Shall we start with the panel fit? British cars of the era aren’t renowned for either the tightness or consistency of their shutlines, so to find one that looks this good speaks of long hours in the workshop gently massaging panels into alignment.
And, once done, someone applied a few coats of Aqua Blue, which happens to be one of the nicest shades of blue we’ve seen in a long time. The result is an absolute cracker that draws attention wherever it goes, even if there is the odd wobbly patch of filler here and there.
The Ford’s modest period looks are further underpinned by good chromework, a set of black and silver numberplates, and some lovely chrome hubcaps.
Lighting is taken care of by a pair of Lucas P700-style headlamps, a style whose embellishment perfectly complements the Butlers of England rear lamp lenses.
The stance is perfect too, and the six-inch wide, Lotus-style steel wheels are fitted with a matching set of 175/70R13 Avon tyres – and y’all know how we feel about matching tyres by now, don’t you? All have oodles of tread on them too, so you won’t need to worry about them for a while.
There is work to do though. The nearside front quarter bumper is a little wonky, so you might like to fettle that. The nearside rear wheel looks like it might have taken a clout at some point too, so you could add that to your list.
The rear bumper and nearside door handle are quite pitted, so we can see the new owner might like to get them re-chromed or replaced. The offside front quarterlight is heavily corroded and the glass on the front nearside one is scratched, too.
Finally, the trailing edge of the bottom of the driver’s door doesn’t fit quite as well as the other panels, so you might want to take a look at that – but that’s very much nit-picking and most would be happy to leave it as it is.
