Ford Pilot Price Guide

The Ford Pilot of 1947 to 1951 was Ford of Britain’s large saloon. It was a substantial V8-powered car that sat above the Anglia and Prefect in the British Ford range, offering the 3,622cc flathead V8 in a body that looked and felt like a proper executive car. The Pilot was used extensively by British police forces as a pursuit car, with the V8 engine giving it performance that most British saloons of the era could not approach.

The Car

The Pilot used the 3,622cc (221ci) flathead V8 producing 85bhp. It is the same basic engine family as the American Fords, but in a body styled for the British market. A three-speed column-shift manual gearbox. The body was available as a four-door saloon only. Around 22,000 were produced at Dagenham. The Pilot’s V8 engine makes it unusual among British cars of the late 1940s as virtually everything else in the class used four or six-cylinder engines.

Buying

The Pilot is a charming and capable post-war British Ford with a distinctive character from its V8 engine. The Ford Pilot Owners Club provides specialist support. Rust in the body is significant on surviving examples.