From Facebook, Classic Auto News
I remember these cars on our roads when I was a nipper.
SORTING OUT THE FORD PILOT V8
When me and my car-loving mates were alternating the desires of our lives between cars and girls, we talked a load of rubbish. We made stuff up as we went along, just because we knew no better. My best “car” mate reckoned the 1936 Ford V8 was such a classic that Ford recreated it after WW2 as the British Ford Pilot, mainly as a way of using up all of the war surplus, 21 stud, sidevalve Ford V8 motors that were stockpiled in Canada.
My mate, continued that the Pilot was such a 1936 tribute or homage car that they even stuck “36” on the badge in the middle of the grille!
At first I believed this, until I looked at the badge and instead of “36”, it actually read “3.6” — declaring the capacity of the engine as 3.6 litres.
Ah well, the end of a teenager’s dumb theory. But the myth of using up the stockpile of WW2 Canadian engines continued — and possibly continues to this day.
The truth is that as peace neared, Ford decided they would become serious about “big” cars in the UK and launched plans for their all new Five Star cars which we would get know and love as the Zephyr and Consul — the latter not loved quite as much as the former.
Until these radically new cars were ready, they bridged the gap by reviving the “European” Ford V8s that had been produced in the later thirties in France, Germany and Britain in smallish numbers — and mainly (if not entirely) with the smaller 2.2 litre V8 60 motor. Few of these cars ever came to New Zealand — we got mostly Canadian built Ford V8s — so V8 60’s were a bit of a mystery.
For the 1946 launch, the pre-war European Model 62 design was dusted off and given a slightly retro look and called the Pilot. And it was sent off to far flung places to hold the British Ford fort until the Five Star cars arrived.
The Pilot was produced mainly as a four door saloon, but there was also a pickup and a rare estate, or station wagon in Newzild speak.
To be fair to my mate who thought it was a tribute car, the Pilot did look more like a ‘36 yankee Ford with bigger headlights than anything.
Today’s marketing experts would have a fit over this marketing strategy. The Pilot was sold in New Zealand alongside North American V8s!
We were used to our big Fords, the V8s, coming from North America — they were big, bold and powerful and made a statement.
And we continued to get the new post-war Ford and Mercury V8s from that source, but suddenly Ford dealers were also offering another V8 that looked antique and it was powered by a piddling 2.2 litre V8 60 engine that would be no threat to a rice pudding.
Ford bosses realised that the V8 60 motor was too small and quickly offered the full-sized 3.6 litre engine as the base offering, particularly for the export market, but kept the smaller motor as an option in the U.K.
In New Zealand, we may have got some 2.2 litre Pilots at first, but the majority were 3.6 litres.
Now these were the “old” 21 stud engines which were phased out at the end of 1938 and replaced by the 24 stud units. However. . . . 21 stud V8 engines continued to be made in Canada for the war effort and were used in all manner of devices including bren gun carriers and trucks.
But . . . . the 3.6 litre, 21 stud engines used in the Pilots were not Canadian war surplus, but “Enford” made in England, based on the 1937 American engine and with minor differences including double pulleys and a single Solex carburetor. For numbers collectors, these were called the E71 engine and developed 81bhp. That is four horses lower than the 1937 American motor!
The motor was also used in the British Thames trucks of the period.
LUSTING AFTER A PILOT
The Pilot was never taken seriously anywhere simply because it looked so old, even though it was new.
Imagine walking into a Ford showroom in 1949 and being offered the choice of a yankee Fortyniner or a Pom Pilot!
Not that people really had a choice because with peace had come rationing and waiting lists, so you took what you were offered.
By the late fifties when I was in the market for rotten old pre-war Ford V8s, a Pilot was almost within financial reach because nobody really wanted them — except me. They were about half the price of a 1946-48 American Ford V8.
I didn’t care that it looked more 1936 than 1950, because it was a “Ford V8”, made the right noise, had column shift, hydraulic brakes (at the front!) leather seats — and a Bakelite dash.
But the fates conspired and I never owned one. I came very close to buying one. The price was right (for me), but it “clicked” in second gear indicating a tooth off the cluster and it fumed – badly. Instead I bought a tidy 1937 American Ford V8.
