The
Ford Orion is a saloon car built by the
automakerThe automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells the world's motor vehicles. In 2008, more than 70 million motor vehicles, including cars and commercial vehicles were produced worldwide....
FordThe Ford Motor Company is an American multinational corporation based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury brands, Ford also owns Volvo Cars of Sweden, and a small stake...
for the
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an market from 22 July 1983 until 19 September 1993. A total of 534,239 Orions were sold throughout the car's 10-year life.
The Ford Orion is based on the Ford Escort, but at the back, instead of the Escort's hatchback, the Orion features a separate trunk / boot. Visually the Orion's notch-back rear end and greater rear overhang make it readily distinguishable from its better selling sibling.
Orion Mark I
In the early 1980s, Ford's model line-up and image was changing. The company's older saloon line-up was replaced mainly by hatchbacks, from the Escort to the Granada and the new
SierraThe Ford Sierra is a large family car built by Ford Europe from 1982 until 1993. It was designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz and Patrick le Quément. The code used during development was "Project Toni"....
(which replaced the
CortinaThe Ford Cortina is a mid-sized family car built by Ford of Britain in various guises from 1962 to 1982.The Cortina was Ford's mass-market mid-sized car and sold in enormous numbers, making it common on British roads and was Britain's best-selling car of the 1970s. It was replaced in 1982 by the...
). The Orion was designed to fill the market demand for a traditional four-door saloon, left by the demise of the Cortina. The Orion looked similar to a contemporary Escort at the front, but the rear of the body was totally different; the Orion had a long flat boot (making the car a three-box saloon design) rather than a
hatchbackHatchback is a term designating an automobile design, containing a passenger cabin with an integrated cargo space, accessed from behind the vehicle by a single, top-hinged tailgate or large flip-up window...
or
estateA station wagon is a passenger automobile with a body style similar to a sedan, or saloon, but with the roofline following the full, sometimes extended rear cargo area and sometimes an extra row of sometimes rear-facing seats, ending with a more vertical door than on a hatchback.Also sometimes...
body like the Escort. Although the Orion's length was similar to that of the contemporary
Ford SierraThe Ford Sierra is a large family car built by Ford Europe from 1982 until 1993. It was designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz and Patrick le Quément. The code used during development was "Project Toni"....
, the latter had more rear legroom with the Orion having a larger boot.
Ford initially offered the Orion in only GL and Ghia trim levels, missing out on the very lowest specification levels available on the Escort. Only 1300 cc and 1600 cc
CVH engineThe letters CVH denote a particular type of 4-cylinder internal combustion engine produced by the Ford Motor Company during the 1980s and 1990s....
options were available (though with both carburettor and
fuel injectionFuel injection is a system for mixing fuel with air in an internal combustion engine. It has become the primary fuel delivery system used in gasoline automotive engines, having almost completely replaced carburetors in the late 1980s....
options on the 1.6 Ghia). A lower specification L model was introduced in 1984 as was the option of a 1.6
diesel engineA diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber during the final stage of compression...
on L and GL models.
The Orion Ghia 1.6i standard features included central locking, sunroof, front sport seats, electric windows, rear head restraints, tachometer and an information binnacle informing the driver when the vehicle needed maintenance. All of these features were rare equipment on a small family car in the 1980s, giving the Orion upmarket pretensions. Other cars in the small executive saloon class competing with the Orion included the
Volkswagen JettaThe Volkswagen Jetta is a mid range family automobile, produced by German automaker Volkswagen Group for the Volkswagen Passenger Cars marque since 1979...
,
Mercedes-Benz 190Mercedes-Benz has sold a number of automobiles with the "190" model name:* 1955–1963 W121** 1955–1963 Mercedes-Benz 190SL** 1958–1959 190D** 1959–1961 190b** 1959–1961 190Db* 1962–1965 W110** 1962–1965 190c...
, Rover 213/216,
Vauxhall BelmontThe Belmont was a saloon car sold in the United Kingdom by Vauxhall, the British subsidiary of General Motors between 1986 and 1991. It was essentially equivalent to a sedan version of the Opel Kadett E, whose other body styles were marketed in the United Kingdom as Vauxhall Astra.With hatchbacks...
,
Daihatsu CharmantThe Daihatsu Charmant was a compact sedan built by Daihatsu of Japan, based on the Toyota Corolla. It was replaced by the Daihatsu Applause.The Charmant was originally a spin-off of the Toyota Corolla of the 1970s; model changes paralleled that of the Corolla.Trim levels were LC, LE and LGX; these...
,
BMW E30The BMW E30 is compact executive car produced by BMW. It was the successor of the BMW E21 in 1982 and was replaced by the BMW E36 in 1990. BMW continued to produce the cabriolet E30 well into 1993. The Touring remained in production until 1994 when the E36 touring replaced it...
and the Volvo 360.
The Orion 1.6i shared the same engine as the Escort XR3i and offered similar performance and handling without the insurance unfriendly tag that the XR badge started to command in the late 1980s. The 1.6i was topped by a luxury limited edition called the 1600E in 1989, the 1600E name harking back to the Mark II Ford Cortina 1600E as both were considered as decent performance and well-equipped saloon cars for the working person. The Orion 1600E was available in black, white and metallic grey and had RS alloys, wood cappings on the dashboard and doors, and grey leather seats. Only 1,600 were made, and only 1,000 of these had leather trim.
Eventually though, as the years went by, Ford brought the styling and engineering of the Orion closer to the Escort's. Lower-specification models crept into the range.
Orion Mark II
In 1986, the Orion received the same facelift as the rest of the Escort range. The Mark II brought the option of anti-lock-brakes (
ABSAn anti-lock braking system, or ABS is a safety system which prevents the wheels on a motor vehicle from locking up while braking....
) and a heated front windscreen to the range. The CVH engines were upgraded and were now 'lean burn units' and various models in the range could run on unleaded fuel without modifications to the cylinder head or to the fuel system. Improved locks were fitted across the range, and a number of other improvements were carried out.
Orion Mark III
The third generation Orion had its début in September 1990, but received the similar media criticism that the Escort endured for its lack of design flair as well as the disappointing refinement of some of its engines — particularly the low powered 1.3 OHV and 1.4 OHC petrol units. As with the Escort, the arrival of the Zetec 16 Valve engines and
suspensionSuspension is the term given to the system of springs, shock absorbers and linkages that connects a vehicle to its wheels. Suspension systems serve a dual purpose – contributing to the car's roadholding/handling and braking for good active safety and driving pleasure, and keeping vehicle occupants...
changes in 1992 improved the Orion's dynamic qualities.The Mk3 was identified at the front by white directional indicators and by a chrome bar that ran through the radiator grill. The range topping Orion Ghia Si (sports injection) had out of its 1.8L DOHC Zetec unit, making this the fastest production model Orion that Ford produced through the cars 10 year life.
Saloon versions of later Escort series
In September 1993, a decade after the cars launch Ford dropped the Orion badge (following
Vauxhall'sVauxhall Motors is a British automobile company owned by Magna International and General Motors. Most current Vauxhall models are right-hand drive derivatives of Magna's Opel brand; however, production of left hand vehicles also takes place for export to other parts of Europe and certain marginal...
drop of the
BelmontThe Belmont was a saloon car sold in the United Kingdom by Vauxhall, the British subsidiary of General Motors between 1986 and 1991. It was essentially equivalent to a sedan version of the Opel Kadett E, whose other body styles were marketed in the United Kingdom as Vauxhall Astra.With hatchbacks...
in 1991) in most markets (excepting
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) and simply used the Escort trademark for all body styles; amongst other things this kept the Escort in its traditionally commanding position high in sales charts. The Escort saloon was discontinued in 1998, when production was pruned back on the launch of the Focus.
For details of the changes made to these later models, see the
Ford Escort (European)The Ford Escort is a small family car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company from 1968 to 2003. Although it was originally a European model, the Escort badge has also been applied to several different designs in North America over the years .The first use of the Ford Escort name was in the 1950s...
article, from the section on the Ford Escort Mark Vb (1992–1995), onwards.
Sales of the Escort-badged saloon were not as strong as those achieved by the Orion, as saloons of this size continued to fall in popularity throughout the 1990s.
International variants
The Brazilian
Ford VeronaThe Ford Verona was a car sold in Brazil in the 1990s. It was a locally designed two-door saloon version of the European Ford Orion Mk 1, intended to cater to Brazilian demand for two-door sedans...
was similar to the Orion (the 1993 model was identical, except for the bootlid badge), but it used the
Ford CHT engineThe letters CHT denote a particular type of 4-cylinder internal combustion engine produced by the Ford Motor Company in Brazil during the 1980s. It is a completely different engine from the CVH engine and should not be mistaken with it...
power unit in place of the CVH and Zetec installed in the Orion.
Other Ford Orions
- The 2008 model of the large rear-wheel drive Ford Falcon FG in Australia, the FG, was code-named 'Orion'.
- The Orion name was used in New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
for the second generation Ford TelstarThe Ford Telstar was an automobile sold by the Ford Motor Company in Asia, Australasia and Africa, comparable in size to the European Ford Sierra and the American Ford Tempo. It has been progressively replaced by the Ford Mondeo....
, when sold alongside the replacement third generation Telstar range.