| pre-production prototypesassic
50 http://www.modelcollector.com | august 2019FORD
ANGLIA
FIRSTS
Adrian Hall share details of the fascinating
Lledo Vanguards Ford Anglia prototypes
he’s managed to acquire...A
round 1995-96 Lledo
announced that it was
going to be producing a
new range of 1950s' and 60s'
family cars to a constant 1:43
scale, which would contain a
lot more detail than its then
current ‘Days Gone’ range.
The first vehicle in this new
range was to be the Ford
Anglia 105E, as model
number VA1. Three more
models into the range came
the Ford Anglia Van, as VA4.
To help evaluate this new
range, Lledo looked to George
Tuner Models to produce some
resin prototypes for its new
vehicles, finished in various
colours and liveries.
In 2002 I started collecting
the Ford Anglia models from
the Lledo Vanguards range.
I often referred to a great
website at w w w.martin
kennedy.com to see
which models had
been issued.Martin Kennedy not only
listed all of the models within
the Vanguards range but also
displayed some variations,
along with some of resin Lledo
prototypes. I must admit,
I felt very jealous at the time,
as he had six or seven resin
Anglias shown on his website
and I often wondered how he'd
managed to get hold of these.
With the increase in populari-
ty of a certain internet auction
site, however, I’ve managed to
pick up three resin prototypes
over the years: two vans and a
saloon, all bearing the George
Turner Models stamp under-
neath. I’ve been lucky in the
fact that all three are proto-
types that were never actually
issued as production models.Adrian’s first
prototype
acquisitions
My first purchase in around
2006 was a red Ford Anglia Van
with Castrol Wakefield Motor
Oil stickers and the words
'Est 1899' on the sides.
The van’s overall shape and
dimensions look and feel very
much like the final Vanguards
diecast issues, save for the fact
the model is made of resin and
is, therefore, very light. The
interior is a pale grey colour
and the wheels are single piece
mouldings. The grille and
bumpers are painted silver
with the indicators picked
out in orange. The headlights,
wipers and door handles arepainted silver. The grille and
quarter lights to the windows
are actually a little finer than
the diecast production exam-
ples. Overall it is a very nice
model, although I can see why
it wasn’t developed any further
as the Castrol sticker doesn’t
really suit the shape of the Ford
Anglia Van. The underside is a
smooth black base with the G.
Turner Models logo imprinted
into it with the date, 31.3.1995
My next purchase from the
same internet auction site was
a couple of years ago and was
a Ford Anglia saloon. It’s dark
blue in colour and features aThe Ford Anglia Van prototype
finished in Castrol Wakefield
Motor Oil – a livery that
was never actually put
into production.The underside showing the
George Turner makers stamp
and dateThe underside of the blue Ford
Anglia saloonThe Ford Anglia prototype for the
model that would go on to form part
of the two-piece Heartbeat set in its
generic police livery.