Anglia 105E Deluxe on display at Harry Potter: The Exhibition, ArtScience Museum, Singapore, June 2012. Photo: Jacklee / <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flying_Ford_Anglia_from_Harry_Potter_and_the_Chamber_of_Secrets_at_the_ArtScience_Museum,_Singapore_-_20120608.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>
The National Motor Museum at Beaulieu lists its Harry Potter Anglia as a 1966 Ford Anglia 105E. The official Harry Potter site describes the Chamber of Secrets car as a 1962 Anglia 105E in light blue, plate 7990 TD, and a 2005 CBS News report on a stolen film car also called it a 1962. Neither page explains the four-year gap.
Special effects supervisor John Richardson told the franchise site the production “had 16 different Anglias,” each adapted for a different job. Google Trends showed US searches for HBO’s Harry Potter series above 20,000 on Nov. 3-4, which is what sent us back to the car. HBO’s Sept. 2 press release says the series debuts Christmas 2026, while its Jan. 15 release said 2027. Neither mentions the Anglia.
What the museum lists
The Beaulieu page gives the car’s specification as a 997cc overhead-valve four-cylinder making 41 bhp at 5,000 rpm, with a top speed of 76 mph and a new price of £495. It says the car was used in filming Chamber of Secrets and carries the line “This is the actual Ford Anglia 105E that was once owned by Arthur Weasley.” The listing reads “Loaned by: Private owner.” It does not say how the museum came to display the car or which scenes it appeared in.
The museum also gives the Anglia’s background. Ford launched the Anglia at the 1959 Motor Show, where the Mini upstaged it, and built more than a million 105E and 123E models before production ended in 1967. Output moved from Dagenham to Halewood in 1963. Ford’s British range of that era still gets driven hard; we covered a modified Cortina and Capri settling a grudge match in the UK.
Sixteen cars
According to the franchise site, some of the Anglias were cut in half so cameras could shoot inside, some got racing engines for high-speed work, and some were wrecked in stages for the Whomping Willow crash. Others were “wild” cars that ran around the Forbidden Forest set for a year. The flying shots used a car with its engine removed and its body gutted, mounted on a rotating crane with a gimbal head on the back of an American pickup with adapted suspension and outriggers, so the effect could be filmed with the truck moving. Neither the museum nor the studio feature says which of the 16 is at Beaulieu.
The 2005 theft
CBS News reported on Oct. 28, 2005 that a 1962 Anglia from the films had vanished from South West Film Studios in St. Agnes, Cornwall, sometime in the previous couple of days. Police said the car could not have driven away on its own and was probably towed or trailered, and that given its fame it was probably unsellable. CBS did not name an owner or put a value on it.
The Beaulieu page says the car was stolen in 2005 and recovered after the thieves dumped it, probably because of the media attention. The Harry Potter site says it turned up in a ruined castle in Cornwall, and adds that the stolen car was one of many prop Anglias.
If one is offered to you
Ask for a chassis number and registration paperwork. Neither the museum nor the studio publishes one beyond the 7990 TD plate, and they can’t agree on a model year. Our rundown of the most famous TV and movie cars has more.
Which Anglia gets the title: the 1966 car at Beaulieu or the 1962 car with the 7990 TD plate?
Sources: National Motor Museum, Beaulieu vehicle listing; harrypotter.com, “The Flying Ford Anglia”; CBS News, Oct. 28, 2005; Warner Bros. Discovery press releases, Jan. 15, Mar. 25 and Sept. 2, 2026; Google Trends (US), Nov. 3-4, 2026.
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