1956 Classic Ford Cars

I'm sure we've had this discussion before when you spammed us with your junk last time.

I for one would most certainly not want to own any motor car from the

1950s. In fact, I would rather walk or, even worse, take the bus.

As the owner of one 1950s car, a big-bore Mk VI Bentley, I have to confess I could also be tempted by a Silver Cloud, any one of several variants of the Bentley S1 Continentals, an MGA (preferably a Twin Cam coupe), a ZA or ZB Magnette, or an XK140. Given that if one drives any car other than a eurobox, one is making some compromises in performance, economy, or comfort (or all three) I think you could include a Jowett Javelin, an MG TD, an MG YB, a Morris Minor, and a Jensen 541 in a list of cars that it wouldn't be entirely stupid to own.

YMMV.

The message from Silk contains these words:

I always hankered after a Lotus Elite and there are a number of other cars from the 50s that I wouldn't be ashamed to own again. The 3 that particularly come to mind are a Riley (RMF) 2 1/5, an A/H 100/4 and an early 2A SWB Landrover.

I once had an American 1956 Ford. Horrible car; handled like a pig, uncomfortable bench seat, sucked petrol like crazy, and I wish the designers had been forced to wash the bloody thing with all it's nooks and crannies. Only thing worse that I owned was a 1949 flat-head Ford. Should have learned my lesson from it!

Stuart H.

Vister.co.uk wrote:

Does the ghost of Jera walk? It sounds like it..

Never owned a 1950s car, though I've owned a few[1] which trace their ancestry to that decade or before - but I'd suspect that a Bristol 40x, or an early Citroen DS or ID would be worthy additions to this list. With time, I dare say I could think of more.

Javelin. Mmmmmm...

[1] Just how much had the Minor changed from the 50s until '66?

'your' 'you' !?

That's right, you go right ahead and tell us what we should think, you arrogant piece of shit.

Daytona

Cor, crikey, a man after my own heart. I've owned most of the above - the exception is the Morris Minor - I really don't know why, it's an excellent car, but I just don't like them. Never did, even when they were current. Same applies to the VW Beetle.

From other cars of the fifties I've owned I'd add the Standard Vanguard - much maligned, but a roomy six-seater with the TR engine - good at what it was designed to do. At the other end of the scale my Facel Vega HK500 (1959). Armstrong Siddeley made some pretty decent cars, and Alvis weren't bad either. And as a lesson in engineering design and aerodynamics, just take a look at any 50's Bristol. And Alfa were producing a pretty little Spider which both went, and handled.

It's easy to rubbish American cars of that era, but in general they had unburstable V8 engines and early aircon, auto boxes and power everything.... OK they didn't handle or brake, but in the home market which was basically long straight roads they didn't need to. They were never a success in Europe, but equally no European cars of that era were of any use in the USA other than as second car toys.

My prefence has always been European cars, but I have to admit I was a bit tempted by a a Cadillac Eldorado at auction recently - the one with the huge fins, it was pink and white (of course) and I loved it for being simply outrageous. Unfortunately I don't look like Elvis so I couldn't do it justice.

Summary - the fifties were a transition period and there were some very interesting cars out there, particularly in view of the constraints of materials and economics in the immediate post-war period. Don't dismiss them all and take the bus.

GMacK

Apart from the fact that the pictures are stolen; I know this because I took on of them. I have never heard of these people, however.

The 1950s cars I owned were a Standard 10, two Triumph Mayflowers, two Rover P4s and a Jowett Javelin. The Standard and the Rovers were utterly reliable, never once failing to deliver me to my destination, and I did a high mileage in both. None of them would be stupid to own today, though spares availability might put them out of the "daily driver" group. And some had little comfort touches they wouldn't dream of in a eurobox. How often do you see height adjustable arm rests?

I hankered after but couldn't afford an Armstrong Siddeley and a Lanchester! More worthy additions to your list.

Jim

As far as the P4 range ('60' aside [1]) is concerned, most mechanical spares are not really a problem (bar possibly the front suspension and the 'Free-wheel' unit), remember that many of the parts were shared across the P5 and early Land Rover models - body and trim are a different matter altogether, but then that is true for just about any '50's vehicle!

[1] were the rest of the range used the same basic 6cyl SEOHI engine as later used in the P5, and the '80' used 4cyl OHV Land Rover lump the '60' used a highly modified version of the 4cyl SEOHI Land Rover engine - cylinder head is different (thus Gasket), pistons are different and IIRC both crank and cam shafts are different too.

"Vister.co.uk" wrote

If I wanted to own one, I would own one. They're not exactly expensive to buy.