| Ford Anglia | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Ford of Britain |
| Production | 1940-1967 |
| Predecessor | Ford 7Y |
| Successor | Ford Escort |
The Ford Anglia was a British car from Ford in the UK. It was related to the Ford Prefect and the later Ford Popular. The Ford Anglia name was applied to four models of car between 1940 and 1967. 1,594,486 Anglias were produced, before it was replaced by the new Ford Escort.
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Anglia E04A
| Ford Anglia E04A | |
|---|---|
| Production | 1940-1948 55,807 units[1] |
| Body style(s) | 2-door saloon |
| Engine(s) | 933 cc Straight-4 |
The first model, launched in 1940 and given the internal Ford model code of E04A, was a facelifted version of the Ford 7Y, a simple vehicle aimed at the cheap end of the market, with few features. Most were painted Ford black. Styling was typically late-1930s, with an upright radiator. The 2-door Anglia is similar to the 4-door E93A Ford Prefect. Both front and rear suspensions used transverse leaf springs and the brakes were mechanical. A 1172 cc engine was fitted for some export markets. Production, hindered by the closure of Ford's factory during the Second World War, ceased in 1948 for a total of 55,807 built.
Anglia E494A
| Ford Anglia E49A | |
|---|---|
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| Production | 1949-1953 108,878 units [1] |
| Body style(s) | 2-door saloon |
| Engine(s) | 933 cc Straight-4 |
The 1949 model, code E494A, was a makeover of the previous model with a rather more 1940s style front-end, including the sloped, twin-lobed radiator grille. Again it was a very spartan vehicle. While production as an Anglia ceased in 1953, it continued as the extremely basic Ford Popular until 1959. Including all production, 108,878 were built.
Anglia 100E
| Ford Anglia 100E | |
|---|---|
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| Production | 1953-1959 345,841 units [1] |
| Body style(s) | 2-door saloon 3-door estate car 2-door panel van |
| Engine(s) | 1172 cc Straight-4 |
In 1953, Ford released the 100E, designed by Lacuesta Automotive. It was a completely new car with a more modern "three-box" style. The 100E was available as a 2-door Anglia and a 4-door Prefect. During this period the old Anglia was available as the 103E Popular, touted as the cheapest car in the world. Internally, the 100E still housed an antiquated side-valve engine but now with pump-assisted cooling, and the three speed gearbox was retained. The vacuum-operated windscreen wipers were also retained, notorious for slowing down when driving up steep hills. The separate chassis construction of the previous models was replaced by unit construction and the front suspension used Macpherson struts, with semi-elliptic leaf springs at the rear. A rare option for 1957 and 1958 was Newtondrive clutchless gearchange. The 100E sold well; by the time production ceased in 1959, 345,841 had rolled off the production line. There were from 1955 two estate car (US: station wagon) versions, the Escort and the Squire, and small commercial variants, badged as Thames, were also made.
Anglia 105E
| Ford Anglia 105E | |
|---|---|
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| Production | 1959-1967 1,004,737 units[1] |
| Body style(s) | 2-door saloon 3-door estate car 2-door panel van |
| Engine(s) | 997 cc Straight-4 |
The final Anglia model, the 105E, was introduced in 1959. Its American-influenced styling included a nose line sweeping down to a slanted grille in between prominent 'eye' headlamps. Its smoothly sloped line there looked more like a 1950s Studebaker (or even early Ford Thunderbird) than the more aggressive-looking late-'50s American Fords, possibly because its British designers used wind-tunnel testing and streamlining. Like late-'50s Lincolns and Mercurys and the Citroën Ami of France, the car sported a backward-slanted rear window and a flat roofline (which gave it reasonable rear headroom) and it had tailfins, albeit much toned-down from its American counterparts. The new styling was matched by a new engine, something that the smaller Fords had been needing for some time—a 997cc overhead-valve straight-4. Acceleration from rest was still sluggish (by the standards of today), but it was much improved from earlier cars. Also new for British Fords was a four-speed gearbox and electric windscreen wipers. The 105E set 6 new World Records for an under 1000cc car in 1962 when twins Tony and Michael Brookes and their team achieved an average speed of over 83mph for seven days and nights at the Montlhery circuit just south of Paris. The old 100E Anglia bodyshell remained available as the new Ford Popular (107E) which had all 105E running gear, including engine and brakes, while the Escort remained available unchanged. In 1961 the Escort was replaced with the 105E Anglia estate. Both cars are popular with hot rodders even to this day, especially considering the interchangeability of parts and the both cars tuning potential.
References in Popular Media
Vyvyan from the BBC sitcom The Young Ones owned a yellow version of the car with fire trails on the side. This car was used in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, as Harry Potter's friend Ron Weasley's father's car, one he charmed to give it the capability of flight. Ron later crashes the car into the Whomping Willow attempting, along with Harry, to reach Hogwarts on time after missing the train.
Super Anglia 123E
| Ford Anglia 123E | |
|---|---|
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| Production | 1962-1967 79,223 units[1] |
| Body style(s) | 2-door saloon 3-door estate car 2-door panel van |
| Engine(s) | 1198 cc Straight-4 |
From 1962, the 123E Anglia Super was available alongside the 105E, replacing the last of the line of Prefects, with a larger 1198cc engine and other refinements. The same car was also sold in Europe. One Europe-only variant was the Anglia Sportsman that carried its spare tyre on the back, somewhat similar to the continental tyre style often seen in the United States. Chrome bumper overriders were also fitted, broad whitewall tyress, and optionally a side stripe kicking up at the end into the tail-lights/fin. Towards the end of the run Ford experimented with two colours of metallic paint on the Anglia: "Blue Mink" and "Venetian Gold". 250 were made in the Blue and 500 were made in the Gold, so they are both quite rare. The Anglia saloons were provided with various levels of trim. The base model was the Standard, and this sported no chromework, painted rear light surrounds, steel slatted grille and limited interior trim. The deluxe had a chrome side strip, chrome rear lights, glovebox lid, sun visor and full width chrome radiator grille. The top of the range was the Super, which had twin chrome side strips, contrasting coloured roof and side flash, plusher interior trim, together with the 1198cc engine and a gearbox with synchromesh on first gear. Optional extras available were the mechanical upgrade of a Deluxe to a Super, retaining the Deluxe trim, or the upgrade of a Deluxe to a Super trim, but retaining the 997cc engine, an option that was rarely taken up.
References
| Ford cars made for the European market |
|---|
| Köln | Y | Rheinland | Eifel | C Ten | 7Y | 7W | Prefect | Anglia | Pilot | Zephyr | Consul | Squire | Taunus | Vedette | Comète | Cortina | Popular | Classic | Corsair | Escort | Capri | Granada | Fiesta | Sierra | RS200 | Orion | Scorpio | Probe | Mondeo | Galaxy | Ka | Puma | Focus | Cougar | Maverick | Fusion | GT | Focus C-MAX | S-MAX | Kuga |
