Here’s another batch of unfamiliar vehicles that wear the familiar blue oval badge. How many do you recognize?
A key phrase at the Ford Motor Co. in recent years is “One Ford.” The ultimate goals include one line of Ford vehicles for the entire globe, with only minor changes in specifications to suit local markets. For Ford, one of the most shrewdly run companies in the industry these days, that brings things back nearly full circle. The automaker once produced only model for the civilized world and beyond, the ubiquitous Model T, which it marketed as “The Universal Car.”
Things were more interesting—if less profitable—when the global product lineup at Ford seemed nearly infinite in length, offering endless variations adapted to local needs and desires. Here are a few more Fords many Americans have never seen.
Touted by the company as “the first personal car from Ford of Great Britain,” the 1961 Consul Capri was essentially a Ford Classic sedan with a close-coupled coupe greenhouse and plunging, Starliner-ish roofline tacked on. Flashy and well-equipped but costly to build, the Consul Capri was discontinued in 1963. A new and more successful Ford sports coupe wearing the Capri badge appeared in 1969.
When production at Ford of Australia ceases in 2016, the famed rear-drive V8 Falcon won’t be the only casualty. Also getting the hatchet is the division’s native-grown crossover SUV, the Territory. Introduced in 2004, the well-regarded Territory is based on Falcon architecture, while engine choices include the exclusive Australian Ford inline six.
Actually, many Americans have seen this Ford, just not in this form. Never imported in serious numbers, the 1949-1953 Anglia (E-494A) from Ford of England was not terribly suited to American roads. But the puddle jumpers were a hit with ’60s drag racers, who modified them for competition in the Gas Coupe and Sedan classes with big American V8s, wide racing slicks, and jacked-up suspensions. Here’s a rare glimpse of what the Anglia looked like before the hot rodders got hold of it.
In South Africa, “bakkie” is the local term for a light, car-based pickup, similar to the utes of Australia but typically a bit smaller. Ford’s entry in the category, the Bantam, was produced in three generations from 1983 to 2011 using various bits from the global parts bins. The third iteration launched in 2002 (shown here) employed a Fiesta front doghouse and an assortment of gas and diesel four-cylinder engines.
While virtually unknown in North America, the Ford Orion (1983-1993) was a very familiar car throughout Europe. Essentially a three-box, trunk sedan version of the Ford Escort hatchback, the Orion was never quite as popular as its three-door and five-door siblings, but still did quite respectably with some 3.5 million units produced.
I’d buy the Ford Bantam. I wore out my Isuzu Pup and I wish there was something like it available now.
The Territory is IRS rear, same basic set up as a Falcon. The only live axles left are Falcon utes.
Thanks, you are absolutely right. I confused the two in my mind. Correction made.
The 95E Anglia and Prefect were never really suited to any roads! In Oz we even got them in utes. The transverse front spring though was used in speedway Supermodifieds in the 60s.
What a forrible car those Capri’s were!