1 April 2018

Ford Prefect

This is British Ford at it’s very best (debateable I know, but let’s run with it for now). Even into the 1950s, car styling hadn’t really changed in Britain (a tad distracted by the war I guess) from the sit-up-and-beg look of the 1930s and 1940s. Then, in 1953, Ford produced this ‘modern’ shape and it was a revelation. These simple, robust cars sold like hot cakes. They had features like hydraulic brakes and independent front suspensions but in true Ford spirit they were sparse inside – heaters and sun visors were extra. The windscreen wipers weren’t extra but were powered by a cheap-to-make vacuum system with one minor flaw – the faster the cars went, the slower the wipers worked. Bit of an issue in Britain I would have thought? But, despite their simplicity, the new Prefect heralded in (that’s a wee Triumph joke there) a new optimism that an austere Britain was only just starting to feel.

On Etsy Scooter Modern here