In 1962, Ford of Britain, created a prototype of a short wheelbase Cortina designed for the American market. The one-off Saxon Cortina was sent to the United States for corporate evaluation, but was ill received in Dearborn, and as such was eventually destroyed.
But then, in 2012, Briton Colin Ginn used a 1964 Cortina as the base for this remarkable recreation of the Saxon Cortina, despite having only the one surviving, period rear three-quarter photo of the car to work from.
It’s interesting that BOTH the Saxon and the Ford Capri were axed about the same time, There were several reasons: The American Mustang was making it’s debut and American FoMoCo didn’t want the competition and the Capri was designed with the approach of much more expensive cars: hand welded assembly, separate trim omitted, many fewer components for the Cortina making it less expensive to manufacture. It’s clear that the decision was made in the US, The Capri GT had just been equipped with Cosworth’s first engine developed for a production Vehicle along with other performance upgrades which was then offered in the Cortina GT and the Capri ended.