Dearborn To Dagenham

Ford used to be a mainstay of the UK light/medium truck market – and in the 1930s offered three-tonners powered by the legendary Flathead V8.

- Ed Burrows

Worthy workhouse though it is, the Ford Transit is too light a subject for the pages of Trucking. But that doesn’t apply to the long line of Ford trucks that were once an ubiquitous part of Britain’s transport landscape.

Ford entered the UK commercial vehicle market following the US introduction in 1917 of its Model T derived TT one-tonner. Production began in Trafford Park, Manchester, before being switched to Dagenham in 1932. Up to that time, US and UK Ford commercials shared the same basic designs. A catalyst to change was the 1929 transfer of Fordson farm tractor production from Southern Ireland to Dagenham. This led to the adoption in 1933 of the Fordson name for Ford of Britain’s US-derived one- and two-ton commercials.

In outward appearance at least, purposeful divergence from US Fords began in 1935 with the introduction of the two-ton payload 7V, instantly identifiable by its distinctive sloped, rounded-cheeks sheet metal and onepiece flat windscreen (though initially with two split panels). The front axle was forward-set, the doors – and therefore the side windows – were exceptionally wide, with the bottom following the line of the mudguard and at the rear extended down to a few inched above the wheel centres to give a fairly low step height. In contrast to typical British heavies, the cab was more car-like in terms of accommodation. And would you believe it: the 7V had a summer-is-a-comin’ sliding roof.

The Flathead