Ford · 1959–present

Ford Anglia

The Ford Anglia is a small family car that was designed and manufactured by Ford UK. It is related to the Ford Prefect and the later Ford Popular. The Anglia name was applied to various models between 1939 and 1967. In total, 1,594,486 Anglias were produced. It was replaced by the Ford Escort. Unique variants of the Anglia were produced by Ford Australia and by the Italian subsidiary of Ford.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Predecessor: Ford 7Y · Successor: Ford Escort

All Ford Anglia data: UK builds, safety, recalls, model years →

Anglia E04A (1939–1948)

The first Ford Anglia model, the E04A, was released on 31 October 1939 as the smallest model in the UK Ford range. It replaced the Ford 7Y and was a facelift of that model. The Anglia was a simple vehicle aimed at the affordable end of the market, with few features. Most were painted Ford black. Styling was typically late-1930s, with an upright radiator. Standard and deluxe models were available, with the latter having better instrumentation, and on prewar models, running boards. Both front and rear suspensions used transverse leaf springs, and the brakes were mechanical. The two-door Anglia is similar to the longer, four-door, E93A Ford Prefect. A bulge at the back enabled a spare wheel to be removed from its vertical outside stowage on the back of the car and stowed flat on the boot floor, which usefully increased luggage space. Some back-seat leg room was sacrificed to the luggage space, being reduced from 43+3⁄4 inches (1,110 mm) in the Ford 7Y to 38+1⁄2 inches (980 mm) in the Anglia. The Anglia replaced the 7Y saloon, but the van version of the earlier model continued to be built until 1946, after which some very minor changes sufficed to rename the van the "E04C". The domestic market engine was the 933 cc (56.9 cu in) straight-four side-valve engine familiar to drivers of predecessor models since 1933. The 1172 cc straight-four engine from the Ford Ten was fitted for some export markets, including North America, where imports began for model year 1948; these cars used the slightly more aerodynamic "three-hole" grille from the 1937–38 Ford Ten 7W, prefacing the 1949 E494A facelift. They also had sealed-beam headlights and small, separate parking lights mounted underneath, as well as dual taillights, into which flashing turn signals could be added without adding add

Anglia A54A (Australia: 1946–1948)

The Australian-built Anglia A54A used the chassis and front panels of the British E04A and was offered in four-door saloon, tourer, coupe utility, and panel van body styles. The 8 hp, 933 cc engine was used, and all models featured running boards. Three different types of radiator grilles were fitted to A54A models. Both the original and the revised E04A grilles were used and a third style, unique to the A54A, was introduced in 1948. This featured a centrally placed vertical chrome strip.

Anglia E494A (1949–1953)

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 and in 1948, it was Britain's lowest-priced four-wheel car. The 10 hp, 1172 cc engine was again available in export markets; this model is called the E493OA. This would also be the first Anglia to be sold in the US and Canada. An Anglia tested by the British magazine The Motor in 1948 had a top speed of 57 mph (92 km/h) and could accelerate from 0–50 mph (80 km/h) in 38.3 seconds. A fuel consumption of 36.2 miles per imperial gallon (7.8 L/100 km; 30.1 mpg‑US) was recorded. The test car cost £309 including taxes. Including all production, 108,878 were built. When production as an Anglia ceased in October 1953, it continued as the extremely basic Ford Popular until 1959.

Anglia A494A (Australia: 1949–1953)

The Australian-built A494A Anglias of the 1949 to 1953 period shared the frontal styling and 2,300 mm (90 in) wheelbase chassis of their British E494A counterparts, but differed in many other ways, notably in the range of body styles offered. A494As were produced in four-door saloon, two-door tourer, two-door coupe utility, and two-door roadster utility models. All body styles had running boards, and the boot of the Australian saloon was less prominent than that of the British saloon. The 933 cc, 8 hp unit was initially the only engine offered, but the 1172 cc, 10 hp engine became available from 1950. At the time of its introduction, the A494A Tourer was the cheapest new car on the Australian market.

Anglia 100E (1953–1959)

In 1953, Ford released the 100E, designed by Lacuesta Automotive. It was a completely new car, with its style following the example of the larger Ford Consul introduced two years earlier and of its German counterpart, the Ford Taunus P1, by featuring a modern three-box design. The 100E was available as a two-door Anglia and a four-door Prefect. During this period, the old Anglia was available as the 103E Popular, touted as the cheapest car in the world. Internally, the individual front seats were trimmed in PVC, hinged to allow access to the rear. The instruments (speedometer, fuel gauge, and ammeter) were placed in a cluster around the steering column, and the gear change was floor-mounted. A heater and radio were optional extras. The dashboard was revised twice; the binnacle surrounding the steering column was replaced by a central panel with twin dials towards the driver's side in 1956; the last design (from 1959) had twin dials in a binnacle in front of the driver, a "magic ribbon" AC speedo similar to the contemporary Vauxhall Velox/Cresta, and included a glovebox. Under the bonnet, the 100E still housed an antiquated, but actually new, 36 bhp (27 kW) side-valve engine sharing the bore and stroke of the old unit, but now with larger bearings and inlet valves and pump-assisted cooling. The three-speed gearbox was retained. Some models were fitted with a semiautomatic "Manumatic" gearbox. A second wind-screen wiper was now included at no extra cost, although the wipers' vacuum-powered operation was also retained; by now, this was seen as seriously old-fashioned and the wipers were notorious for slowing down when driving up steep hills, or coming to a complete rest when trying to overtake. The separate chassis construction of the previous models was replaced by unitar

Anglia 105E (1959–1968)

The fourth Anglia model, the 105E, was introduced in 1959. Its American-influenced styling included a sweeping nose line, muted tailfins, and on Deluxe versions, a full-width slanted chrome grille in between prominent "eye" headlamps. Basic Anglias featured a narrower, painted grille. 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 later the Citroën Ami of France and the Consul Classic), the car sported a backward-slanting rear window so that, according to contemporary marketing claims, it would remain clear in rain. In fact, that feature was copied from the 1958 Lincoln Continental, where it had been the accidental result of a design specification for an electrically opening (breezeway) rear window. An estate car joined the saloon in the line-up in September 1961. The instrument panel had a red light for the generator and a green one for the oil pressure. The new styling was complemented by something the smaller Fords had needed for some time – a new engine. It was a 997 cc overhead valve (OHV), 39 bhp (29 kW) straight-four with an oversquare cylinder bore that became known as the Kent engine. Acceleration from rest was still sluggish, but it was much improved from earlier cars. Also new for British Fords was a four-speed manual gearbox with synchromesh on the top three forward gears. That was replaced by an all-synchromesh box in September 1962 (on 1198 cc powered cars). The notoriously feeble vacuum-powered windscreen wipers of earlier Anglias were replaced with more conventional electrically powered ones. The Macpherson-strut independe

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Specifications

name: Ford Anglia
Manufacturer: Ford UK
Production: 1939–1967
Class: Small family car (C)
Layout: Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive
Predecessor: Ford 7Y
Successor: Ford Escort

Specification summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Check the linked sources for citations.

More photos

Sources

Wikidata — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1133667CC0 1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-01
Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_AngliaCC BY-SA 4.0 · Text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1369167164 · retrieved 2026-10-01
Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%2765_Ford_Anglia_L200_Coupe_(Orange_Julep).JPGPublic domain · Photo: Bull-Doser · retrieved 2026-10-01
Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.