THE Ford Anglia with its rakish inward sloping rear screen was a great success for the Blue Badge marque in the 1960s but an unsung hero of the range was the estate.

In 1961 this would have cost £679 and used the basic Anglia structure to house a roomy body which was a boon to the load-lugging fraternity of the time.

Initially there was no Anglia Estate but Friary Motors of Basingstoke looked at the project and Ford officially released the long-awaited estate.

The rear seat hinged forward and with its squab folded flat gave a useful loadspace of 35.4 cu ft - more than three times that of the regular Anglia.

Rather than the rear screen sloping inwards, the estate featured a conventional outward sloping rear screen which gave a partial impression of what the Anglia might have looked like if it had been design as a conventional three-box saloon.

Under the bonnet was a 998cc four-cylinder ohv engine of a modest 39bhp which gave a maximum speed of 75mph and an easy cruising speed of 65mph.

This was known as the ‘Kent' engine and although acceleration from rest was a little tardy, it was a great improvement on earlier Ford engines.

The good news was that this was a very economical estate. Although modern low-capacity engines are capable of returning over 70mpg, the Anglia Estate's boast of 40-43mpg in the early 1960s was a great achievement for the time.

And like the saloon, road holding was impressive for a family car.

So the Anglia Estate turned out to be a winner in its class and set the scene for family estates of future years.

I remember driving one in its light green paintwork and it was impressive for its era. And I remember being told that prospective owners could brighten up their estate motoring with a choice of no fewer than 18 colour schemes.