Ford were determined to win the 1970 London-Mexico World Cup Rally and, after extensive reconnaissance of the arduous 16,000 mile route, works driver Roger Clark suggested they use heavy-duty rally Escorts with simple Cortina 1600GT engines in place of the usual Lotus twin-cams; reliability being more important than performance. It worked, Hannu Mikkola and Gunnar Palm won in 'FEV 1H ' and, quick to see the value of the publicity, Ford launched the Mexico as a production replica of the winner using their rally-proven Type-49 bodyshell and crossflow engine. Built at Ford's Advanced Vehicle Operations facility, Ockendon, Essex, it was launched in 1970 at £1150, making it the affordable performance car of its era.
Engine: 1599cc 4IL OHV
Power: 86bhp@5500rpm
Torque: 92lb.ft@4000rpm
Maximum speed: 99mph
0-60mph: 10.7secs
Produced: 10,352 (Mexico Mk1)