All Ford Day highlight – 1961 Prefect

While Escort and Cortinas were the most prodigious English Fords at the 2023 All Ford Day in Geelong, some earlier Blue Oval Brits were on display, too, including this fully restored and finely detailed Prefect 107E sedan.

They’re rarely seen nowadays, as classic enthusiasts seem to prefer the related Anglia 105E, but the Prefect was a top performer for Ford in its day, with hundreds of thousands sold across four generations. Originally released in 1938 as a replacement for the 7W model, the Prefect would remain in production until 1961, when it was replaced by the Consul Classic, which in turn was replaced by the Cortina.

The original E93A Prefect from ’38 resumed production after WWII and was updated with the facelifted E493A variant in 1948. A “new” Prefect, the 100E, arrived in 1953, but it was new in body only, using the same 1172cc sidevalve four and column-shift manual transmission as the E493A.

Prefects and Anglias of this period shared most components, with the main differences being four doors and better trim for the Prefect against two doors and a more spartan fitout for the Anglia.

When the all-new Anglia 105E (known to many as the ‘Harry Potter car’) arrived in 1959, the Prefect didn’t come with it. Instead, Ford UK kept the old body in production, but fitted the new Anglia’s 997cc overhead valve four and floor-shift four-speed manual transmission. In this form, known as the 107E, the Prefect remained in production until 1961.

As the Prefect shown here was identified as a ’61 model at the All Ford Day, it not only means it’s a 107E, but it’s likely one of the last examples built, too. Whether it’s an Australian assembled example or imported from the UK is unknown.

What is known is that this Prefect had been the subject of a four-year restoration that was completed in 2019 by the previous owner, who wanted to drive an example of the very first car he owned.

Finished in a metallic green (with the redesigned grille that identified the 107E against the 100E), this Prefect had a two-tone white and green interior. The current owner calls the car ‘Basil’ and describes it as a “perfect Prefect”. The judges at All Ford Day 2023 agreed, as they awarded it the runner-up award in the event’s Best Anglia or Prefect category.

For the JUST CARS report from the 2023 All Ford Day, click HERE.