Mystery Ford - Help Needed to Identify

[Spurious]

I just spent an hour on wiki. Looking at fords from 1930 - 1942. Not much that resembles the vehicle you pictured.

There are a couple of Austins that have minor similarities.

[TC200six]

I'm rather fascinated in this unusual car. Unless proven wrong, I still reckon it's based on an Anglia.

Look at the red Ford badge in the grille - it looks very much like the red oval that was on the front certain model Anglias.



What would confirm it would be a better view of the wheels. If they have the Anglia slots, that's what it would be. However, as for who built the body will still remain a mystery.

[monte.b]

All ford sedans from the first t model to 1948 had transverse leaf springs on the front and rear end ,they also had radius rods that held the suspension in place ,this included the English models of the prefect , Anglia and pilot .The commercials had a diff mounted on 2 leaf springs,just as they are today ,the prefect and anglia had a little side valve 4 cyl engine ,the pilot had a small sidy v8

[Jason[98.EL]]

I was thinking a holden body works on a ford chassis but a quick google and gm took over in 1934 so counts them out

[ozpacman]

Definitely a home built project I'd reckon.

Surely no one could design and build something as ugly as that and realistically expect that someone else might like to buy one!

[nstg8a]

Can't be home built if the panels are pressed...

Gotta be some boutique British company, that was maybe building of ford base vehicles, and rebodying them for govt use, as suggested earlier.

I'm another for more pics...

[ohzone]

Originally Posted by ozpacman

Definitely a home built project I'd reckon.

Surely no one could design and build something as ugly as that and realistically expect that someone else might like to buy one!

I think you may be right comparing it to vehicles around 1939 it appears to have design elements in parts which seem much later

[ozpacman]

There appears to be plenty of similarities to the front end sheet metal of this Series 2a Landy which would have been built in 1968 or later. Pretty amazing styling coincidence if the car in the original pic was built 30 years earlier.

[Mr mk2]

its so unique its awsome!

[xrystl]

Originally Posted by gavs74coupe

I do know the british did their own sort of version of a jeep ...believe it was called a champ ...only thinking this because again I believe the body was galvanized & it has that military look to it

You're thinking of the Austin Champ , these were early fifties to about 1960 and came with a 4 cylinder fully sealed engine as they were able to be fully submerged (they were supplied with a snorkel and an exhaust extension) the engine was built by Rolls Royce , they were sold in Perth in the sixties by "Archie Marshall" when you bought one you got a second one for spare parts as parts were not available for them Marshall bought a lot of them from the Australian Army and others came from South Africa (from memory), most went onto farms because they weren't really good on the main roads , quite a few farmers North of Perth bought them because they were cheap (about $500 for a pair in 1969) I worked on a few that were bought into the workshop where I worked with mostly gearbox problems and it was just a matter of swapping gearboxes as no parts were available and when the second box called it quits the farmer had two dud vehicles and used the engines to drive water pumps for irrigating the crops.

[fte50]

Ok, sorry for the delay but as promised here are more pics of ????........whatever it is.











Appreciate your opinions fellas.

[TC200six]

Thanks for the extra pics.

Yes the wheels do have the Anglia slots as this image shows



It's also an Anglia flat-head engine too




Very interesting vehicle by the way. I would definitely keep something like that, probably not so much for road use, but a fun car to get around a large acreage property.

[monte.b]

My dad had a 50 model ford prefect and they still had rod type brakes ,this one has hydraulic ones,so it must be after that year ,i think the first usa ford to use hydraulic was 39 ,but this car looks too small to be usa ,it does have a transverse spring so it could be some sort of ford ,have you got any pics of the rear end ,like as in diff ,spring set up ect

[fte50]

No pics of rear but suspension type is an elliptical leaf sprung rear.

[Qwik6]

The sides look like a bit of fence or roof sheeting

[39ClevoUte]

Reckon homemade. The sheet metal looks rolled and folded and very boxy, untappered and unstylish, just not made using the tools an auto manufacturer would have access to. No manufacturer would produce a grill like that. A lot of work but not factory.

[Spurious]

It's a wild guess but here's what I think after seeing the new pics. You have a ford chassis & running gear but looks to me like the body was made from parts of an old aircraft. The riveting on the fire wall is an indicator I think.

The fire wall looks like it may have been factory made but if that's the case it wouldn't be riveted...maybe?. There's also the square shaped wheel arches. looks like they've been cut from roofing sheet metal or airplane fuselage.

I spent over an hour trolling the net looking at anything made by ford in the 30's- early 40's & didn't find anything that looks similar to yours. There were plenty of aircraft built with corrugated fuselage paneling in the early years though.

My guess is it's homemade, probably by a war veteran who had access to a scrap yard & used whatever they could find to build a jeep looking vehicle.
I mean the front looks like a land rover, the side looks like a wartime VW, the chassis is obviously factory made with an engine to match.
But who knows who built it & how many people have modified it over the years.

Good luck with your search.

[ozpacman]

She's certainly got a look that only a mother could love!

[Kieron]

I agree with others, a custom built based on a 40's/50's Ford chassis used on some Ford Aus produced utes and also used on the Ford Prefect/Poplar sedans. I'd guess late 50's based n the tubular shocks and hydraulic brakes.

Front fenders I suspect are actual Land Rover items with virtually everything else, custom

[Kieron]

I agree with others, a custom built based on a 40's/50's Ford chassis used on some Ford Aus produced utes and also used on the Ford Prefect/Popular sedans. I'd guess late 50's based n the tubular shocks and hydraulic brakes.

Front fenders I suspect are the tops of Land Rover items, squared at the front wheel arch opening and new trailing lower sections added to match the side panels. Putting the headlights in these panels would have been logical to keep the air floe to the radiator clear in our hot climate I reckon.

Red Ford oval is here -
http://www.smallfordspares.co.uk/pro...amel-badge-red
If you follow the links on this page, you will see the models that used it which should provide further clues for the chassis.

The bulkhead might be a heavily modified LL one an maybe even the flooring -
http://www.eastcoastrover.com/85.html

Apologies for the double post, can't edit the original.

[aussiblue]

There is a bit of the New Zealand Trekka Look about it:

[aussiblue]

What was that Moke like truck that Ford produced in the late 70's with a view to selling in the 3rd World Asian market? Yak, Buffalo or something similar?

[fte50]

Thanks Aussieblue :-), your suggestion is possibly the closest lead so far, doing some more searching hopefully time will tell
Also a big thanx to all the other contributors so far, your help has been greatly appreciated.
Thanks again fellas.

[MethodX]

Originally Posted by aussiblue

What was that Moke like truck that Ford produced in the late 70's with a view to selling in the 3rd World Asian market? Yak, Buffalo or something similar?

Fiera?
http://jeepsndgirlsarena.webs.com/fordfierra.htm

[aussiblue]

No; is was Ford Australia that made it for export sale only but it wasn't a success.