MOTORING IN THE FORTIES - BACK TO THE FUTURE

In 1949...

Britain still had rationing, though there was a 'summer holiday bonus' ration for petrol, and the Berlin airlift was in full swing, while the Allies were still busily carving up Germany. Sir Malcolm Campbell died on New Years Day and Donald Bradman was knighted. The Peronists were re-elected in Argentina, Truman was newly elected in the USA; we had Attlee, Russia had Stalin. Britain was the world's largest car exporter and farm workers' minimum wages were increased to £4.14s, with hours down from 48 to 47, with seven days holidays instead of six. Prohibition was lifted in Kansas after 69 years and Prince Rainier acceded to the throne in Monaco. The RAF's first jet bomber, the Canberra, flew in May; the world's first jet airliner, the Comet, flew in July; and early in March, a US B50 superfortress, Lucky Lady II, completed the first non-stop round-the-world flight, while the world listened enthusiastically to big bands.

By the end of the Forties, the British motor industry was almost back to the heady days that had ended with the invasion of Poland a decade earlier. We were the world's largest exporter of cars and home to the globe's most ingenious automotive designers. Whatever you wanted - family runabout, affordable executive saloon, powerful sports car or all-purpose four-wheel drive vehicle - we produced it



Family Runabout



If you wanted a small, economical family runabout back in 1949, you almost certainly ended up with a Ford Prefect. This after all, at just £396, was the cheapest four-door saloon on the British market and was a car commended for its generous specification.



By now, the Prefect had been on the market for eleven years, so Ford took the opportunity to introduce a minor facelift. The new model was recognisable by its 'more attractive' streamlined appearance, with the more powerful headlamps being set into the wings for the first time.



Throughout its life, the car maintained a reputation for performance and economy. A road test in Motor at the time called it, "an astonishingly lively small c...