The Ford Orion was a saloon built by the automaker Ford for the European market from July 22, 1983 to 19 September 1993.
[] History
[] Orion Mk I
In the early 1980s, Ford's model lineup and image was changing. The company's older saloon lineup was replaced mainly by hatchbacks, from the Ford Escort to the Ford Granada and the new Ford Sierra replacing the Ford Cortina. The Orion was designed to fill the market demand for a traditional four-door saloon, left by the demise of the Ford Cortina. The Orion looked similar to a contemporary Escort at the front, but rear of the body was totally different; the Orion had a long flat boot (three-box saloon design) rather than a hatchback or estate body like the Ford Escort. Although the Orion's length was similar to that of the Sierra, the Sierra had more rear leg room while the Orion's boot was larger.
The Orion was a more upmarket saloon, derived from the third generation Escort, aimed at the fleet market and company buyers. In order not to spoil the Orion's upmarket pretensions, Ford deliberately only offered the Orion in GL and Ghia trim levels initially, and only in 1300 cc and 1600 cc (both carburettor and fuel injection options on the 1.6 Ghia) CVH engine options. The standard equipment on the Orion was far superior to that of the Escort, e.g the Orion Ghia 1.6i standard features included central locking doors, sunroof, front sport seats, power windows, rear head restraints, tachometer and an information binnacle informing the driver when the vehicle needed maintenance. All of these features were very rare equipment on a small family car of the 1980s, together with the fact that the Orion was available with fuel injection was another very rare feature on a small family car; for example, Porsche was still fitting carburettors to particular models in their lineup. Other cars in this small executive saloon class were the Volkswagen Jetta, Daihatsu Charmant, Rover 213/216, Vauxhall Belmont, and the Mercedes-Benz 190.
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 1980's. The 1.6i was topped by a luxury limited edition called the 1600E in 1989, the 1600E name harking back to the Mk2 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 capping on the dash and doors and grey leather seats. Only 1600 were made, and only 1,000 of these had leather trim.
Eventually though, as the years went by, people saw the Orion for what it was, a saloon version of the Escort, and it became the average small family car when Ford eventually relented and produced derivatives in basic trim specification. The diesel-powered versions became synonymous with private taxi firms throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The Skoda Octavia has replaced the Orion as the perennial minicab driver's favourite.
[] Orion Mk II and Mk III
In 1986, the Orion received the same facelift as the rest of the Escort range, and the third generation Orion debuted in 1990, to the same media condemnation as the rest of its fourth-generation Escort siblings. As with the Escort, the arrival of the Zetec engines and suspension changes in 1992 transformed the Orion's dynamic qualities markedly.
[] Saloon versions of the Escort Mk Vb and Mk VI
In September 1993, Ford dropped the Orion trademark (although it continued in use in Argentina) and simply used the "Escort" trademark for all body styles, to keep the Escort high in chart sales. Vauxhall did the same by dropping the Belmont-badged saloons and simply calling them Astra. The Escort saloon was discontinued in 1998, when production was pruned back on the launch of the Focus.
The Ford Verona was similar to the Orion, (the 1993 model was identical, except for the bootlid badge), but it used the Ford CHT engine power unit in place of the CVH and Zetec installed into the Orion.
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