1954 Ford Pilot Van

It was fairly common practice to chop up old cars and turn them into vans during their later years, but this Pilot left Ford’s Dagenham factory as a genuine commercial vehicle, which explains the left hand drive steering wheel – it appears that commercial pilots all came like this.

You could in fact order a Pilot commercial variant with just a front mounted cab and a bare chassis at the back, on to which you’d build, or have built, your own pick up or van bodywork.

The previous owner of this Pilot van rescued it as a non running restoration project, with an aluminium van body rear section. He then lovingly restored it and recreated that van with all new hand made panels.

If you’ve ever looked even vaguely closely at an original Land Rover Defender finished in black paint you’ll know how it shows up ripples and panel defects. So it’s a tribute to the restorer’s work that his panel work is good enough to carry off this paint finish.

The Pilot looks straight and sharp, and about as cute as a commercial vehicle from this period gets. The whitewall tyres compliment the black bodywork and the chrome work is also in lovely condition, with the deep dished hubcaps finishing off the wheels beautifully.

It’s not absolutely perfect; some paint is starting to lift on the roof panel and the door mirrors have some surface corrosion, but overall the Pilot looks great.

That dashboard really does look like Bakelite – it’s a very clever paint job. It houses a long thing instrument panel with a strip-speedo and four auxiliary gauges – that’s quite a spec for a post war commercial.

The bench front seat is finished in grey leather and is in lovely condition, having been completely reupholstered during the restoration process. But it’s the load compartment that really impresses.

The mahogany frame is in plain view and very smart it looks too, with the simple aluminium outer panels closing everything off and a matching wooden wooden floor ready to transport your precious cargo.

The current owner changed it to 12v electrics and had the engine gone through by a renowned Ford Flathead V8 engine builder in Poole – Jim Turnball,’ says the owner. The engine is an absolute classic too – beloved of hot rod builders to this day. There are signs of wear and tear on the little V8’s side-valve cylinder heads, with a few water stains on the paint finish, but these are purely cosmetic.

Underneath it’s clear the Pilot hasn’t seen any salty roads, as everything looks absolutely sound and in great condition. The exhaust looks new and with a bit of clean up so would the whole underside.

The previous owner and restorer says:

‘My dad had a green Pilot as his first car and he loved it – and so did I. I grew up with that car from the age of four or five, and I remember using the wings as a slide – they’re big ones after all. He eventually traded the Pilot in for a Ford 100E, which was a bit of a contrast, especially performance wise, but it made me want one too.

'My saloon came up for sale via a bloke at work – it belonged to his dad, and I bought it for £850 and restored it about 20 years ago. I’ve been a fan ever since. I bought this one as a partially dismantled but basically complete van.

‘It’s a genuine commercial and was supplied new straight from Dagenham – hence it’s left hand drive, as I believe all commercial Pilots were. Note the louvered sides below the bonnet to help with heat dissipation.

‘Apparently it was originally a pick-up, bit it was converted into a van by Fosters in Preston, using a frame made of tropical hardwood, probably mahogany, although the roof slats below the fabric roof insert are a more traditional ash.

‘The outer skin is aluminium, although I’ve replaced this with new thicker metal, using the old panels as patterns. They were corroded around the fixings.

‘The frame itself was very good – I don’t think I would have attempted the restoration if it had been bad. It just needed refinishing, although we left the back doors as they were as they were still in good condition.

‘The cab wasn’t so good – there was a lot of fabricating of panels to do, which I’ve welded in place as it’s really my speciality. The gutters were particularly poor, and the bottoms of both front doors were very corroded.

‘I’ve had some real expert help and some people have proved to be excellent at many aspects of the restoration. I’m particularly pleased with the dash, which is supposed to replicate Bakelite – you’d swear it was, only it’s not. Most Pilots had Bakelite dashes, but some, like this one, have an aluminium casting which is painted.

‘The same goes for the steering wheel, which was disintegrating. We built it back up using coloured resins. It took ages.

‘We stripped the van right down to its component form and had the chassis shotblasted – it was excellent really. The cab was media blasted in Leicester using much softer media to minimise distortion. Then it was obviously painted, with everything like the bushes and brakes replaced – most of the parts came from America. As it’s basically a generic pre-war American car you can get virtually everything you need to restore it. It’s the stuff that’s unique to the Pilot that’s the tricky bit.

‘Originally the van was a light green colour but I like them in Black – although the body is actually Anthrahcite Grey with Black running boards and wheel arches. Choosing this colour meant the sides had to be dead straight – another reason to replace the panels, otherwise it would have shown up every ripple.

‘The interior is light grey leather with darker piping and was done by a company in Leicester.

‘All the machine work was carried out at Coventry Classic Engines. It’s a lovely smooth engine – probably one of the smoothest V8s ever made – you can literally balance a coin on the air cleaner when it’s running.’

Ford Pilot Commercials are few and far between these days – we’ve never seen another panel van, so if it’s exclusivity you’re after you can’t fail here in fact so exclusive that "Claasic Ford" magazine felt compelled to tell it's story (see copies in the photographs). What a fantastic promotional vehicle this would make. Those Anthracite panels are just waiting to be sign written. A rare opportunity indeed.

Our estimate for this car Is £20,000 - £25,000.

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