So we’re going to get through this whole posting without mentioning what movie this car appeared in, right? Right. Okay, as with many older little British economy cars, you can find nicely restored examples near the $10,000 mark, or absolute sheds needing a full restoration that will cost you more than the $10,000 car did in the first place. So it’s refreshing to find what appears to be a nicely weathered one of these cars available – it’s this 1961 Ford Anglia for sale for $3500 in Olympia, WA.
As with our recently featured Dodge Monaco and Lincoln Continental, This car was designed by Elwood Engel. According to various sources, his method was to make a sandwich of the late 1950s Ford Thunderbird, 1958 Lincoln Continental and Mercury Turnpike cruiser, and apply those design cues to a compact car. You can also see his influence in the Ford Consul Capri coupe. This car also marked the debut of the Ford Kent engine, which served through 2002.
You can definitely see the moss/lichen growth that is not so rare on cars of the Pacific Northwest, but there is not much visible rust in the photos. It’s funny how even though this car has some very American cues, it looks distinctly not-American. And unlike their American cousins, they had to make do without an opening rear window – something that probably would let exhaust fumes in on a car this size. This particular car is said to be clean, fun to drive, and to have low miles and a clean CarFax (what?).
The interior actually looks pretty good, perhaps needing a vacuuming and dusting. No doubt there will be little bits and pieces missing here and there, as some are hard to find for an inexpensive car of this age. But it looks nice enough to be usable while you collect anything that’s missing from sources here and abroad. With any luck, their ubiquity in their home country will help here.
Last but not least, here’s that Kent powerplant. Its ubiquity will also be helpful, as you might be able to make some light performance upgrades to make merging onto busy freeways a little less challenging. At 41hp stock, it was apparently quite revvy and had a shifter that was pleasant to use, but was still a little short on power. So perhaps some simple performance upgrades to the engine, brakes, and wheels/tires respectively would net you a unique classic driver?
Rusty But Trusty 
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