Ford P100

Ford P100
1990 Ford P100 Pickup
Overview
Manufacturer	Ford
Also called	Ford Cortina Pickup Ford 1-Tonner
Production	1971 – 1993
Assembly	Port Elizabeth, South Africa Azambuja, Portugal
Body and chassis
Body style	2-door pickup/coupe utility
Layout	FR layout
Chronology
Successor	Ford Courier (South Africa)

The Ford P100 is a car-based pickup truck that was built by Ford from 1971 to 1993, initially in South Africa, and later Portugal. It was based on medium-sized Ford passenger cars, originally the Ford Cortina and from 1988 the Ford Sierra. Initially marketed as the Ford Cortina Pickup, the P100 name was adopted in 1982. The P-100 name had previously been used on a small North American panel van in the 1960s.

The P100 is a car-based pickup truck, introduced in South Africa in 1971, based on the Ford Cortina Mk3. Initially marketed as the Ford Cortina Pickup, its overall bodywork closely followed that of the Cortina. The cab used the doors of the Cortina two-door sedan models, giving it a lengthy, yet truncated look, due to the use of a vertical rear window and B-pillar. The rear tray could be had as a wellside, styled with the Cortina MkIII estate's tail lights, or fitted with a flatdeck or purpose built body. A fibreglass canopy was offered as an option. It soon proved a popular seller in its home market of South Africa.

The bodywork was changed for 1977, to correspond with that of the Ford Cortina MkIV. The cab was redesigned, using the shorter front doors from the MkIV four-door models. A further change occurred for 1980, when the MkV's front sheetmetal was introduced. The Ford 1-Tonner name was used in the South African market. From 1986 the Mazda-based Ford Courier replaced the P100 pick-up in South Africa. The Courier was available with the Ford Essex V6 through to April 2000.

From 1982 the P100 name was adopted, and the model was exported from South Africa to Europe. For Europe, the chassis and tray were lengthened, whilst in South Africa it was available in both short wheelbase and long wheelbase variants. The P100 was released to Europe in Mk5 form, just as the parent Cortina MkV was being replaced by the Sierra. Ford had considered selling a rebadged Mazda pickup, which would have been lower priced, but rejected this on political grounds as there was a lot of fear over Japanese imports at this time. Ford UK considered being made in Apartheid South Africa as less of a liability than being made in Japan, and also managed to achieve 35 percent local parts content. Country of origin and outdated styling proved to be no effect on sales however, with the P100 continuing in its Cortina Mk5 based form until 1988. In 1986 the "hi cap" was released with a taller roof and door tops and a more upright windscreen specific to the last of the Cortina-based P100s.