Owning a Ford Pilot]

Ginger Dann, Loughborough, Leicestershire Ginger owns the Channel Green car seen in our photos, and operates a hire firm with his fleet of Pilots (dmclassics.co.uk). ‘ When I was a kid I lived in Notting Hill in London, and there were always one or two about,’ says Ginger. ‘I always said that one day I was going to buy one for myself – either a Pilot or a Humber Pullman – and that day finally came in 1990, when I’d already restored a few for other people in the Eighties. Since then I’ve made two stretched limousines and restored hearses and vans.

‘Bodywork is the main issue with them now – the last one was built over 60 years ago after all – but they’re worse if they’re left standing. Mechanically they’re fairly tough.

‘ You need to be willing to get your hands dirty. Diligent maintenance is essential, and actually because of this some of the hot-rodded cars tend to be the best looked-after. That said, they tend to be restored back to standard now.’

Chris Sanders, Romford, Essex ‘I bought my Pilot as a running car back in 1974, with the starter motor in the boot and no first gear in the gearbox,’ says Chris, who has only recently sold his black saloon. ‘In my 42-year ownership I treated it to a gearbox overhaul, new engine, carburettor, water pump and exhaust system. When I got the car it had filthy seat covers inside it, and I thought it would need a complete retrim, but upon removing the covers it turned out the fabric underneath was really well-preserved.

‘It’s increasingly hard to find parts for them. Even American specialists are dwindling now, although they’ll have everything. I can’t fault oldfordparts.co.uk, though.

‘I did rallies in it, weekend drives, and used it if my everyday cars weren’t working. Their appeal stems from their Forties American nature for me, plus they were very powerful compared to the other British cars of the era.’

Nigel Stennet-cox, North Walsham, Norfolk Nigel didn’t just restore his 1951 Pilot – he converted it into a roadster. ‘I bought the car unseen from Cornwall as a project in 2011. ‘I live in Norfolk so I couldn’t just pop out and have a look at it. I think I underestimated how bad it was – it was just about falling apart as it came off the low-loader. It had been standing outside since 1968!

‘I had to get another chassis from a guy in Birmingham. I was lucky – parts are very hard to come by and interest in Pilots is largely in the racing and vintage hot-rot scenes. Another seller wanted £1000 for a chassis but thankfully I managed to get one for a lot less than that. With many Pilot parts, you have to advertise that you’re looking for them and there’s a 50/50 chance you won’t get anything. I built the engine out of parts from three units found in a local scrapyard, and some newold-stock pistons from Forties government surplus on ebay.

‘I turned it into a 1934-style tourer. The Pilot’s chassis design dates back to 1932, and Ford moved the engine forward in 1935 to increase interior space.

‘ The one thing I didn’t do myself was the hand-rolled aluminium body, which I entrusted to David Wall Engineering in Wroxham. A lot of Pilots get rebodied because the saloon bodywork is so rot-prone and hard to come by.

I’ve had mine on the road four years now, covered 16,000 miles and will be doing the Mille Miglia in it next year. Pilots made good rally cars – Ken Wharton won the Tulip and Lisbon rallies using one in 1950.’