CC Outtake: 1965 Ford Anglia 307E Van

This is one car I’ve been meaning to upload here for some time. A true Curbside Classic, I see it every two weeks or so, driving to another town on some business. It probably belongs to a collector, since it’s always parked in the same place. Rarely have I arrived to park nearby and not seen it. This Anglia van, however, used to look very different.

 

But first, lets take another look:

Yellow, isn’t it? Obviously that’s not the original paint (as you’ll find out later). And yes, I also see those huge amber indicators/running lights atop the front wings- I have no idea. I’m not aware of any regulations by the Israeli authorities necessitating these back in 1965.

An unexciting rear, as with all Anglia vans, although that Smiley sticker blends in well with the Ford’s color. And if you’ll peep inside, you’ll see what I can refer to only as “trash”.

Presumably, that trash extends to the front. I mean, if I didn’t know it, I’d have thought this Anglia was used as working vehicle on a regular basis.  Since I see it quite regularly at the same spot, I know it isn’t- probably just being used as the storage room of the owner’s flat. Two (!) vintage cell-phone holders are a nice touch also.

Like most classics I upload to CC, and not surprising given how small the classic cars’ Israeli commune is, I’ve seen and photographed this Anglia van previously. But it looked quite different then:

What a difference a coat of paint makes. I suppose the owner decided to finally fix the neglected bodywork you see here and on the way, go a different route in terms of the yellow paint job. The trouble is, if you’re up-close to the current version, you cannot avoid the feeling that not much fixing went into the bodywork – more a (re)spray than anything.

Here’s another photo of the previous paint job. Good of the owner to write the birth year of the Anglia, which made my job much easier. Translation of the side-panel is “Ra’anana – Eilat” (Ra’anana is the town where this Ford is parked) and the date is probably when this journey took place. This was probably done on one of Five Club’s (Israel’s premier classic car’s club) organized classic rides to Eilat, and wisely they chose November to go there, as driving there in the Israeli summer is unbearable.

I mean, these are the temperatures at the time of writing:

Trust me, it’ll get worse as summer will wear on.