Just picked this up. 1959 Ford Popular. Was built in England ,bought and shipped to the states several years ago.Very cool as its the last year for this body.They produced this body from 1937 to 1959,Anglia,prefect,and popular. Has a Ford rear end out of a Ford Caprie,front in is Opel with rack and pinion steering ,and disc's on front.right hand drive.with a 2000 cc Ford Pinto with pogressive 2 bbl.and C-4 auto. Gets about 28+ miles per gallon. Think I will just go thru it ,fix what needs fixing and drive it as is ,pluss with the gas price increase looming everywhere thats a plus. I think its just too cool.
Very nice! It's got the right look, and you can enjoy it without having to worry about where the next gas station is!
Just so you know, what you have is an E494A, built from late 48 to 53 (NOT 37-59). And you body is a rare and desirable 48, not a 59 regardless of what any paperwork may say. The difference is the clam shell vent in the cowl, 49-53 have a rectangular door. Known as Anglia's in this country and Popular's in England, The 4 doors were called Prefect's and the Panels are called Thames (There is no such thing and an "Anglia Panel", its a Thames, are you listening Hot Wheels?) The 39-early 48 were E04A and had a different style grille and no "Hump" on the trunk. The 53-59 were the 105E which are a more standard looking sedan. Nice car by the way!
I'm pretty sure that is a 1948 (and under?), the cowl has the clam shell vents on it, from 49 on, they had a rectangular vent I believe. My 49' Thames had the rectangular vent.
hotroddon, thats what I had thought, I new the early models were different but was 100%, thank you. Nice car anyways, good find, drive the wheels off it.
Nice car I know the previous owner well. Don't reply to many posts but have to set the record straight. Your car is a 59 Popular the dash is welded in and NOT removable as in the Anglia, Prefect Or Thames version. The Popular was built up to 59 and around 56 the clam shells were reintroduced into the model. Several ideas have been given for this switch but most tend to lean to cost, just cheaper to stamp the cowl than to install the door ***embly. The reason the Popular was still built was that the English loved their sit up and beg version and did not accept the new Anglia 100E style(the 105E came after the 100E)
Thanks for your response ,I didnt want to get into a discussion on what it is ,as the previous owner and I have spent a lot of time disscussing it ,even have all the paperwork when it was imported,so I stand by my discription on what it is . Also the original cowl tag and frame stamping support it being a 1959. Which in my case is a big pluss because in Illinois they are making it almost impossible to ***le out of state cars pre 48. Some of his friends couldnt believe he sold "Cherry Pie" But we got along well from the start and he feels its going to a good home. So we are both happy...
See post by Angliaguru. Not to dissagree,but the original cowl tag and frame stamp both show after a vin search 1959 Popular,also have original import papers which aslo show as 1959 Pop actually its a 103E model. I think its great get the old Anglia look and being a 1959 makes the ***le process in Illinois just an easy deal as they are now making it near impossible to ***le pre 48 cars with out of state ***le,so best of both worlds.
Well. I stand partiality corrected (my info about the 39-48 was right ) After reading the responses, I started searching the 103E from the usual suspects and all the pictures I could find of 53-59 models had the rectangular vent, interesting. More weird stuff from Ford of England
Yep they did some differant things hard to keep track of all their changes,but its cool and Im happy with it so thats all that really matters .It even has a Popular badge above the grill where it would usualy have Anglia and they (the badge) are all silver as opposed to the blue and silver Anglia badging. Heres a pick of a 1959
......Now that is sweet.....Can a man that weighs 275 and 6foot 8inches fit into it...?It would be a cool city driver.....Big Bad John
Big Bad John Might be a squezzzzz. I have a buddy thats always upset with me as hes a pretty big guy and gives me grief that all my cars are too small for him to even get in for a ride. Had chopped 29 coupe and he got about half way in then couldnt get in or out ,so we just grabbed hold of him and started pulling it was too funny.
jeez, are you guys Hot Rodders or restorers? nice car BTW, and no, big people don't fit in those cars
I was watching that car on e-bay and thought it would be a helluva buy. I almost contacted him after the auction, but I need to stay focused on my 48 Thames instead. Cool car! I had a fenderless Anglia that was also pinto powered from England a few years ago, it toured the US and was featured in Street Rodder at the time it was orange and trimmed in yellow.
I had talked to him a few times along the auction,and when it dissappered I thought ****. Called and he had just been out for a ride in it and decided he couldnt let it go. But it all ended up good. I had an Anglia a couple years ago and foolishly let it go and have been looking ever since. Heres the one I had ,basic 350/350/8inch was a great little car.
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