The Ford Popular, often called the Ford Pop, is a car from
Ford UK
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* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
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Ford Motor Company
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that was built in England between 1953 and 1962. When launched, it was Britain's lowest priced car.
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The name Popular was also used by Ford to describe its 1930s Y Type model. The Popular name was also later used on basic models of the Escort and Fiesta cars.
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Ford Popular 103E
When production of the older Ford Anglia
The Ford Anglia is a small family car that was designed and manufactured by Ford UK. It is related to the Ford Prefect and the later Ford Popular. The Anglia name was applied to various models between 1939 and 1967. In total, 1,594,486 Anglias ...
and Ford Prefect
The Ford Prefect is a line of British cars which was produced by Ford UK between 1938 and 1961 as an upmarket version of the Ford Popular and Ford Anglia small family cars. It was introduced in October 1938 and remained in production until 19 ...
was stopped in 1953 the Popular was developed as a budget alternative, based on the old, pre-war style E494A Anglia. The E494A was, in turn, a facelift of the Anglia E04A, which was a facelifted version of the 7Y, itself a rebodied Model Y. Thus through several adjustments, updates and name changes, a design with provenance dating back to 1932 was produced by Ford for 27 years. It was powered by a Ford Sidevalve
The Ford Sidevalve is a side valve (flathead engine) from the British arm of the Ford Motor Company, often also referred to as the "English Sidevalve". The engine had its origins in the 1930s Ford Model Y, and was made in two sizes, or "8 HP", a ...
1172 cc, ,[ four-cylinder engine. The car was very basic. It had a single vacuum-powered wiper, no heater, vinyl trim, and very little chrome; even the bumpers were painted, and the bakelite dash of the Anglia was replaced by a flat steel panel. The Popular 103E differed visually from the Anglia E494E in having smaller headlights and a lack of trim on the side of the bonnet. Early 103Es had the three spoke banjo type Anglia/Prefect steering wheel as stocks of these were used up, but most have a two spoke wheel similar to the 100E wheel but in brown. Early Populars also had the single centrally mounted tail/stop-lamp of the Anglia, but this changed to a two tail/stop lamp set up with the lamps mounted on the mudguards and a separate number plate lamp. In total, 155,340 Popular E103s were produced.]
This car proved successful because, while on paper it was a sensible alternative to a clean, late-model used car, in practice there were no clean late-model used cars available in postwar Britain owing to the six-year halt in production caused by the Second World War. This problem was compounded by stringent export quotas that made obtaining a new car in the late 1940s and into the early 1950s difficult, and covenants forbidding new-car buyers from selling for up to three years after delivery. Unless the purchaser could pay the extra £100 or so for an Anglia 100E, Austin A30
The Austin A30 is a small family car produced by Austin from May 1952 to September 1956. It was launched at the 1951 Earls Court Motor Show as the "''New'' Austin Seven" and was Austin's competitor with the Morris Minor.
At launch, the car co ...
or Morris Minor
The Morris Minor is a British economy family car that made its debut at the Earls Court Motor Show, London, in October 1948. Designed under the leadership of Alec Issigonis, more than 1.6 million were manufactured between 1948 and 1972 in th ...
, the choice was the Popular or a pre-war car. Electrics were 6 volts, a provided starting handle often necessary. Braking was done by rod operated drums, and synchromesh
A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed motor vehicle transmission system, where gear changes ...
was only on 2nd and top gear. The boot was accessed with a coach key, there was no heater or demister, and indicaton was performed by semaphors. Starting the car was done by pull-wire starter, and the carburetor was operated by manual choke. Also, there was no water pump, and engine cooling was done via thermosyphon
Thermosiphon (or thermosyphon) is a method of passive heat exchange, based on natural convection, which circulates a fluid without the necessity of a mechanical pump. Thermosiphoning is used for circulation of liquids and volatile gases in heat ...
. In short, this was very basic motoring.
In later years, these cars became popular as hot rod
Hot rods are typically American cars that might be old, classic, or modern and that have been rebuilt or modified with large engines optimised for speed and acceleration. One definition is: "a car that's been stripped down, souped up and made ...
s, starting in the late 1950s, when people started drag racing them due to their lightweight construction. This practice started in the United States with Ford's 1932 Model B/18, while the Ford "Pop" as it was affectionately known became the definitive British hot rod – a reduced sized but readily available British alternative, a role it still plays today to a considerable extent.
A car tested by ''The Motor
''The Motor'' (later, just ''Motor'') was a British weekly car magazine
''Car'' is a British automotive enthusiast magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. International editions are published by Bauer Automotive in Republi ...
'' magazine in 1954 had a top speed of and could accelerate from 0- in 24.1 seconds. A fuel consumption of was recorded. The test car cost £390 including taxes.
In Australia
The Popular 103E was available in Australia up to 1955 as a two-door coupe utility
A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and two doors.
The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the French past parti ...
and also in chassis-cowl form to accept custom built bodyworkwork.[ It utilised the 94 inch wheelbase of the ]Ford Prefect
The Ford Prefect is a line of British cars which was produced by Ford UK between 1938 and 1961 as an upmarket version of the Ford Popular and Ford Anglia small family cars. It was introduced in October 1938 and remained in production until 19 ...
with 103E front panels.[ The utility was designated as 103E-67 and the chassis-cowl model as 103E-84.][ Ballard, p. 134] The Popular utility differed from its Anglia A494A utility predecessor in that the Popular did not have running boards whereas the Anglia did.[ Ballard, pp. 71, 76]
Ford Popular 100E
In 1959 the old Popular was replaced by a new version that was in production until 1962. Like the previous version it used a superseded Anglia body shell, this time that of the 100E, and it was powered by a strengthened 1172 cc sidevalve engine producing 36 bhp.[ The brakes were now hydraulic with drums all round.][ The new Popular offered 1,000 mile (1,500 km in metric countries) service intervals, like its predecessor, but it only had 13 grease points as against its predecessor's 23 (or 28 for the pre-war cars).][ The basic model stripped out many fittings from the Anglia but there was a large list of extras available and also a De Luxe version which supplied many as standard. 126,115 Popular 100Es were built.][
The ''Motor'' magazine tested a 100E in 1960 and found it to have a top speed of , acceleration from 0– in 19.6 seconds and a fuel consumption of . The test car cost £494 including taxes with a comment that it was the lowest-priced orthodox saloon on the British Market.]
In 1960, the manufacturer's recommended retail price of £494 was equivalent to 26 weeks' worth of the average UK wage. The £100 charged in 1935 and the £1,299 charged for the Ford Escort Popular in 1975 both also amounted to 26 weeks' worth of average wage for the years in question.[ In the 1950s, however, the country had been undergoing a period of above average austerity: in 1953 the car's £390 sticker price represented 40 weeks' worth of the average UK wage.][
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Popular trim level
In 1975 the Popular name was revived as a base trim level of the newly released Ford Escort Mk2. This model featured a standard 1.1 litre OHV Kent engine, 12-inch wheels with cross ply
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...
tyres and drum brakes all round. The 1975 Ford Escort Popular was the first Ford to carry the Popular name that also featured a heater as standard equipment.[ The "Popular" trim level proved long-standing across the Ford range, featuring on later Escorts and the Fiesta, from 1980 to 1991. A 'Popular Plus' variant was also available.
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Pop Culture References
Season 3, Episode 2 of Monty Python's Flying Circus
''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (also known as simply ''Monty Python'') is a British surreal sketch comedy series created by and starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam, who became known ...
was titled "Mr and Mrs Brian Norris' Ford Popular" leading with a sketch featuring the aforenamed couple and their car which parodied documentaries of famous expeditions.
Notes
References
*
External links
Ford Popular 103E
A site for enthusiasts of the 103E Ford Populars.
For 100E enthusiasts site
* http://fsoc.co.uk For all four cylinder Fords 1932 – 1962
{{FordEurope
Popular
Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group.
Popular may also refer to:
In sociology
* Popular culture
* Popular fiction
* Popular music
* Popular science
* Populace, the total ...
Cars introduced in 1953
Sedans
1960s cars