Meet The Collector – Aubone Braddon and his ten Ford Anglias

Ford launched the “World’s Most Exciting Light Car” in September 1959, when its reverse-angle rear screen and tail fins amazed the outgoing Anglia 100E owners. It certainly impressed Mr. Braddon to the extent that he owns no fewer than ten!

Sixty-five years ago, your friendly local dealer would have told you the 105E was the first British Ford with electric windscreen wipers and a four-speed gearbox. The “Breezeway” screen would also defect rain and snow in the winter and afford protection from heat in summer - although its real purpose was to attract attention.

As for power, the 997cc OHV engine was capable of 75 mph, while the oldest member of the Braddon fleet is rather more potent as his 1960 Vulcan Grey 105E has a 1.5-litre Cortina GT engine, Corsair 2000E transmission – and was raced by Anne Hall in 1988. Her 105E won the Ladies’ Cup in the RAC Rally twenty-nine years earlier.

As for the sort of Anglia that once dominated the outer suburbs, Ford initially offered Standard and De Luxe saloons. Of the former, Aubone’s 1960 example at least has the optional heater, while he owns three of the latter. One is a 1966 model finished in Lagoon Blue (the shade of the Anglia associated with a certain wizard), while the second is a last-of-the-line 1967 105E in a splendid Venetian Gold. Ford also offered a Blue Mink paint finish, and Aubone says both were “really just known as Special Editions”.

The third car is even more noteworthy, as Aubone’s 1962 Lime Green and White De Luxe boasts virtually every period extra, from the hub cap medallions and curved roof rack to the overriders and the spotlight. Best of all, this Anglia has a mock leopard-skin rug on the back seat and the “Sportsman” spare wheel mounting, devised by Ford of Belgium and available in the UK as an after-market conversion for a mere £8 18s 6d. Aubone finds it “a good idea that makes the boot huge without that spare wheel and gives more room for a bigger picnic”.

Meanwhile, the 1966 Braddon Anglia Estates, a Standard and a De Luxe, are more sensible but no less interesting. On their launch in 1961 they were Ford GB’s first purpose-designed station wagon, with “space unlimited” and able to “take a load off your mind”. The Standard Estate, an ex-ICI company car, is rarer as corporate buyers tended to opt for the more elaborate specification. Aubone naturally revels in the Estate’s “New Shape of Excitement!” with its “terrific cycloramic vision”.

For the motorist in need of a delivery vehicle, there is his 1964 Thames 307E Van (all Dagenham commercial vehicles wore Thames badging prior to 1965) in De Luxe form, the driver benefitting from chromium-plated front bumpers and twin visors. Aubone notes: “The Van was very popular with fleet buyers, and Ford’s biggest customer was the General Post Office, who ordered 7,500 over a seven-year period”.

Completing the fleet is an even more exclusive 1967 Martin Walter-bodied pick-up in Pina Green. When Aubone discovered it around 22 years ago, it had been off the road for two decades and not exactly in pristine condition. KMJ Restorations of Exeter worked their magic, and Aubone decided to fit a Cortina Mk. 1’s 1.5-litre engine. The result is a remarkably practical classic vehicle.

Meanwhile, Anglia No. 10 is a 1966 Standard that is a tribute to Lancashire Constabulary’s revolution in policing, down to its two-note horns, roof-box, alternator, and a Pye Westminster radio. In 1965 the force’s Acting Chief Constable William Palfrey introduced “Unit Beat” 105Es, believing this “would save the force some 400 men”. Other constabularies followed Lancashire’s example, and Aubone’s Anglia is a London Metropolitan Police replica.

105E production ended in 1967, and it was the last car to wear the Anglia name. As the story goes, the brand had unfortunate connotations in Germany, where some citizens associated it with USAF bases during WW2, so the recently formed Ford of Europe decided to revive the Escort name, last used in 1961. Over five decades after the 105E’s demise, the Braddon fleet begs the question - why collect ten of the Anglia family?

The first reason is immediately apparent – its sheer stylistic flair. After one look at the famous launch film (directed by Joseph Losey, no less), you too will crave a De Luxe for that jet-set lifestyle.

The second is that the 105E was more than Dagenham’s attempt at Detroit lines on a British scale. Motor Sport found the gearbox “a delight to handle and the exciting ‘oversquare’ engine has an exceedingly light throttle to which it responds admirably”.

Aubone also points out Ford GB’s mastery of screen marketing. With Peter Sellers as a truly vile car racketeer, the film noir Never Let Go features two 105E De Luxe press cars. Given the plot concerns Richard Todd’s hero and his quest for his stolen Anglia, it was a publicity opportunity that Dagenham could not miss.

Most importantly, the Anglia became virtually part of the fabric of Aubone’s life, starting from childhood when his father employed them for his commercial vehicle business. The Lime Green and White De Luxe was his first 105E, which proved the starting point for 35 years of collecting. He advises anyone thinking of starting their own fleet:

Sometimes it is not always the best condition car that is the most interesting and I prefer a car with interesting history or a nice original registration number. Researching the cars history is great to do too. Mind you, once you have two or three Anglias, the rest seem to follow.

Aubone has “never been able to drive and was born with visual impairment and attended the blind and partially sighted school in Exeter”. However, his family, friends, and the Owners’ Club - ensure his fleet is used and enjoyed in the way Ford GB intended. Classic cars are indeed for everyone, regardless of age and health – that is why we so appreciate them.

With thanks to Aubone Braddon for his time

With thanks to Aubone Braddon for the permission to use the images in this blog.