The CORGI Vanguards Ford GT Collection is a 1:43 scale, die-cast, four-car set celebrating the golden age of Ford’s GT-badged classics.

Almost every car manufacturer has applied the immortal GT label, for Grand Touring, to one of their products at some point. The letters indicate that it’s more stylish, more powerful, or in some cases, built to be homologated for motor racing.

Ford used the GT badge with great aplomb in the 1960s and 1970s, starting with the 1500cc Mk1 Cortina GT in April 1963. They cemented its importance in their ‘total performance’ era with the legendary Ferrari-baiting sports car, the GT40. This collection celebrates that spirit.

This group of GT-badged Fords brings to life a memorable period in the blue oval’s history, showcasing four superb GTs in their original evocative period colours. The die-cast Vanguards models included are:

• Ford Escort Mk1 1300GT – Aquatic Jade
• Ford Capri Mk1 2000GT XLR – Amber Gold
• Ford Cortina Mk3 2000GT – Vista Orange
• Ford Consul 3000GT – Sapphire Metallic

We’ve only made 1,000 of these limited-edition Ford GT Collections. Secure your classic Ford collectible set today!

The Escort GT modelled was initially purchased from Mayne’s Garage, Redruth, Cornwall, on August 1st, 1973, by a retired army major who actually bought a pair of 1300GTs that day, this blue example for himself and a red one, which is believed to have had a sequential number plate, for his wife. He had both Ziebart rust-protected then painted inside the bumpers and hubcaps himself to prevent corrosion. 

He covered 72,000 miles before taking this car off the road and, eventually, both Escorts were purchased by a local 15-year-old enthusiast for £25 each. In 2013, he sold the blue example to Berkshire-based Ford enthusiast Gary Cook, who stored it under a cover for several years. In January 2018 Gary’s close friends, Ford enthusiasts Maria and Kevin McDermid, purchased it for Maria’s 50th birthday.

It looked solid but, after stripping and blasting the bodyshell, they realised nearly every panel was perforated. Because Kevin already owns a modified Escort, they decided to restore this rare survivor to its original specification. Ford specialists, Bishop’s Bespoke Builds, rebuilt the bodyshell and it was painted in the original Marine Blue by Tony Littlejohn of Porsche specialists GTR Motorsports. The pair then reassembled it, refurbishing components, and scouring the world for rare trim parts. It was finished in August 2021 and featured in Classic Ford magazine in June 2022. 

Maria loves driving it to retro Ford events, where it is often the only unmodified car.

The Avenger modelled was first registered on 15th February 1973, by Phil Read Ltd, Borough Garage, St Marychurch Road, Plainmoor, Torquay. They were then a Chrysler main dealer and had been trading in the area since before the Second World War when they represented Thornycroft commercial vehicles. The first owner, Mr T. A. Elliot, paid £1,453.27 for the car, which included £11.50 for seatbelts and £4.50 for number plates, both of which were legal requirements. 

He looked after it scrupulously and retained it until 2005, by which time it had covered 30,687 miles. It was then purchased by local collector Nick Davidson, who carefully dry stored it but never registered it for road use. In 2016 it was purchased by enthusiast Pat Hawkins who recommissioned it, removing the engine so it could be refreshed and repainting the engine bay while it was accessible. He also fitted a new clutch and re-chromed the front bumpers. 

Pat has worked in the motor trade all his life and kept the Avenger in his personal collection because it is such a rare and original example, which has still only covered 31,453 miles. In November 2023, he created the County Classics Car Museum in the centre of Taunton, which was opened by well-known TV personality, Richard Hammond. The Avenger Tiger II was driven to the museum to be exhibited and has proven to be one of its most popular cars.

The GTE 16V modelled was originally registered as a ‘Vauxhall Fleet Management’ car with Vauxhall Motors Ltd, Kimpton Road, Luton, Bedfordshire on 29th November 1990. It was finished in Rembrandt Silver, one of the more unusual colours offered. 

Like all 16V GTE’s, it featured GM’s futuristic Liquid Crystal Display dashboard so drivers could see the revs rapidly rising on the car’s magnificent 2-litre DOHC 16-valve ‘red top’ engine, a characterful rev-hungry unit that gave the GTE its appealingly raucous demeanour. 

It went on to owners based in Kent, Dorset, County Durham, and Bedfordshire, before being purchased by Bedfordshire-based enthusiast, Lee Proctor, a former Vauxhall employee and subsequent car bodyshop proprietor, in late March 2013.

The car had covered 125,000 miles and was complete, but in poor condition. It was bought by Lee as a restoration project, and he soon embarked on a three-year nut-and-bolt structural and mechanical rebuild to concours standard, in which he used as many new old stock original parts as possible. 

He did most of the work himself, bringing the car back to original specification except for the fitting of an ‘Astra Champion’ leather interior, which he had retrimmed. Lee enjoyed driving and showing the finished car, but in November 2020 he sold it to fellow enthusiast and Mk2 Astra Owners Club member, Derbyshire-based Clive Emery. 

He has added some original equipment finishing touches and enjoys using it to attend classic car events.

The Capri modelled was registered in Northwest London on August 1st, 1971, the first day of the K registration suffix. It was ordered by a lady who specified the unusual colour scheme of Glacier Blue with Marquis upholstery, which Ford only offered for one year. 

She also ordered the GT and XLR option packs, the second of which included the matt black bonnet, spot lamps and Rostyle wheels. The lady obviously loved the car and its characterful 1599cc Kent Crossflow, a power unit shared with contemporary Escort Mexicos, as she kept it until 1993. After the first owner sold it, the car was resprayed Ford Pacific blue, then traded into London-based Curry Motors, in 1998.

The current and fourth owner, Berkshire-based Capri enthusiast Nick Campbell, spotted it advertised in High Wycombe as a restoration project in 2004. He paid £400 for it that day because his first Capri had been in this specification. Family commitments delayed the restoration until 2009, but by then he’d acquired the parts and the space needed. 

He stripped the bodyshell and was pleased to find it needed comparatively little metalwork. Over the next six years, he totally restored the car to its original colour and specification, making some subtle improvements to the brakes and suspension as he was rebuilding it, and had it painted to a high standard. 

It was returned to the road in 2016 and featured in Retro Ford magazine in 2017.

The Fiesta modelled was supplied new by Ford main dealers Gilbert Rice Ltd, Sussex, and first registered on 31st January 1986. Its first four owners looked after it very well and used it sparingly. In the summer of 2016, it was offered for sale by well-known classic car dealers KGF Classic Cars, having covered 40,679 miles. 

The mileage was confirmed by an accompanying history file containing a brochure, invoices and previous MOT certificates, as well as the original service wallet and handbook. Remarkably, the car’s grey ‘Fife’ trim was perfect, and it also still boasted its original dealership-stamped number plates, which is unusual as these often get damaged in low-speed parking incidents.

It was purchased on 26th July 2016 by lifelong Mk2 Fiesta enthusiast Christian ‘Bisty’ Dann, a restaurateur from Cornwall who has grown up in a family that are passionate about classic cars. He christened her ‘Geraldine’ and created a popular TikTok account called ‘geraldinethefiesta’, which features films about Geraldine’s adventures in Cornwall and Bisty’s other classic, an American-built 1974 GMC van he uses to offer grilled cheese delicacies to the people of Falmouth. 

In 2020, Geraldine needed some welding to pass her MOT and Bisty decided to have new sills fitted on both sides by local specialist Perranwell Garage, who also carried out some major engine work and various other jobs in order to make her as good as new in every respect.

The RS2000 modelled is one of the oldest surviving UK-market examples and was manufactured in Saarlouis, Germany, in December 1975. The first owner was Mike Collins, then RAF personnel, based at RAF Dishforth, Thirsk, North Yorkshire. He purchased it from the Ford RS dealership, Polar Service Garage, Barnsley on 12th January 1976, then registered it the following day. 

It had ten further owners before the current custodian, well known North Wales-based Ford enthusiast Aled Hopwood, purchased it on 7th June 1996. He wasn’t initially aware of its rarity but was captivated by it and has amassed a comprehensive history file containing all the previous MOTs and tax discs, plus a list of previous owners.

The car had covered 73,000 miles and was in excellent condition, and Aled enjoyed using it on several European tours, as well as the North Wales Snowdonia Tours and Lakes Tours. It was featured extensively in the book ‘Factory-Original Sporting Mk2 Escorts’, by Dan Williamson, with many detailed photographs of the car by Simon Clay being included in the RS2000 chapter. It has also appeared in Classic Ford Magazine. 

In the summer of 2021, Aled embarked on a nut-and-bolt restoration to as-new condition. He returned the underside to its original dove grey paint before having it fully resprayed, although all the original panels and Beta Cloth interior were retained. 

Aled proudly showed the finished car at the 2021 NEC Classic Motor Show.

Ford offered the Mk5 Cortina in several trim levels, of which GL was one, and the S Pack (for Sports) was a specification option that could be added to the customer’s desired trim level, L, GL or Ghia. That means that surviving GLS or Ghia S models are rare because fewer were sold and, unlike the Mk4 Cortina, there was no separate S model. 

The S Pack could only be ordered on cars with engines of 2-litres or above and featured driving lamps, overriders, a tachometer, a sports gear knob, and wider 185/70 HR x 13 tyres, plus revised stiffer suspension with gas filled front dampers. Alloy road wheels were a standalone option.

The GLS modelled was owned for many years by a police officer in Wales but ended up offered for sale while being stored in the open in Peterborough. It intrigued Hertfordshire-based garage owner Dave Lamb, whose first car had been a Cortina, because it was complete and unmolested, albeit rusty. 

There were also signs it had been cared for, such as five premium brand tyres, an unblemished interior and what looked like a genuine 90,000 recorded miles. Dave viewed it three times before his nostalgic impulse kicked in and he bought it in December 2023. 

He got it running, and his suspicions were proved correct because the engine was sweet, and it drove well. He has now started restoring it to its original specification.

The rally-inspired Ford Ranger Raptor Special Edition (SE) was launched in late 2021 for the 2022 model year and was something of a last hurrah for the 4-cylinder Raptor, which had originally appeared in 2019. The SE was made in limited numbers to ensure exclusivity and cost £54,086, a modest £900 more than a regular Raptor. 

This made it a bargain because the extra cost got the lucky buyers front-to-rear racing stripes, 17-inch black alloy wheels fitted with huge 33-inch tyres, red recovery hooks and jazzier interior trim. It does, however, share the standard Raptor’s impressive 10-speed automatic transmission, towering 283mm ground clearance and Fox Position Sensitive Damping (PSD).

The SE’s eye-catching design also included LED headlights, a matte black grille and door handles. The integrated black sports hoop and lockable Mountain Top roller shutter allowed owners to secure goods in the load bay and added to its showroom appeal. 

Its off-road ability was very impressive, but it performed on tarmac too and was equipped with intelligent speed assistance, a lane keeping aid, and a collision mitigation system; features which helped it to achieve the maximum five-star Euro NCAP safety rating. 

It had a payload rating of 620kgs, lower than the more workmanlike vehicles in the Ranger lineup, and as a result was not taxed as a commercial. It was, however, aimed at the leisure market where school-run street cred trumps load capacity.

Our die-cast model brings this iconic vehicle to life in 1:43 scale - a wonderful addition to any Vanguards collection.

The Capri modelled was first registered on 1st October 1974, by Taw Garages, Barnstable, Devon, a Ford main dealer. It stayed in this area, with the same family, until March 2009 when it was offered for sale via an online auction, with an MOT and showing a documented 70,000 miles. It was bought, unseen, by Lincolnshire-based Stephen Reedman, a longstanding Capri enthusiast who had always loved the colour, and liked this example’s distinctive registration plate. 

He was also attracted by the fact it was an early car, a rare XL, which is a trim level that was only produced from the Mk2’s launch in February 1974 until September when it was replaced by GL. Stephen got a lift to Devon in a friend’s lorry, and was pleased the car was as advertised. Just as he was about to drive off however, it stopped running.The fault was traced to a blown fuse, which was fixed with silver paper, and held all day. 

He and his two Capri enthusiast sons, Scott and Mark, enjoyed driving the car and taking it to events, consequently in October 2009 they asked Martin Pawson at Capri Gear in Lincolnshire to restore it. He welded various new panels into the bodyshell, rebuilt the engine and fitted poly-bushed 2.8i suspension to improve the handling.  

In early 2013 the finished car was featured in Classic Ford magazine and always draws admiring crowds at classic car shows.

It’s appropriate that the first model to be produced using Corgi Vanguards’ new tooling for the original Range Rover is YVB 153H, chassis number 35500003A; effectively chassis number 3. This vehicle was the first Range Rover that came off the production line to the final production specification, and was one of 28 pre-production chassis, but only 27 bodyshells, as one driveable chassis was kept for development work. 

It was hand-finished, ahead of the two earlier chassis numbers, by 17th of December 1969, because photographer Alan Luckett wanted a blue car for launch photography. It also starred in the brilliantly titled dealership launch film, ‘A Car for All Reasons’. It was retained by Rover until early 1972 then sold to William Ellis Garages, Oswestry, and by the late 1980s was owned by Norwegian photographer Per Lochen. 

As the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust’s vehicle collection was growing in the early 1990s, ahead of their 1993 move to what is now the British Motor Museum at Gaydon, it was realised that they lacked an early Range Rover, and 153H was tracked down. In late 1991, a deal was struck with Lochen to acquire this historically important car, which by this time was in a poor state. 

It was restored to its original ‘launch’ specification in 2006 by the Museum, and has since featured in anniversary displays, as well as TV programmes and magazine articles.

Rover built a 4-door prototype Range Rover in 1972, but British Leyland’s finances ensured it was never produced although various specialists offered 4-door conversions. After the success of the first 2-door “In Vogue”, it became obvious that the utilitarian Range Rover could be moved upmarket, and a 4-door model was announced in June 1981. 

To publicise this, and the newly available automatic transmission, Rover launched the limited edition 4-door automatic ‘In Vogue’ Series 2 in August 1982, which was only available in Sierra Silver or Nevada Gold. Only 250 of each colour were made, and they all featured alloy wheels, distinctive graphics, a branded cool box, wooden door cappings and a Philips stereo.

This example was completed on 21st July 1982 and immediately dispatched to Skinners Motors Ltd, St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex. It was displayed in the dealership before first owner, Kent-based farmer Mr Cooper, took ownership until New Year’s Day 1983. He paid Skinners’ subsidiary, Bexhill Motors, £16,000 for his 17th Range Rover! He’d bought his first in 1970, then ordered a new one annually.

This was, however, his retirement car, so he rust-proofed it, serviced it on his 4-post ramp, and retained all the accessories and paperwork. It was purchased by ‘The Dunsfold Collection’ of Land Rover related vehicles in November 2010, and remains in excellent original condition, wearing its 80,000 miles lightly. 

It has appeared in many TV programmes, magazine articles and live events.