Courier.

## Notes

## Freemit airtins
* http://www2.uol.com.br/bestcars/classicos/corcel-1.htm - Carros do Passado: O cavalo brasileiro
* http://www.cronospeed.com.br/2006/automobilismo/rali/07fev.htm  - Beach Rally championship results showcasing victory an good poseetions o the Ford Corcel