Ford Anglia 105E

1959 to 1968
Overview
Production	1959–67 1,004,737 units
Assembly	United Kingdom Australia
Body and chassis
Body style	2-door saloon 3-door estate car 2-door panel van
Powertrain
Engine	997 cc I4
Dimensions
Wheelbase	91 in (2311 mm)
Length	154 in (3,912 mm)
Width	56 in (1422 mm)
Height	56 in (1422 mm)
Curb weight	1624 lb (737 kg) (saloon)

 The fourth Anglia model, the 105E, was introduced in 1959. Its American-influenced styling included a sweeping nose line, 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 the Citroën Ami of France, the car sported a backward-slanted rear window (so that it would remain clear in rain, according to contemporary marketing claims). In fact, this look was imported from the 1958 Lincoln Continental, where it had been the accidental result of a design specification for an electrically opening (breezeway) rear window. As well as being used, by Ford, on the Consul Classic, this look was also copied by Bond, Reliant and Invacar, for their three wheelers. The resulting flat roofline gave it excellent rear headroom. It had muted tailfins, much toned-down from its American counterparts. 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 matched by a new engine, something that the smaller Fords had been needing for some time—a 997 cc overhead-valve straight-4 with an oversquare cylinder bore, that became known by its "Kent" code name. 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 (manual) gearbox with synchromesh on the top three forward ratios: this was replaced by an all-synchromesh box in September 1962 (on 1198 powered cars). The notoriously feeble vacuum-powered windscreen wiper set-up of earlier Anglias was replaced with (by now) more conventional windscreen wipers powered by their own electric motor. The Macpherson strut independent front suspension used on the 100E was retained.

In October 1962, twenty-four-year-old Tony Brookes (See also Ford Corsair GT) and a group of friends took a private Anglia 105e fitted with the Ford £13 Performance Kit to Montlhery Autodrome near Paris and captured 6 International Class G World Records averaging 83.47 mph (134.33 km/h). These were 4,5,6 and 7 days and nights and 15,000, and 20,000 kilometres. The Anglia's strength and durability meant that no repairs were required whatsoever other than tyre changes.

The car's commercial success has subsequently been overshadowed by the even greater sales achieved by the Cortina: in 1960, when 191,752 Anglias left Ford's Dagenham plant in the 105E's first full production year, it set a new production-volume record for the Ford Motor Company. From October 1963, production continued at Ford's new Halewood plant at Merseyside alongside the newly introduced Corsair models. The Anglia Super introduced in September 1962 for the 1963 model year shared the longer stroke 1198 cc version of the Ford Kent 997 cc engine of the newly introduced Ford Cortina. The Anglia Super was distinguished by its painted contrasting-coloured side stripe.

A new Anglia saloon tested by the British Motor magazine in 1959 had a top speed of 73.8 mph (118.8 km/h) and could accelerate from 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 26.9 seconds. A fuel consumption of 41.2 miles per imperial gallon (6.86 L/100 km; 34.3 mpg_-US) was recorded. The test car cost £610 including taxes of £180.

The old 100E Anglia became the new 100E Popular and the four-door Prefect bodyshell remained available as the new Ford Prefect (107E) which had all 105E running gear, including engine and brakes, while the 100E Escort and Squire remained available, unchanged. In 1961 the Escort and Squire were replaced by the 105E Anglia estate. Both cars are popular with hot rodders to this day , helped by the interchangeability of parts and the car's tuning potential. The 100E delivery van also gave way to a new vehicle based on the 105E. Identical to the Anglia 105E back to the B post, the rest of the vehicle was entirely new.

References in popular media and celebrity connections

• On BBC television the popular Z-Cars serial mimicked the real life police forces' adoption of small patrol cars, known as Panda Cars due to their duck egg blue paintwork with a broad vertical white stripe running right over the doors and roof. Ford supplied 105E Anglias to appear alongside the Zephyrs.

• On the ITV programme Heartbeat, Ford Anglias were popularly used as police cars.
• On his 1980s TV-am series "Rat on the Road" and later shows, puppet character Roland Rat and his friends' "RatMobile" was a 1950s Ford Anglia painted bright pink.
• A turquoise 105E car prominently featured in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, as Arthur Weasley's car, which he charmed to give it the capabilities of flight, invisibility and extra loading capacity. Ron later crashes the Anglia into the Whomping Willow attempting, along with Harry, to reach Hogwarts on time after missing the Hogwarts Express. The car is later referenced in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire when Harry recalls that it is running wild in the Forbidden Forest.
• The character of Vyvyan in the BBC comedy The Young Ones owned a yellow Ford Anglia with flames painted along the sides.