This week marks the centenary of the incorporation of Ford Motor Company (England) Limited, Henry Ford’s first overseas company. The paperwork was signed in London on March 8, 1911, and vehicle manufacture began later that year with the assembly of Model Ts in a former tramworks in the Manchester suburb of Trafford Park. By 1914, Ford had become the largest vehicle producer in Europe, a position it held until the mid-1920s.
Trafford Park was succeeded in 1929 by the sprawling Dagenham plant, built on marshland on the north bank of the River Thames in Essex. Today, Dagenham concentrates on engine development and production, and turns out tooling and stamped parts. The photo above shows “the Dagenham-built Ford Anglia 100E in a quintessential English village setting. A significant update of the previous Anglia, the 100E featured major design changes to the exterior and interior improving accommodation and handling in an elegant package. Introduced in 1953, the Ford Anglia 100E sold for £360, saw over 335,000 produced and even proved itself in motorsport, winning its class in the 1956 Safari Rally.”
Ford of Britain has a site dedicated to its centenary – it’s worth checking out.