The Car of the Hour!

The 1954 Fiat 1100 sedan - advertised here in the 1954 Courier Mail Queensland Annual.

This looks to be the standard model - the sporty edition had a third headlight in the middle of the grille.

Let's take a look at its features:

"New Performance, Greater Comfort! Higher Speeds, Smarter Acceleration!"

That's the type of sales pitch you want to hear - not fuel economy and CO2 output rubbish.

Here's a site you might find interesting - the Internet Movie Car Database. Here's the entry on the Fiat.

Ford anglia life international 1959

Have you ever wondered why for Ford Anglia is world's most exciting light car?

No?

Neither did we, but considering the trouble Ford is having at the moment, perhaps they need to get back to basics.

After all who could resist the massive 997cc engine or the remarkable 0-60mph in a whopping 28.5 seconds!

Okay, there is a great deal of difference between 1959 and 2008 and without the advances of 50 years, we would have lovely little cars like the Ford Fiesta XR4 which can go from 0-100kmh in 7.9 seconds - a whopping 20.6 seconds faster than our streamlined Anglia.

With fuel prices as they are, it's quite genuinely nice to know that we don't have to suffer the indignity of wretched performance and limited features as well.

This advertisement is from the October 26, 1959 edition of Life International magazine.

So, how popular was the 1959 Ford Anglia?
Enough to give it a starring role in gritty 1960 British film, Never Let Go in which Peter Sellers take a departure from his comic roles to play a Fagin-like used car salesman whose activities hide a 'steal to order' racket.

Richard Todd plays the owner of the stolen Anglia - and whose life isn't going so well to boot - who becomes determine to bring the men to justice.

British teen heart throb Adam Faith stars as one of the thieves in one of his earliest roles.

Here's a snippet:

Cigarette Lighter (Optional)

Fancy a light as you contemplate the purchase of a brand new EJ Holden?

Not sure you can afford it?

No problems son, we've got just the solution.

New car ownership and finance go together like petrol and the internal combustion engine.



The GMAC brand first emerged 80-odd years ago apparently and now still exists as part of a company that has diversified into property finance.

-- Nora