MEET THE OWNER – DAVID LEVAY AND HIS FORD SQUIRE 100E

The Squire belonged to my late father, who rescued it from a local scrapyard as the original owner had passed away, and his grandson inherited it. He sent this car and four old Vauxhalls to the scrapyard. The Squire had only done 13,325 miles from new and was in need of restoration as it had been sat in a garage from when it was about two years old. We eventually tracked down the grandson and managed to buy the rest of the car as the front wings, bonnet, and front panel were not with it. Then, my dad and I restored the Squire to what you see today. The Squire currently has about 24,000 miles on the clock and is a regular sight at local shows.

Ford launched the Squire and its cheaper Escort stablemate at the 1955 London Motor Show as the estate versions of the Prefect and Anglia 100E. Their bodies were shared with the Thames 5 CWT van, and the Squire featured dual windtone horns, a temperature gauge, opening rear side windows and washable plastic roof lining as standard. There were also external wood decorations for the early models. 

To promote these critical new models, Dagenham commissioned possibly the most hilarious advertising film in the history of cinema. Despite this, Autocar found the Squire “light at all speeds” and “a car for the man who wants the most from his money”. For such drivers, it offered a neat tailgate, while its rivals had side-opening rear doors, and 49 cu ft. of luggage space. A further advantage was its 1,172cc side valve engine could be easily serviced at home. 

By 1956, the 100E Estates boasted a “‘spanking new instrument panel” with a parcel shelf for “gloves, handbag or last-minute shopping”, which chrome replaced the exterior woodwork in 1957. When the Anglia 105E debuted two years later, Ford discontinued the Squire, but the Escort remained in production until early 1961.

David’s Squire is a 1959 model, costing £652 7s, compared with £667 7s for the Austin A35 Countryman, £698 17s for the Hillman Husky, or £708 12s for the Morris Minor 1000 Traveller.  Another rival was the Standard Ten Companion, the only estate car in its class with four side doors, costing £743 17s. This makes the Ford seem quite a bargain, especially when you take into account how its styling “will do you credit in surroundings”; i.e. the Squire is always socially acceptable. 

Today, David finds “it drives very well for an older car – it is not the fastest car in the world but very reliable, and the three-speed gearbox and vacuum wipers make life interesting”. No British Fords had a four-speed transmission and electric wipers before the introduction of the Anglia 105E.  In David’s experience, the Squire’s wipers “are efficient on the flat or down hills - you just hope when it rains, you do not come across any big hills to climb!”.

As for the public reaction: “The general response is what a beautiful and stunning car is. And then a lot of people want to know what it is and are generally amazed when you tell them it’s a Ford”. 

Plus, the launch advertisement really is a masterpiece -