Ford’s Anglia began life in 1939, a typically British bull-nosed saloon equipped with an aging sidevalve engine. Until 1953, the car was nearly unchanged – the new design for that year was only sheet-metal deep. A few improvements had arrived – unitary construction and MacPherson suspension – but the car was largely just a modernized version of the earlier series. All that changed in 1959, when both the styling and the mechanicals received evolutionary upgrades. Mild fins, a sloped nose, and hooded headlights gave the car a transatlantic feel, while the reverse-raked rear glass was a rarely-seen feature. Under the skin, a new oversquare, overhead-valve engine coupled with Ford of Britain’s first four-speed manual gearbox installed in a production saloon generated slightly improved performance. That tiny increment was enough, though: more than 191k buyers fell for this sporty mix in 1960, and over a million were sold before the last Anglia rolled off the line in 1967. This Anglia is a Deluxe model, with a full-length grille and chrome trim down its flanks and over its headlamps. The Deluxe’s rear windows open, too.
That engine is a 997 cc OHV four, making 39 hp – Ford’s first “Kent” engine. Stout and revvy, the Kent found its way into Formula racing in no time flat. This is a pre-crossflow engine; the crossflow-head Kent arrived in 1967 and was similarly revered both for road and track. But both motors benefit from a lush ecosystem of performance parts. The four-speed manual has synchromesh on its top three gears, improved in 1962 for larger-motored cars to all-synchro. The vacuum wipers, the bane of earlier cars, were replaced by electrically-actuated versions. This example doesn’t run, and will need to be towed from its Chicago, Illinois home.
The Deluxe interior gave buyers a glove box lid, carpet, and a passenger’s side sun visor. A heater could be had but cost extra. Two-tone paint and upholstery were also available. This interior isn’t looking too “deluxe” right now, but help can be found here. If you’re ready to tackle this funky British Ford, it’s for sale on craigslist for $2800. Rare in the US, Anglia comparables are not around every corner, but Bonham’s sold this one in January 2023 for $14,560. References to Harry Potter’s Chamber of Secrets cannot be avoided, as an Anglia was chosen to provide flying conveyance for several adventures, provoking more recognition for the little Ford. Could you see yourself pulling up in an Anglia to the next Cruise-In?
Well,this post sure got my attention!
I had a 1960 105E,the only one sold locally in Eureka
that still survived.I paid $350 for it,and never finished
restoring it.
Never planned on selling it,but had to when my
Wife had her job eliminated & we moved cross-country.
Fun fact – if it has the original wheels,you can tell
what year it is,as they stamped a date code on one of
the ears that the hubcaps slip over.
Not too many of these left. Rare doesn’t mean valuable either. You really have to want to put one of these back together if you enjoy the marque. It doesn’t look like an investment car so maybe stuff a V6 in and make it a sleeper!! Definitely a 50’s design!!
Maybe not “valuable”, but definitely desirable! All these small Fords, Anglia, Corsair, Cortina…. all very cool.
And please don’t butcher it by stuffing a big engine in it. Sacrilege!
Oh well, I had 2 tums up, but lost them, shifting gears from the Ferrari 348 mini-rant, coming back to earth some, this is what I’d bet most want to see. Saw so few of these, it would be like not seeing any at all. I do remember that frowny face, a 180 from the happy Sprite. I bet folks growing up in England, to them, this was their ’61 Chevy. Any vintage movie that takes place in England primarily has these running around. Like our ’61 Chevy, these were great cars, people movers, but not a lot of people. Didn’t the Brits have big families? What did they drive a Thames Freighter? I read, this car cost around 600 pounds( I think) about $750. Cheap, no? Um, no, considering the average British worker made about 25 pounds a week.
Again, I fear some hp nut will make a gasser out of it, and that would be cool, but I’d have to think there are some Brits out there that would love to retain memories and leave it stock.
call me an English nut…had 4 of them a 1952 Anglia, a 1952 Prefect, a 1959 Anglia Escort and a brand new 1962 Anglia…loved them I did …finally had to trade the 62 on a new Citroen 1965 2CV because we moved to Northern Ontario and front wheel drive was such a blessing
Jules with a 2cv in Northern Ontario that’s nut on another level. I think I would prefer Francophile. That’s what I preferred when I guided my bog slow diesel 504 wagon.
front wheel drive air cooled easy ride suspension and 50 Miles to gal on regular gas,,,,thats why I did forsake my beloved Anglia’s my next car was a Panhard, PL17 Tigre.
If you look closely, you can see where Harry Potter signed the glovebox door.
“Didn’t the Brits have big families?”
I need not remind you that post World War II Britain was a place of long hard years of deprivation. No boom like the USA till the ’60s.
You Yanks let the Nazis decimate England (and the rest of Europe) before “stepping up” following Pearl Harbour. Your Marshall Plan laddled aid onto recovering Germany and Japan. Told England to suck eggs.
Well, not exactly, Bub….nice try though!😊
Well folks, proof positive a bitter WW2 sentiment still exists all these years later. I read, at the onset of the invasion, there were over 1.6 million US service personnel in Great Britain. Hardly told to suck eggs. I believe we sent aid to more than Japan and Germany, I think the French had the worst of it. Far as big families, it wasn’t all riches in America after the war, like some Europeans may have thought. There was a long period of time where it was rough going for many Americans, but that didn’t stop us from having big families.
Bun is absolutely right. The Marshall Plan reconstructed Germany and Japan and ignored England,France and to a lesser extent Italy.
Bub , I think the WW2 enemies were so formidable the victors threw $$$ at them in an attempt to make sure the losers wouldn’t fight against the winners ever again , and it seems to have worked so far .
No one really wins in a war – everyone suffers one way or another except the arms manufacturers . I suggest you read ” War is a Racket ” ( 1935 ) or just google Smedley D. Butler who was a decorated U.S. Marines Major.
Long before America entered WW2 the Yanks were sending weapons and supplies to the aid of Britain by the boat loads. The convoys were under constant attack by German U boats!
Britain would have surely fallen without this American effort. The Lend/Lease program was needed and lifesaving!
I have just returned from a trip up to Yorkshire, here in UK, and visited a little village called Goathland which figures in a local TV serial that has been, and is currently being re screened, ever since it was made in the 1990’s. The Ford in the picture was used as a Police car in the series.
(Heartbeat is a British period drama television series which was first broadcast on ITV between 10 April 1992 and 12 September 2010. Set in the fictional town of Ashfordly and the village of Aidensfield (Goathland) in the North Riding of Yorkshire during the 1960s.) The village has since become fixed in a “time warp” and lives mainly on the income provided by the amount of tourists that visit every month of the year.
The Pound Sterling was worth $2.80 back in 1958 when we lived in East Anglia (Essex) from 1955 to 1958. So your dollar calculation would be much higher than your $750.
Its both ugly and interesting
thnx 4 da Sotheby’s article. When ever these unidentifiable show here I find myself postin something like that for folk to get a real image of the vehicles unable to see here. Thanks Michelle.
Its a form of Justice (even respect, may B)… AND
So now I C the 50s chevy front and may be Nash/AMC rear window…
Memories, 1965. I’m 14, my buddy who owned the Anglia was 16 and it was a cream puff. We’re on our way from St. Pete Bch to our 1st Daytona bike week. I4 wasn’t the clogged, stop-n-go hwy it is today. A cop followed us for miles & miles, Mike & I are both looking at the speedo, carefully watching our 70mph. Finally pulled over, we are both pleading our case. The officer said we were doing 78. It took a while but it turned out our desire for more mpg was to put taller tires on the little blue gem which slowed the speedometer but not ground speed! I used to hide in it’s trunk in order to get into the Sky View drive-in in Pasadena, Fl. so we could afford hot dogs while watching the movies.
Incredibly popular in NZ. Still a few around – friend has a very tidy one. Great ladies car – if Iʻm allowed to say that, in this PC correct world. Light steering, delightful gear change and nice handling. Very popular in racing in New Zealand with many receiving Lotus twin cam motors. The reverse window design (which was to allow more headroom in the back seat) was also used on the Consul Classic 315. But for racing, it wasnʻt the most aero dynamic. So a couple of NZ racers developed streamlined versions for racing – do a search for Breadvan Anglia racing New Zealand – named after the Breadvan Ferrari built in 1962. Lot of the racing Anglias had their fronts streamlined in the interest of getting a little more speed out of these great little racers. Very easy to tune to any state your budget would stretch to. My brother had a van version he spent a lot of money on – into quite a great little mover that embarrassed a lot of larger vehicles…
The English Ford One litre engines (over head valve) were vey popular n Formula V racing across the entire nations of Canada & America!
Think you might have meant Formula Junior? Yes they were very popular in this series, along with the BMC A series (Mini and Sprite) Formula V used Volkswagen engines exclusively
I don’t want it, but I like this car; there is just something about it beyond my English heritage. One thing is for sure, that stuck exhaust valve will need attention, but who knows what else will.
Wish there were more pictures!
In 1969 my father gave a ’60 Anglia to me. He traded a hydraulic floor jack +$10 for it. It was rough and had a bent tailshaft in the transmission. I had the shaft straightened, then used a knife file to file away the waves in the splines. For several days. I then found a parts car and was able to make mine more presentable. I rebuilt the engine, bored .0030 over with a mild cam and added a carburetor from a Citroen. Still nothing special, but I could almost keep up with traffic, Many adventures were had in that car.
Yes Redbeard, standing corrected I do….Formula V was enirely a differing group.
Interestingly when I moved to Northern Ontatio I had the only 105e in town yet parts and service were no problem as the Bell Telephone System of Canada operated a full.fleet of Anglia panel trucks across the North.
That engine was a great design. I had a Lotus Super 7 with a highly modified 105E engine…two dual choke 45 mm Webers, an interesting cam, etc. Used to humiliate Porsches, Corvettes, etc on short courses.
Thumbs up not working again!
Thugs up. Not working…must be site glich….
I prefer the looks of my hand-me-down 1959 English Ford Consul I drove during my sophomore year at high school. Its front end looked like a mini-1955 Thunderbird with similar hooded headlight bezels, stamped egg crate grille and little parking/signal lights located beneath its headlights. Too bad it was a 4-door instead of the nifty Consul convertible.
The Ford Consul / Zephyr / Zodiac range of the time had a real ʻtransatlanticʻ look with lots of styling cues from the US – the later ʻslimlineʻ Mk II Consul / Zephyr had a lowered roofline looking like a Thunderbird. Roy Brown, designer of the Edsel and sent to England as a result, had a hand in the design of the Fords of the early 60s. Friend had a Mk II Consul so remember these well but you would have been better off with the Zephyr, like we had… a little more power from the 6 cylinder engine. We had a Mk I Consul (first family car I can remember) and then all of the Zephyrs, Mk II, Mk III (best of the lot)Mk IV. They were very popular in NZ, being assembled here. The newly crowned Queen Elizabeth even visited the Seadown factory on a visit to NZ and was photographed watching Fords being assembled. Because they were always popular, lots of these Fords still survive in NZ
Thanks, RedBeard.
Very interesting comments. I certainly would’ve loved either of the upscale Zephyr or Zodiacs but I was happy to take Dad’s little Consul. Thanks for your comments.
I was luckier than you it would seem as I found a scrap car and restored it over 9 years, a 1959 Ford Zephyr convertible. Great car.
Great car….bravo!
To Jules. As found in 1978. No rear seat, no brake pipes, no brake shoes or cylinders, no fuel lines, engine lying where the back seat should have been. Had to drive 300+ miles, rescue it from a builders yard and tow it on an “A” frame back home, all in one day! My friends took one look at it and said it will never run again. Well, it did take 9 years mainly due to family commitments, faulty chromework etc. and to find a decent upholsterer to make a new hood without any patter.,
My Dad bought an original one owner 63 Anglia with only 63000 miles on the clock for $100.00 AUD in about 1978, I drove it for a while when I blew up my car an Australian built 1974 Leyland Marina, the Anglia had front end issues as it would get the death wobbles when you hit a bump at any sort of speed over 50 mph
Thanks to all that responded from overseas, or had these when overseas. It shows the site is truly a global thing. It’s the real fun part of the site for me. Growing up in good ol’ USA., we never even thought other countries were doing the same thing we were. That’s how sheltered we were.
Remembering the first time seeing new Anglia & Prefects for sale in Toledo. The year was 1953. They were in Mercury showrooms the prices were 1200 to 1300 dollars. Not many sales though, Americans just did not take to mechanical brakes and old time suspension. Surprisingly, the few that were sold can now be seen on the Drag Strips sporting big block V8 racing engines.
English Ford’s never became popular in America…although the Cortina did pretty well, for a while. The VW beat Eng!ish Ford by huge numbers, as did Renault and Fiat. I bought a brand new Anglia in 1962 for 1500 dollars. Great car certainly safer than the VW and it had real heater! Reliable it was!
My aunty had one of the earliest Anglia 105Es – 1960/1ish. She had some troubles initially with it – relating to the carburetion – apparently a problem with the early ones, but soon sorted. She was a terrible driver. The bumper in each corner was bent up in a different direction from many parking hits. When taking off, she used to push in the clutch, press down the right foot until it hit the floor, and then slowly release the clutch. We always used to wonder out loud as she took off, how the clutch and valves put up with this treatment…the engine would be screaming before dropping in revs as she slipped the clutch – badly between each gear. She got caught by a cop speeding at something in the high 30 miles per hour not far from her home – going to work only 10 mins away – same job for 40+ years. When the cop told her the speed (speed limit 30 mph) she told the cop she couldnʻt possibly be doing that speed, she was still in third gear!!! Engine was probably screaming its head off! How the Anglia put up with this abuse for years Iʻll never know! Funny thing is, she traded the Anglia on an Escort – the Angliaʻs replacemen,t and she drove that really well – no damage, no screaming revs and bouncing valves… strange!
Love the info! Than😊x
I read a book by Floyd Clymer that showed a road test of
the new ’60 Anglia.He said that the engine had such a short –
stroke that the crankshaft basicly vibrated.
There was also a picture of when he had it filled with gas.
The caption was something like “Why is the gas attendant smiling?
He only put $1.50 worth of gas in it”.
I would question that crankshaft vibrating comment with so many Ford Kent ohv motors still giving great service with little maintenance over decades – nothing done to the motors that wouldnʻt be done to other motors of the period, and so many being thrashed either, on the road or in motorsport – rallying, circuit racing. While the likes of Formula Ford had modified motors with appropriate replacement crankshafts, there were thousands of people (and some have commented under this listing) who didnʻt have the money to modify the motors to that extent, and thrashed the stock item with no dramas. Sorry, struggle to understand what he meant…
I have the first nine books written by Floyd Clymer called “Floyd Clymer’s Historical Scrapbook”. Such an entertaining, knowledgeable writer about the very early days of motoring in America. If you ever get the chance to read them you will certainly enjoy them. Floyd was a real character who became a registered car dealer when he was only ELEVEN!
I’m sure that the crankshaft comment was an exaggeration
just to make a point.I thought it was clever.
what project Solosolo bravo bravo jules