UK Edition
Ford Anglia at 60: meet the man who owns 12 examples of 'the world's most exciting light car'
In the 1960s, the scaled-down Americana of the 105E was a ubiquitous sight, be it a first company car, family transport to a seaside boarding house in Hove or even an ice cream van; Ford promised everyday driving would be “a sheer delight”.
“It tries so hard for that Detroit look, down to the bonnet lever labelled ‘hood’”, remarks Aubone Braddon of his 12-strong fleet of Anglias.
When the “World’s Most Exciting Light Car” (as Ford copywriters would have us believe) made its bow in September 1959, it caused a genuine sensation. Many were amazed by the reverse-rake rear window and the tail fins, while others were impressed by the first British Ford fitted with electric windscreen wipers and a four-speed gearbox.
The Motor magazine claimed the 105E provided “substantial gains in economy and liveliness go with pleasing new coachwork features”, while the oversquare (with a cylinder bore larger than the piston stroke) 997cc OHV engine was a definite improvement over the side-valve unit found in the outgoing Anglia 100E.
Ford’s promotional short film First On The Road promised a new world of sunshine, excitement and modestly “hip” cocktail jazz and the Anglia gained further publicity from its starring role in the British film noir Never Let Go. The narrative concerned Richard Todd’s woebegone commercial traveller attempting to retrieve his stolen 105E from the sociopathic car racketeer of Peter Sellers.
Braddon traces his affection for the 105E not so much from the silver screen as from “my childhood, when my family used them for dad’s commercial vehicle business”.
One of the oldest members of his line-up is a 1960 Vulcan Grey model “that was raced by Anne Hall in 1988. It has a 1.5-litre Cortina GT engine and the gearbox from a Corsair 2000E”.
Meanwhile, 116 AYT is a rather more low-key Standard model of the same vintage. The price of £589 0s 11d meant you could expect little in the way of comfort “although my Anglia does at least have the optional heater”, says Braddon.
However, all ultra-Brylcreemed “go-ahead” sorts who liked to affect a Bob Monkhouse mid-Atlantic accent naturally craved a De Luxe. This was the Anglia with flair and social distinction, from the full-width chrome grille to the lockable glovebox, all for just £610 5s 11d.
FRU 856D is a late example of the breed and “has only covered 42,000 miles and is often referred to by passers-by as the ‘Harry Potter car’, thanks to the Lagoon Blue colour scheme”, says Braddon.
In 1961 Ford introduced the Anglia light commercial and station wagon ranges, the former promoted by a somewhat bizarre advertising feature. Braddon’s 1964 Spruce Green 307E Van is badged “Thames”, as were all Ford commercials before 1965, and it cost its original owner £400.
Braddon says: “He chose the van to avoid Purchase Tax. It’s a De Luxe, so it has the decadent fittings of chromium-plated front bumpers and twin visors”.
GOO 309B shares garage space with a stupendously rare Pina Green 1967 Pick-Up that was converted by Martin Walter of Folkestone. “It is a useful workhorse that is tidy but not concours. I came by it in 2000, and I’ve fitted the 1,498cc Cortina engine for extra durability”, Braddon explains.
The station wagon variant that offered “high-wide-and-handsome comfort” was also Dagenham’s first in-house estate design. Braddon notes that the 105E is “very capacious, with more headroom in the load bay than a Volvo 245”.
Both his Anglia Estates hail from 1966, one a De Luxe in the ever-popular Spruce Green (“it was first owned by a Great Ormond Street printer”) the other an ex-ICI Agricultural Division Standard model in an appropriately sober Purbeck Grey. “Ford sold only around 6,600 basic Estates as the company car market, slightly surprisingly, preferred the De Luxe,” reckons Braddon.
September 1962 marked the debut of the 123E Super, powered by the 1,198cc unit found in the new Consul Cortina. For your £598 13s 2d you also gained two-tone paint, windscreen washers and even a cigar lighter. YDR 590 dates from 1963.
Braddon says: “It is finished in Maroon and Grey, with metallic silver seat facings - less ‘Flash Gordon’ than ‘Flash Harry’. The Super gives a little bit more power, but if you want a longer-lasting unit you stick with the 997cc. I’ve never bought a 1.2-litre that doesn’t rumble on the bottom [end].”
The ninth member of the Braddon Collection is a homage to the Anglia’s wide deployment as a police car. In 1965 Lancashire Constabulary replaced PCs on foot or bicycle patrol with “Unit Beat” 105Es. The then Acting Chief Constable William Palfrey stated this move “would save the force some 400 men”.
The blue/white livery resulted in the nickname “panda car” and forces across the UK copied the scheme.
Braddon’s Anglia is a 1966 Standard “that I found in 1993. It is a replica of a London Metropolitan vehicle, and I don’t know of any genuine survivors”. The special equipment includes “two-note horns, a police roof-box, an alternator and a Pye Westminster radio”.
The launch of the “Coke bottle” Vauxhall Viva HB in late 1966 made the 105E look about as “happening” as a 30-year-old Teddy Boy fulminating about those long-haired Kinks. Ford’s response was the introduction of two dynamic metallic colours in 1967 and, naturally, Braddon owns examples of both.
His Venetian Gold-painted Super has a black interior that makes it resemble a certain brand of Terry’s chocolates, and he refers to a recently acquired example in Blue Mink as “desperately trying to be ‘with-it’”.
The last of 1,004,737 105Es left the Halewood factory on Merseyside in November of 1967, Ford also dispensing with the 28-year-old brand name in favour of reviving the Escort badge for its next generation of small cars.
Braddon refers to the Anglia as offering “showmanship reinforced by practicality” and this is truly epitomised by car number 12 in the collection. That this is no ordinary 1962 De Luxe is evident from “all the period extras; overriders, the spot lamp, the hub-cab medallions and the curved roof-rack” complementing the Lime Green and White exterior.
There is even a “Sportsman” spare wheel mounting, as devised by Ford of Belgium and available in the UK as an after-market conversion for £8 18s 6d.
Perhaps the overall tone to this fine car is set by the “mock leopard-skin rug on the back seat, as mere tartan would not do”.
You can envisage such an Anglia sweeping up to a roadside café somewhere off the A27, its owner uttering “Hi honey” in a hybrid Southampton-Californian accent to the scowling waitress. In short - generally living the 105E dream.
Thanks to: Aubone Braddon; the Ford Anglia 105E Owners’ Club.
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