Rare Rides: A Ford Consul From 1954 - Little Beige Bathtub

Corey Lewis
by Corey Lewis

Today’s Rare Ride put me immediately in mind of the Austin Cambridge featured in this series last year. Both were intended primarily for British customers, and both have a similar upright sedan shape which seemingly made so many British cars of the Fifties look exactly the same.

Let’s take a look at some basic Euro Ford transportation that was grandfather to the Cortina.

Ford’s European arm, keen on breaking into the lucrative family car market after World War II, developed an all-new car to replace the fairly dated and limited production V8 Pilot model (the company’s mid-market sedan since 1947). Rounded bathtub styling was the order of the day, and downsizing was in fashion in Europe. Smaller in all dimensions than the Pilot, the Consul was the most basic version of the three-prong sedan attack Ford launched in Europe in 1951. All three implemented modern unibody construction, a first-ever for Ford in Europe.

The star of the show was the Zephyr, which featured more chrome and comfort, plus inline-six engines. Zephyr was quickly eclipsed by an upmarket sibling in 1953, the Zephyr Zodiac, after Ford made sure its new model was a sales success.

Consul remained at the bottom of the range for its entire existence, reflecting to passers-by that one really couldn’t afford the Zephyr. “CONSUL” was in block lettering above the grille. Consul was available in sedan, cabriolet (1953 onward), and wagon guises. Of the trio, the sedan was far and away the sales success. Restricted to an inline-four engine of 1.5 liters, the powerplant was an all-new, modern design. Overhead valves and a hydraulic clutch were among the notable improvements, paired to an old three-speed manual. And there was plenty of time to consider those upcoming gear shifts. Sixty miles per hour arrived in 28 seconds, and the Consul eventually reached a top speed of 72 mph.

The easy-does-it speeds were assisted by another modernization: MacPherson independent suspension at the front, which was a first for any British car.

Consul’s first generation ran through 1956, at which point it was replaced by the Mark II Consul — a car that was quite a bit larger, rode on a longer wheelbase, and brought in some American Ford design cues. In 1962 the Zephyr became a large car, while the Consul name transformed into a line of base model small cars: Consul Classic, Consul Capri, and the Consul Cortina. The name faded from view in the late Sixties, only to return one final time when it represented the base model Granada — a very important car in its own right.

Today’s Consul is a 1954 example. In largely original condition, the base model nature of the Consul line makes its preservation all the more unique. It’s for sale in Bristol presently, for $12,800.

[Images: seller]

Corey Lewis
Corey Lewis

Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.

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  • Arthur Dailey Arthur Dailey on Mar 15, 2020

    Great discussion. We tend to forget that in the 1950's the UK was the world's #1 exporter of autos. And Ford dominated sales in the UK in sedans and vans for many, many years. As a Commonwealth nation, Canada purchased far more UK imports than did the USA. Rootes Motors set-up an assembly facility on Scarboro's Golden Mile and that building still exists. My Old Man purchased one of the first Mini's in Canada (strange to see someone his size getting out of that vehicle). It was an unmitigated disaster and he soon swapped it for a VW Beetle, leading to us having at least one VW in our family for over 20 years. At one point among my social circle in the early/mid 70's we had a Cortina, an Envoy Epic, a Vauxhall Viva, and when they were re-introduced to Canada a Mini. There were also a significant number of Mercury/Ford Capris. In North American terms the Cortina, and the Epic were 'dogs' regarding performance. We once raced the two of them and we still joke that a kid on a bicycle would have passed them. I still get a chuckle when watching old British police TV series (The Sweeney) and see Cortinas in car chases.

  • Pwrwrench Pwrwrench on Mar 16, 2020

    We did have some good times with the Tiger. My brother got some driving lessons. Seems like not the easiest car to learn clutch and shifting on, but he did OK. We did some stunts. Since my brother was older he got the front seat. When it was cold he would button up his navy coat over his head and pull his right hand into the sleeve resting on the top of the door. Got many shocked looks from people on the sidewalks and other drivers. It looked like something out of those ancient British monster movies.

  • Ronin It's one thing to stay tried and true to loyal past customers; you'll ensure a stream of revenue from your installed base- maybe every several years or so.It's another to attract net-new customers, who are dazzled by so many other attractive offerings that have more cargo capacity than that high-floored 4-Runner bed, and are not so scrunched in scrunchy front seats.Like with the FJ Cruiser: don't bother to update it, thereby saving money while explaining customers like it that way, all the way into oblivion. Not recognizing some customers like to actually have right rear visibility in their SUVs.
  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.
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