Lee Stone's 1948 Anglia
(from Volume 14, Issue 153)

The short wheel based cars have always been Lee Stone’s favorites. As a result Anglias, Henry J’s, Austins, Willys and Fiat Topolinos fascinated him as a kid. Like Lee asked us, “What kid didn’t at least have a model of one of those?” As a kid, he would most likely have seen Jim racing his Anglia at the old Tallahassee Airport strip, which has long since become part of FSU and Tallahassee Community College. Somehow Lee filed those memories in the back of his mind and, promised himself that someday, he just might find one.

Lee really started looking for an Anglia after going to the Goodguys Nationals in 2000. Ohio is certainly gasser country, but as it turned out, he found this Anglia as pretty much a “project car” fairly close to his home in Tallahassee, Florida. It had been around the area for years, and had originally come from the Tampa area. Thanks to Jim Blackshear, who was able to fill Lee in on lots of it’s history, it was learned that the Anglia had a fiberglass front end which had been wrecked when Lee found it. Over the next couple of years he was able to assemble the complete sheet metal front end like you see on the car now, with bits and pieces coming from all over. It was quite a task, but one that Lee felt was certainly worth it.

Rodcrafters out of Welcome, North Carolina actually did all the fabrication, body work, paint and assembly. They used the Fatman Fabrications chassis with a 9” Ford rear, 4-link coilovers, rack & pinion steering, disc brakes, Weld Pro Star wheels with Hoosier tires, and a custom stainless fuel cell to complete the chassis. The body is virtually stock, except for the widened rear fenders, and is painted with eye-catching candy apple red from House of Kolor. Inside you’ll find leather upholstery with tweed accents, and air conditioning to keep this street rod cool. One thing to take notice of is the dash, which unlike many Anglias you’ll see around is not set way back into the passenger compartment. This was achieved by carefully nestling the Chevy 383 stroker motor into the tight confines of the engine compartment. A 700R4 automatic transmission was also utilized, allowing the Anglia to not only have great acceleration thanks to the unit’s low first gear, but also the opportunity to “stretch its legs” on the highway thanks to the overdrive fourth gear.

It is always neat to hear the stories behind the cars we see at the shows, and it is even more special when you find out that someone has made their dream car come true. Such is the case for Lee Stone. Even in his wildest dreams as a kid, I bet he never imagined the Anglia he would wind up owning would be so sweet! CN