Back in the day we used to sing "A Ford, a Ford, who can't afford a Ford. A rusty tin with an engine in, a Ford, a Ford ..........." to the tune of "High Ho High Ho, it's off to work we go" from Snow White and the seven dwarfs.   I had two pops and the van version of the pop.

Durban South Africa. My Cockney grandfather Bert bought one in 1951 for fifty pounds. Crank start at times; windscreen air con used frequently in this hot country; but very prone to overheating in SA's hilly terrain. One day the straps holding the boot lid broke, causing all the fruit & veg from the market to be lost. Her name was Betsy and we still talk about her seventy years later. Thank you. Andrew Claxton, SA, 75 yrs.

My Uncle had one as a company car - making regular journeys from Sheffield to the hydro electric scheme construction in the Highlands of Scotland.....a long journey in winter without a heater - the hotel would have hot water bottles in the bed for him on arrival!

Beautiful car ,thanks for showing us. My Dad bought his first car when he was 16, it was a 1948 Ford Prefect. He loved it and still talks about it now in his 80s.

Thank you so much for this. And what a delightful narrating voice you have. (:)

This was my first car. When I was at boarding school in New Zealand in 1974 my friend and I went halves and bought a 1948 Ford Prefect for $100. We weren’t supposed to have cars at boarding school so we had to hide it in a side street away from the school. The car was pretty much worn out and struggled to get up the Wellington hills but we had great fun sneaking out after school hours and driving around in it. Unfortunately a house master saw us one day and we both got hauled before the headmaster and who gated us. He then called my Dad who made us sell it. That didn’t stop me however as 6 months later I bought a 1960 Mk 2 Zephyr of another one of the house masters but this time I kept it at home and drove it in the holidays. I particularly loved the old vacuum wipers on both cars that completely stopped working when stationary at the traffic lights and then went into overdrive going down hills.

Lovely car. Brought back some great memories. My older brothers first car back in 1963. The car was a 53 model.

A 1952 Ford Prefect (sometimes called Defect) was our first family car which we got when I was about 6 or 7 years old, in Auckland NZ. It was black too! but with red upholstery. I remember going on  holidays back then, with camping gear in the "boot" such as it was (but not completely closed) and other stuff on the floor between the front and back sets. On long hilly trips I recall having to stop to let it cool down when the radiator boiled.  Three boys in the back seat with Mum and Dad in the front. This was a great video, brought back a lot of memories.

My dad had one of these in South Africa early 50's. Bought it new and drove it on what you would hardly call roads. Great car.

My older brother had one of these, he called it the Prefucked,he rolled it chashing kangaroos but drove it home, dad was not happy when he saw the damage, my brother said It did'nt roll over it fell over, I had a MK 11 Zepher, I liked it, I bought a wrecked one for the motor with a souped up engine, twin carbs, extrators,hot cam , it was a good performance car for the time.

My dad had one just like yours, in Aden in the late 50s. I still remember everything you mention in your video. Wonderful memories, thanks for the video and the commentary.

In the 70's I had one of these. It had been shortened stripped of any bodywork and turned into a beach buggy. My brother in law built it and gave it to me. I learnt a lot about how cars work keeping this buggy mobile!

What a beauty.So elegant.and not noisy at all.

My dad had one of these in the 1960s in India. George Oakes was the sales and service dealer. He also used to have a 2 door Triumph Herald.

And the upholstery was stuffed with horse hair as my 1955 Moris Minor was.

Also my dad's first new car. New cars were primarily for export, so he had to get special permission with the support of his firm to buy it. We lived in Derbyshire, but he had to travel to Somerset to buy it. He then has to drive it home at a maxmum of 25 MPH with the 'Running in Please Pass' sticker in the back window.

Excellent, thank you. A nice example. My Dad had a green Prefect in the early 60’s. The car I came home from the maternity hospital in. Later the buckles on my sandals tore the leather bench seat when I crawled in. Then I stuck a small teddy to a tar spot on the OSF hub cap. I was too small to see out of the front window but remember it opened in the summer. He bump started it down the hill outside our house. He was always cursing  the lazy old trafficators.
Made famous by Douglas Adams of course, Ford Prefect being a main character in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. 😊

I originally learned to drive in my dad's 1936 Morris 8, but before I took my test he changed to a Prefect like yours so I could drive a "modern" car, even though it was already very dated!

A great and well produced video.

I remember this car very vividly from my childhood days. We used to live in Chittagong(now Chattogram) Bangladesh. My dad's office (Burma Oil Company, BOC) provided this vehicle to take him to office and back. It was around 1955 and 1956. The vehicle was in black color and I still remember the  License Plate (EBC1529). Sometimes during weekends we used the car to visit relatives or for going to the Patenga Beach, a seafront about 10 miles from the city.

Fun facts:  flashing indicators were once illegal in UK.  Semaphores on new cars were banned in 1965.  Direction indicators on new cars were still not compulsory in 1965.  Flashing indicators were made legal in UK not for safety reasons but for financial reasons: it meant that cars made for the home market could be exported to USA without modification to lights.
( Puts on best Michael Caine voice.  Not many people know that. )