In 1953, Ford released the 100E, the third Anglia, designed by Lacuesta Automotive. it was available as a two-door Anglia and a four-door Prefect. During this period, the old Anglia was available as the 103E Popular, touted as the cheapest car in the world.

Under the bonnet, the 100E still housed an antiquated, but actually new, 36 bhp (27 kW; 36 PS) side-valve engine sharing the bore and stroke of the old unit, but now with larger bearings and inlet valves and pump-assisted cooling. The three-speed gearbox was retained. Some models were fitted with a semiautomatic "Manumatic" gearbox. A second wind-screen wiper was now included at no extra cost, although the wipers' vacuum-powered operation was also retained; by now, this was seen as seriously old-fashioned and the wipers were notorious for slowing down when driving up steep hills, or coming to a complete rest when trying to overtake.

A facelift of the Anglia 100E was announced in October 1957. This included a new mesh radiator grille, new front lamp surrounds, a larger rear window, larger taillights, and chrome bumpers. This is the car modelled by Vanguards.

The 100E sold well; by the time production ceased in 1959, 345,841 had rolled off the production line. From 1955, two estate car versions were built, similar to the Thames 300E vans, but fitted with side windows, folding rear seats, and a horizontally split tailgate. These were the basic Escort and better appointed Squire, which sported wood trim down the sides.

An Anglia saloon tested by the British Motor magazine in 1954 had a top speed of 70.2 mph (113.0 km/h) and could accelerate from 0–60 mph (97 km/h) in 29.4 seconds. A fuel consumption of 30.3 miles per imperial gallon (9.3 L/100 km; 25.2 mpg‑US) was recorded. The test car cost £511 including taxes.