Classic Ford, March 2009 – Anglia 2.0L XE

WORDS: MARC STRETTON, PHOTOS: JAMIE LIPMAN

Two’s company, three’s a crowd apparently…so what is it when you have three and a half Anglias? Well, who knows? But that’s the number of Angleboxes Jed, the owner of this freshly built wide-arched South London screamer, has in his collection. As well as the subject matter for today’s photoshoot, his garage holds an up-together Estate and a 1200 Super for which some very special plans have been drawn up. “The Estate is the cruiser,” says Jed, “you get in, turn the key and it goes, no fuss. The reason I’m into my Anglias is because of George Polley. I’ve been watching racing since eight years old, and driving at 13. Polley always did it for me, so the 1200 is going to be done up as a replica of one of his racers. That’ll be done for my son, Lee to mess about in. ” And the half? “Well that’s one I’ve got stored up in another yard, but it’s so far gone it only counts as a half…not really worth talking about but will do for spares. “It’s not just Anglias though. You name it, I’ve probably owned it. Fords, Austins, Yanks, Jags,” says Jed. “I also spent many years banger racing, so have been through a lot of cars!”

Back to the matter at hand, a certain XE’d Anglia… “It came from a mate, Rodney, late in 2007,” says Jed. “He’d found it laid up in a garage with the last tax disc showing 1996, bought it and passed it on to me. The shell was in a shocking state; very, very poor. Fortunately I knew where to take the car to be sorted. I’ve been friends with Wayne at WPE (Wacky Performance Engines) in Croydon for 20 years… oh and some bloke he set up WPE with last year, called Kev who I’ve known 25 minutes… we ain’t mates!” Er… we think that’s what’s known as ‘light-hearted banter’… one-nil to Jed.

Mates or not, Kev joined Wayne and Jed out on the day of the photoshoot to take the mick back and help fill in the story of the build. And fair play to all involved – the day was crap with freezing rain pouring all day long. Good for showing how the finished Anglia can spin the wheels up and powerslide, but not the best for standing around in…

The story begins with Wayne, whose task was the bodywork. “What didn’t I do?” he says. “Basically I stripped the whole thing back to bare metal and started again. The arches were already on but weren’t well done, the front panel looked like someone had attacked it with a hammer, plus it needed floors, sills, a new rear panel, work to the bulkhead, inner wings and in the boot, then I had to make up a new gearbox tunnel for the Type-9 to fit under.” The finished body was then coated with Old English White that Jed wanted, and the silver roof that Wayne gave him no choice over. “It’s a mix of a Mercedes silver/grey called Levant with some black in to tone it down,” he says. “I’m actually colour blind, so people don’t believe I can decide what makes a good colour scheme, but I can picture the correct colour in my head and people just have to trust me.”

Kev was in charge of the spanners, and the mayor decision for Jed was what engine to go for. “The original plan was to do a 1650 rebuild on the Crossflow that came with the Anglia,” Jed says. “But then Kev has an XE in his own car, plus I’ve seen the Vauxhall engine Kev Jenkins’ Escort taking him into the 10s in the Old Skool Ford Drag Championship, so figured I’d have one of those. It’s good to go different to what you’re used to sometimes.”

So Kev built up a motor, sourced from an OSF advert, with forged pistons, steel rods, special grind race-spec cams and ARP bolts. All the spinning bits were lightened and balanced and a set of matched 48DCOEs bolted up with MBE management and a WPE map set on the 3D mapping. With SBD tubular manifolds and a custom exhaust, Kev’s reckoning on about 220bhp, and the lot is chassis-mounted with a modified SBD kit.

The rest of the mechanicals were then done, including a straight cut Type-9 (matched to the engine with a SBD bellhousing) that spins up a JW Engineering custom prop and plate-type LSD housed in the original English axle. WPE uprated the stoppers with a Wilwood/2.8i Capri kit at the front, and a Cossie calliper/Fiesta rear disc conversion went on the ends of the axle.

Finally the Anglia was dropped to the floor. “It looked like a cart when I first got it,” says Jed. So the leafs were decambered, lowering blocks inserted and the with the new coil-overs wound down the total is about 4 inches lower. “That goes down to about 6 inches when he gets in it though,” Kev laughs… one-all!

All-in, the WPE lads spent about five working weeks over six months on Jed’s Anglia. “I’m over the moon with it,” he says. “What an awesome little car. And I’ve seen off quite a few of the ‘more talked about’ cars around here. The XE is really smooth with a powerband that kicks in about 3000 rpm and there’s no vibration even though it’s chassis mounted, but the suspension is set up for a hard ride, so the fillings are taking some damage.”

Jed is obviously infatuated with his new toy and keen to show it off, and Wayne reckons it’s come in at a lot less that an Escort with similar spec would be – and that, he reckons, is why the UK Anglia scene is growing rapidly. “For a couple of grand you can get a half-about Anglia,” he says. “The same money will buy an Escort that needs several thousand spending on it.” Seems like a good reason to own not one, but three Anglias then… not sure about the half though.

1967 Anglia 1200 Super shell, wide arched, fibreglass bonnet, polycarb rear windows, glass ‘screens and doors, roof rail-mounted mirror, battery and Racing Fabrications allow tank in boot. Paint: Old English White, Mercedes Levant Silver roof.

WPE-built Vauxhall 2-litre XE red-top, chassis-mounted, lightened and balanced, steel rods, forged pistons, ARP bolts, race cams, SBD/Kents Cams vernier pulleys, 1800 Manta sump, twin Weber 48DCOSPs, MBE Management, 3D mapping (WPE map), SBD/BTB four-branch manifold (wrapped), stainless steel custom exhaust system, Facet fuel pump, Filter King fuel pressure regulator, Stant pressure release rad cap, alloy oil catch tank. Power: approximately 220 bhp

Type-9 five speed, SBD bellhousing, straight cut gears, JW Engineering one piece prop, English axle, plate-type LSD.

Front: Gaz Gold adjustable coil-overs, Milton Race Preparation eccentric top mounts, compression struts, adjustable TECs, steering rack conversion, all Rose-jointed.

Rear: Spax dampers, decambered/tempered Anglia leafs, tramp bars, all polybushed, lowered all round 4 inches.

Front: Wilwood four-pots, cross-drilled/vented 2.8i Capri discs.

Rear: Cossie callipers, Fiesta discs.

9J x 13 inch Minilite alloys, with 20×9 Hoosier H10-W tyres

Rollcage with cross brace behind seats, reclining bucket seats, Luke harnesses, Momo steering wheel, TIM gauges for amps, water temperature and oil pressure, dash-mounted rev counter, chrome dash panel with ignition switch and start button, no carpet or door cards.

WPE South Croydon (www.wpe.gb.com), mate Mark who’s our scout and a great source of spares, and last but not least, my son, Lee and family.