From My Collection... Lansdowne Discovered

@david-green I recall many of these Zephyrs with wide whites in my hometown of Victoria, British Columbia when I was a kid.  Not so for the Consuls however.

@jack-dodds 

In England during my youth (late 1940s, early 1950s), white walls were practically non-existent. I don't think they were readily available anywhere. Here in North America, a totally different economy with more choices. I imagine most white walls on British cars, even here were replacement tires. In 1958, I got my first new car (purchased for me by my father), picking it up in Britain in July, during a visit and driving it 4000 miles before having it shipped back to Toronto in October. It was a 1958 Vauxhall Cresta and came with white walls.

Here it is in August 1958 visiting my grandparents in Royton, Lancashire.

Corgi made the similar, earlier 1951 Ford Consul as their first diecast car in 1956.

@david-green It was not uncommon for British sports cars to have whitewalls in the 1950s in North America.

@mg-harv 

Agreed Harv, especially for more expensive vehicles. I'm not even sure that white walls were manufactured in Britain however, before the mid 1950s so those white walls may have been added here on arrival.

Here is my new 1958 Vauxhall Cresta at Conway Castle in Wales (taken from battlements). Note that it is the only car in the lot with white walls.

This generation of English Fords were styled as smaller versions of the US "Shoebox" Ford from 1949-51.   Whitewalls might have been standard or optional on the ones sold in North America where whitewalls were common in this era.

@david-green Certainly Corgi thought whitewalls suited their modern-production Cresta.

The next entry in my Lansdowne Discovered series of posts is little gem that I added to my collection last month. Included in my recent purchases from Jack Dodds, was this beauty that was modified by John Roberts. The model comes in Winchester Blue.

The was the 1st British Ford with unibody construction. The 4-cylinder base model in the Ford Zephyr 3-model range. The Zephyr models included the Consul, the Zephyr and the Zephyr Zodiac. In the 1st generation body design the Consul was built from 1951-1956.

1954 Ford Consul Saloon, LDM 124

Love it!

Great new paint by JR - love the blue!  

@karl 

Me too, this model is so awesome in person. When Jack sent me photos, it was immediate must-have, and I am thrilled with it. 

@david-green Until I read your post, I thought your family photo was an ACTUAL ad for that car; it looks like it was cut from a magazine.