Ford 105E Rally car in Kenya.
Whether part of the legendary Safari Rally, or a one-off event held in Kenya during the 1960s, I'm not sure, but either way, the photo shows a Ford 105E Anglia zooming by a crowd of enthusiastic
onlookers. The car has already done some mileage, judging by the dirt plastered to the side of the bodywork (the numbers on the doors however get a regular cleaning). The bonnet and tops of the front wings are painted in a matt finish, to reduce the chance of sunlight reflecting into the driver and co-driver/navigator's eyes. This particular 105E has three extra lamps mounted to the front, plus another lamp mounted to the scuttle, handy for the navigator to illuminate road signs at night.
The Anglia's registration number is KHL 489. Note the fuel filler cap re-positioned high up on the car's rear wing, designed to minimise the chance of dirt and water entering the fuel tank. The Safari rallies were renowned as car breakers, dust plus mud that dries to a rock-hard consistency, being a couple of the problems unique to this type of event. No matter how good the door seals were, dust would get everywhere during this type of event.
John dropped me a line, with some info on the location of this Anglia photograph: "I have just shown my wife the picture of the Ford Anglia in the East African Safari Rally, and she says that the location is Niarobi and the clocktower on the right of the shot is on the Legislative Council (Legco) building, which she used to walk past every day on her way to work when about 17, in the early 1960s."
During the 1960s, probably the two most popular cars for tuning were the Mini, and the Ford Anglia, with many road-going examples of both cars having their engines breathed on, and original wheels replaced by chunky Minilites or reverse-rim steelies. Alan sent me a photo of just such an Anglia a while back, and his car is featured here. Finding parts for Anglias even 40 years after they were popular, is no great problem due to this Ford's popularity - webpages such as the 105E Anglia parts page can be used to place adverts for free.
Return to the old transport photos - Page 5.
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