Smaller numbers were assembled in Australia - where a coupé version was also produced - and elsewhere in Ireland (branded as the Baby Ford), Japan, Latvia (branded as the Ford Junior) and in Spain, where its nickname was the Ford Forito.
Plans to build it in the U.S. were scrubbed when a cost accounting showed that it would only be slightly cheaper to build than the Ford Model B. Later iterations of the Model Y became known as the Ford Popular.
Cross-compatibility of various components with Ford's Model C, as well as the popularity globally of the Model C and Ford Popular, brought economies of scale and allowed the price of the car to be dropped so far that the Ford Popular Tudor became the first four-seater closed-bodied saloon car to be offered in the UK for £100 in June 1935.
This of course isn't the four-seater, although it is very close to the Tudor two-door variant. But since this car was registered before the special offer, any new owner can at least say that this was the more expensive version!
Suspension on this iconic car is the traditional Ford transverse leaf springs front and rear, and the 1-litre engine drives the rear wheels via a three-speed gearbox which amazingly featured synchromesh between the top two ratios.
Maximum speed was just under 60 mph, surely impressive for a budget car ninety years ago, and fuel consumption was an unobjectionable 32 miles per imperial gallon.
The Model Y is said to have been the inspiration for the Morris Eight and for the Singer Bantam.
The vehicle, we at Craner Classics are now offering, is the Model Y Light Van which, back in early 1930s Britain proved a hit with small businesses.
The Model Y took the British market by storm and, at introduction had a major impact on the sales figures of Austin, Morris, Singer, and Hillman, and soon accounted for more than 50 per cent of the 8(RAC)HP sales.
As a result of its great popularity on these shores, of the 175,000 Model Ys produced worldwide, 150,000 of them (six out of seven) were manufactured in Great Britain. The larger and faster 10hp Ford Model C never sold in such great numbers as the Model Y.
Lovely little engine and gearbox, those synchro meshes mean there's no horrible double clutching.
A really quirky vehicle and great fun to take on the road, not at all difficult to drive and, in short, an amazing piece of history.
