A PRE-COMPACT FORD

COMPACT DOMESTICS WERE STILL TWO YEARS AWAY in 1957 when R&T noted “What Dearborn doesn’t have, Dagenham does.” The car tested was the English Ford Consul II, a downsized rendering of domestic Ford 1954–1956 styling. 

This and other images from R&T, February 1957.

And just in time too. The year 1957 was the beginning of domestic opulence, some say reducio ad absurdum. Bigger became de facto better; modest fins sprouted into winglets, and “Dagmar” bumpers honored a particularly well-endowed TV starlet. In the meantime, tidy size and high-quality finish prompted some Americans to buy Volkswagen Beetles and other European cars; the first Japanese import, the Toyopet Crown, soon to have its lackluster introduction. 

In 1957, foreign cars constituted a mere 3.1 percent of new car sales in the U.S. Today they make up around 47 percent. Here are tidbits from R&T’s test of the 1957 English Ford Consul II (a ’58 convertible becoming my first car).

Fedora and All. “There’s a look about the new grille on the Consul II that remotely suggests a Thunderbird, but similarity ends there. Far from being ‘longer, lower, wider,’ the Consul’s moderate dimensions are, nonetheless, more than adequate to handle the transportation needs of a reasonably prolific family on all occasions short of moving-van duty.”

“Six people,” R&T observed, “really can ride in the car, and a six-footer-plus can drive with a fedora on head—an almost forgotten luxury in this country.” 

The hat or the headroom, I ask?

“True,” R&T wrote, “the car will not rumble off from 0 to 60 in ten seconds, but neither will it consume gas at a rate of 15 mpg.”

A Conventional Dash. R&T recounted, “Driver controls are conveniently located, with pendant brake and clutch pedals and a mildly ‘dished’ steering wheel that is situated a little too close to the legs for easy exit-and-entrance movement.”

Note the speedometer binnacle: Dagenham saved a few shillings by eliminating the see-thru portion as seen in my dad’s ’55 Ford convertible.

Curtseying Trees, Dipping Fences. “The windshield,” R&T reported, “is gently curved across the middle, more sharply curved near the ends, and in the latter portions there is the inevitable distortion which makes trees curtsey and fences dip when traveling along the highway: the flaw is minor compared to most U.S. ‘wraparounds’ however.”

A tidy shape, reminiscent of mid-Fifties U.S. Fords.

Seek Out Beetles in Stoplight Drags. “Our standing quarter and 0-to-60 times were within the same half-second, which means that the Consul owner isn’t going to beat any domestic product at the stoplight, but on the other hand he won’t be trampled in the rush.” 

The overhead-valve 59-hp four teams with a three-speed (albeit with non-synchro 1st to encourage learning double-clutch downshifts.)

But Don’t Fear Corners. R&T said, “Perhaps the most winning quality of the Ford Consul for anyone who cares how a car handles is its high degree of controlability and obedience over a wide range of road surfaces. There is some understeer in corners but body roll is moderate and the suspension (coils with anti-roll bar in front, semi-elliptics in the rear) firm enough to avoid wallow at higher speeds.”

And It’s a Ford. R&T noted, “… as an added and by no means insignificant attraction, British Fords are serviceable at selected Ford dealers in this country and use the new international size nuts and bolts [i.e., metric, not British Standard Whitworth], thus rendering innocuous that all-to-familiar bogey that has plagued so many imported car owners who live or travel away from the coastal metropolises.” 

Well, yes; though in the Cleveland hinterlands more than once I was told “It ain’t a Ford, kid, it’s English” and “We work on imports, kid, this is a Ford.” Good reason to buy a set of metrics and learn about breaker points. ds 

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2023