Ford Prefect (character)

Ford Prefect (also called Ix) is a fictional character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by the British author Douglas Adams. He is the only character other than the protagonist, Arthur Dent, to appear throughout the entire Hitchhiker's saga. His role as Arthur's friend – and rescuer, when the Earth is unexpectedly demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass at the start of the story – is often expository, as Ford is an experienced galactic hitch-hiker and explains that he is actually an alien journalist, a field researcher for the titular Guide itself, and not an out-of-work actor from Guildford as he had hitherto claimed.

Name

Although Ford had taken great care to blend into Earth society, he had "skimped a bit on his preparatory research," and thought that the name "Ford Prefect" would be "nicely inconspicuous." The Ford Prefect was a popular British car manufactured from 1938 to 1961, and Adams later clarified in an interview that Ford "had simply mistaken the dominant life form" of Earth. This was expanded on somewhat in the film version, where Ford is almost run over while attempting to greet a blue Ford Prefect. He is saved by Arthur and, in the film version of events, this is how the pair meet. The graphics in the TV series provide a similar explanation by listing a sequence of names including 'Ford', beginning with director John Ford, Arthur Ford, news reader Anna Ford, carmaker Henry Ford, the Ford Anglia, the Ford Consul with the final name Ford Prefect being selected.

Ford Prefect

The Ford Prefect is a line of British cars which was produced by Ford UK between 1938 and 1961 as a more upmarket version of the Ford Popular and Ford Anglia models. It was introduced in October 1938 and remained in production until 1941; returning to the market in 1945, it was offered till 1961. The car progressed in 1953 from its original perpendicular or sit-up-and-beg style to a more modern three-box structure. Some versions were also built and sold by Ford Australia.

Like its siblings, the car became a popular basis for a hot rod, especially in Britain, where its lightweight structure and four-cylinder engines appealed to builders.

E93A (1938–49)

The Ford Prefect was introduced in October 1938 and built by the Ford plant in Dagenham, Essex. The original Ford Prefect was a slight reworking of the previous year's 7Y, the first Ford car designed outside of Detroit, Michigan. It was designed specifically for the British market. It had a 1172 cc side-valve engine with thermocirculation radiator (no pump) and the ability to be started by a crank handle should the battery not have sufficient power to turn the starter motor running from the 6 Volt charging system. The windscreen wipers were powered by the vacuum ported from the engine intake manifold — as the car laboured uphill the wipers would slow to a standstill due to the intake manifold vacuum dropping to near nil, only to start working again as the top was reached and the intake vacuum increased. The windscreen opened forward pivoting on hinges on the top edge; two flaps either side of the scuttle also let air into the car. The car has a durable 4 cylinder motor.

Ford Prefect (disambiguation)

Ford Prefect may refer to: