Ford Thames 400E

The Ford Thames 400E was a forward-control commercial vehicle range that Ford UK introduced in 1957 and built until September 1965, by which time 187,000 had been made. By the mid-1950s Ford lagged behind its rivals in light commercials and was still selling the antiquated Fordson E83W of 1938, so it took a design lead from its American parent and laid out a new 10, 12 and 15 hundredweight range on a common outrigger chassis with an 84 inch wheelbase and a van body of 180 cubic feet. The engine and gearbox came from the Consul: a 1,703 cc overhead-valve four developing 53 horsepower in low-compression form, uprated in January 1963 and joined by an all-synchromesh four-speed gearbox. The range grew to include cab and chassis versions, an 8 to 10 seat estate car, a 12-seat minibus on the 15 hundredweight model, tower wagons, luton vans and the Powertruc air-compressor truck, and left-hand-drive models were offered from the start for export, with Denmark among the buyers.