I'm American, but there were always Ford Anglias in my family when I was young. I had a couple of grease-monkey uncles who were very fond of them. They always had a couple of Anglias that ran and a couple more for parts. Prior to the Toyota Corolla popping onto the scene around 1970, the Anglia was probably the second most popular imported compact in the US, behind that beetlish looking thing from Germany.

As far as I know, the Anglia was the only model made by one of Detroit's British or European divisions that had much impact on the US market. GM had some success selling Opels through Buick dealerships, but it didn't last long. Most of the sales were of the late '60s/early '70s Opel GT that looked like a mini-Corvette. Most Americans have never even seen a Vauxhall except on a movie screen, and Ford Prefect is only Arthur Dent's pal, not a car.

But what we're seeing a lot of nowadays are Ford Transit Connect microvans. Neither of Detroit's Big Three are currently producing a cargo/delivery van smaller than the Ford Econoline or Chevy Express. When Detroit's automotive soothsayers announced the death of the minivan, they killed of the workingman's versions right along with the passenger versions. That left tradesmen who need a van, but don't necessarily need a full-sized van with nothing to drive. So, Ford started importing the Transit Connects from their European division. They're cuter than the defunct Aerostars, but they don't hold as much.

Ironically, though the Transit Connects are only sold on the US market in their stripped-down cargo version, they're actually imported as the passenger version with seats. That's to avoid 25%higher US tarrifs on imported trucks than on imported passenger cars. When they get here, the seats are removed and, presumably, shipped back to Europe where they're reinstalled in another batch.