Ford Squire

Infobox Automobile
name = Ford Squire


manufacturer = Ford of Britain
production = 1955-1959
17,812 cite book |last=Sedgwick |first=M. |authorlink= |coauthors= Gillies.M|title=A-Z of Cars 1945-1970|year=1986 |publisher=Bay View Books |location=Devon, UK |id=ISBN 1-870979-39-7]
body_style = 2-door estate
layout =FR layout
engine = 1172 cc "I4
transmission = 3 speed manual
length = auto in|142|abbr=on
width = auto in|60.5|abbr=on
wheelbase = auto in|87|abbr=on
height = auto in|63|abbr=on

The Ford Squire is a car from Ford for the United Kingdom market built between 1955 and 1959.

It was a two door, four seat estate design, the brother to the Ford Prefect 100E sharing the same 1172 cc Ford Sidevalve 36 bhp engine and other parts and the same interior trim. It was substantially shorter than either saloon, and used the short front doors of the four-door model, because the bodyshell was optimized for use as a panel van. The rear door was in two pieces split horizontally. The rear seat could be folded flat to convert from a four seater to a load carrier. Until 1957 there were wood trim pieces screwed to the sides of the vehicle.

The Squire competed in the same market segment as the Hillman Husky and the Austin A30 / A35 based estate: these were significantly more popular in the UK than longer estates at the time. Total production was 17,812 cars.

The Ford Escort was a mechanically identical estate car but based on the Ford Anglia which had a lower trim level. This proved more popular and a total of 33,131 Escorts were produced between 1955 and 1961. Production of the Escort continued until 1961, two years longer than the Squire.

The British "Motor" magazine tested a Squire in 1955 recording a top speed of convert|69.9|mph|km/h|abbr=on and acceleration from 0-convert|50|mph|km/h|abbr=on in 20.2 seconds and a fuel consumption of convert|35.7|mpgimp|L/100 km mpgus. The test car which had the optional heater cost £668 including taxes. cite journal | authorlink = Unsigned |title = The Ford Squire Estate Car| journal =The Motor| volume = | pages = | date = December 8 1955]

References