Reviewed by Kieron Fennelly.
Title: Ford Cars (Ford UK Cars) 1945 – 1995: A Pictorial History
Author: David Rowe
Published by: Veloce Publishing; https://veloce.co.uk/
160 pages; 330 pictures; paperback
Price: $27.50 US; £16.99 UK – BUT check current figure for this title with the publishers; https://veloce.co.uk/store/Ford-Cars-p290695576, as special offers may apply. For example, at the time of writing (early April 2021) the Veloce website is quoting an across-the-board price reduction of 35 per cent for their books ‘until further notice’, if you quote the code: “STAY-INDOORS-AND-READ”.
Note: Check current book stock availability too, on the website.
ISBN: 978-1-787116-42-9
Fords were among the top-selling cars in Britain during the five decades covered by this book and in contrast to today where the average older car fan might have to think for a moment before visualising a modern Ford, the cars of the twentieth century seemed to have much more individuality and they spring much more readily to mind. Nowadays, a Capri or a Cortina will turn heads and, banal as they were in their time, the prices now paid for old Fords are a measure of their enduring popularity.
David Rowe lists all the Fords sold in Britain post-war with brief, but succinct descriptions and technical specifications. Old school, Rowe does not allow his prose to be diverted with clichéd references to such as the ‘Sweeney’ Consul GT or join in the fun in which most other writers indulge when describing the ‘smiley face’ Scorpio. Instead, Rowe points out the significant safety developments of the Scorpio over its immediate Granada forebear.
VERDICT
A thoroughly competent and entertaining work of reference which is let down by only indifferent photography: Rather than use Ford archive images, the author relies on photography from car shows. Many of the cars illustrated have non-standard features, especially aftermarket wheels, and their inevitably ‘busy’ backgrounds do not enhance the pictures.
