Corgi VA15005 Ford Cortina Mk5 1.6 Carousel, Forrest & Crystal Green

Ford announced the Cortina Carousel special edition in June 1981 and offered it in three two-tone metallic colour schemes. Priced at a very competitive £4,780 for the 1.6 (it was also available as a 1.3), it featured sports wheels, twin door mirrors and a wood trimmed instrument panel from the GL. In total Ford boasted there were 18 standard ‘extra features’, and more options were available such as a sunroof, tinted glass, or an electric aerial. 

Ford produced 6,000 Carousels in their first production run at Dagenham and considerably less in a second batch built from May to July in 1982. Amazingly, just 60 remain, 22 of which are licensed for the road. The Carousel modelled has been owned since August 2014 by Greater London-based Ford enthusiast Alexis Koublis, organizer of the Passion Ford North London meetings at the Ace Café and other venues. 

Having always loved the two-tone green Carousel colour scheme, he bought his first one in 1996 but had to sell it less than a year later due to a change in circumstances. Having always regretted that, when YPF 741Y pulled into a Passion Ford meeting at the Halfway House pub, Brentwood, he’d agreed to buy it within two-minutes of owner Steve Ward putting ‘For Sale’ in the window! 

At that time it had covered 81,000 miles, and was in good original condition, but in 2023 Alexis embarked on a full restoration to concours condition.