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        General >> Off Topic Subjects >> Zephyrs
        
(Message started by: mindofitsown on Jan 4^th, 2008, 7:42pm)

Title: Zephyrs
Post by mindofitsown on Jan 4^th, 2008, 7:42pm

I notice many Scorpio owners on this site also own other even older Fords. I have 3 MKIVs at home. One is a V4 2.0L Zephyr with only 16K miles since complete engine re-build (new pistons etc.) but body is a shamble. Another is a V6 3.0L Zodiac with running engine and about 85K miles on clock and goodish body wanting re-spray. Last one is a Zodiac Executive in a poor state but complete and engine runs (about 89K on clock) but is special because it was used in President Nixon's entourage when he visited Downing St. in Feb 1969. Thyere is film footage to prove it plus a plaque rivetted on the dash board to commerate the occasion. This last one is also rare for the fact that its an RHD export model with quarter vents and it never left the Uk.
Anyone interested in these cars? Reluctantly I have to part with them as I have to move soon to a smaller place and give my ex half of the house proceeds.

Title: Re: Zephyrs
Post by Baz on Jan 5^th, 2008, 12:37am

Well I have a pair of 67 Corsairs. One with only 37k on the clock from new (2000E Auto) This was damaged in an accident in 2005 and I have just managed to get hold of all the necessary bits to repair it!

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a369/bazunitec2/IMGP1079.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a369/bazunitec2/4158_1.jpg

This is how it should look!!

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a369/bazunitec2/DSC00608.jpg

My other is this 2000 Deluxe which I bought a few months ago. garaged for 12 years and passed its MOT needing only a bulb and two split pins!

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a369/bazunitec2/2007_0826sad0242Small.jpg

Do you have any photos of your Zephyr/Zodiacs?

Thanks

Baz

Title: Re: Zephyrs
Post by jonnycab on Jan 5^th, 2008, 2:10pm

This is my other car..... 1977 MK1 Granada 3.0 Ghia :)

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i101/jonnycab/P5060024.jpg

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i101/jonnycab/P5060012-1.jpg

Title: Re: Zephyrs
Post by TiberiuS on Jan 6^th, 2008, 1:22am

Well, it's not a Ford (not really ;D) and it's not really that old. Highly impractical, the fuel tank is where the boot should be, it's even got a handy storage pocket for sunglasses which is too small for...sunglasses. Eccentric British engineering. The cover in the 2nd shot is advisable being kept parked under a tree :)

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l89/TiberiuS1250/elt2.jpg

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l89/TiberiuS1250/elt3.jpg

And the Capri (I think I posted this one before?). Still not that old and a pretty bad photo. But that shows how it looked back in July 1995, still covered in a blanket of dust at the moment...

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l89/TiberiuS1250/CNXsized1.jpg

Regards, Bruce.

Title: Re: Zephyrs
Post by jonnycab on Jan 6^th, 2008, 2:16am

Bruce...that is one gorgeous looking Jag ;)....It looks immaculate :D

I'm drooling :P :P :P

If you want a good car cover, then try these people...

http://www.coveryourcar.co.uk/

I bought a Monsoon cover for the MK1 from them recently & it's great. Keeps the car bone dry & lets it breathe...so no paint fading....Expensive, but worth it ;)

Title: Re: Zephyrs
Post by taliban aka Cheekyboy2 on Jan 6^th, 2008, 2:25am

pmsl,
poor mindofitsown, he comes on here offering classic old fords for sale and all everyone has done is hijack his thread to post pics of their own old things... ::)

Title: Re: Zephyrs
Post by taliban aka Cheekyboy2 on Jan 6^th, 2008, 2:28am

the jag is rather smart, if you need spares etc a couples of mates own kent jags in knockholt...

Title: Re: Zephyrs
Post by Tons_of_fun on Jan 7^th, 2008, 12:48am

Ahhh memories.I just love the 300 series XJ6,s.Had a 95 3.2 myself some time ago & was totaly blown away by it.Absolutley broke my heart when it died due to an electrical fire (scorpio electrics have nothing on these) ;D.At the moment they are representing real value for money as well.A really tidy example can be had for as little as £2000 & do the same to the gallon as a V6 scorpio if not a little more.If i didnt need an estate car at the moment ,i would be seriously tempted by another, ::)

Title: Re: Zephyrs
Post by mr._floppy on Jan 7^th, 2008, 1:12am

Yeah, I always loved the look of the Mk. 4 Zephyr/Zodiac series. Didn't Randal have one in " Randal and Hopkirk ( deceased ) " ?

OTT big car Detroit styling ( well, I liked it ) coupled with, in some models, a woefully underpowered V4 power unit ( yip, that's a V4 !!! :o, what the hell were they thinking ? ), poor brakes and a dangerously skittish rear suspension set-up made it unpopular with the Motoring Press and sold particularly badly ( where have we heard that story before, can we see a parallel with the Scorpio ? ).

Title: Re: Zephyrs
Post by mindofitsown on Jan 7^th, 2008, 3:24pm

Some really nice cars pictured in this thread, thanks guys, just wish one of my MKIV's looked that good.
Cheekyboy......I'm not worried about the hijacking, the MKIV's are FREE to any good home.
Baz.....tragic what happened to the Corsair, hope you can get it back into shape. I believe the Zephyr V4 and the Corsair engines are almost identical and definately interchangeable in the two bodies (or so I recall).
Jonnycab.....lovely Granada, I remember buying one with a duff engine that sounded like a bag of nails and got another engine from a scrapyard which ran great for years. Before changing engines my mates and I took it from Hertfordshire to York and back and we got so fed up of the oil light coming on that we took the bulb out of the dashboard (which was hanging off anyway) and blasted it at over 80mph for most of the return journey and it was still running when we got home albeit a lot louder!
Mr Floppy.....yeah, MKIV is my favourite all time British car despite its weaknesses. It had some good points though like disc brakes all round and the great BW35 transmission. Just wondering about heritage etc.....as I see it, there were all the previous Zephyr versions, the MKIV, then the Granada series, then the Scorpio. To my way of thinking of Ford's top range models over the years would make the MKIV Executive the Grandmother of the Scorpio?

Title: Re: Zephyrs
Post by Baz on Jan 7^th, 2008, 10:55pm

I have a little tale about a MK IV Zodiac..... When I was a kid, my dad had many cars and apart from our Corsair (A lovely 1700 deluxe UOY 481F) he had a Zodiac MK III in dark blue (Reg 3232 VM. How much would that be worth now??) anyway in later life my dad was a chauffeur for a company in Warrington and always had the big Granadas but he really was a fan of the Zodiacs and one day he spotted a lovely Roman Bronze (brown vinyl roof etc.. example (I believe the reg was WED 4K) Anyway he ummmed and arrred for too long and it was sold. Disappointed he went out and bought his own MKI Granada Ghia 3.0 (HEY 553N) in the dark blue to match his work one at the time (AHG 5R)

A few months later he got a phone call from the garage which had sold the Zodiac to say it had been returned and would he still be interested?

Dad and I went to the garage and on arriving could not believe what we saw. The car had been returned all right and it had a new respray too.... BRIGHT PINK with a black vinyl roof!! :o :o which didn't even match the brown interior!!

Needless to say he never bought it!! I often wondered what happened to that car!

Title: Re: Zephyrs
Post by TiberiuS on Jan 8^th, 2008, 1:21am

I remember years back seeing somebody take a Zephyr Zodiac limo into a banger racing event, at the time the chap said it was worth so little that it wasn't worth restoring, despite being one of only a dozen or so built. Such a waste :(. Back in the day (long before my time ;D), my Uncle owned a Zephyr Zodiac (was it a Lowline?), would've been in the late 60's. I've seen photos of it at times, dark green metallic, looked stunning. In the end he traded it for a Vauxhall or something, I guess it got old and eventually met its maker just like every other car, I wonder what it'd be worth today. My father used to have a Mk1 Lotus Cortina, that's another classic that probably went to the great scrapyard in the sky 30 years ago..

The Jag's ok, paid £4k for this one. bit of a mug really to part with that sort of money, you can pick up a good 3.2 now for under £2k. But a well specced 4.0 with low mileage and full history isn't something you see every day and hell, it had everything factory fitted, even the wood/electrics pack and toolkit. No electrical problems here, that was the old Sovereign V12 HE with glorious Lucas electrics and the vacuum controlled ignition advance. d**n that car was fun though :)

No it's not practical but I still love it to bits, well balanced, ample power and tight handling more like something 700kg lighter, all for pocket money in luxury car terms. Still lusting after an XJR or another V12 but this one's ok for now :)

The Capri in the pic (I think I've been here before..) was my father's car, I was with him the day he bought it in April 1990 when I was all of 5 (five) years old, not much of a car nowadays but it means a lot to me :). Pretty much standard 1982 2.0 Ghia, diamond white with a nice dark blue interior, reg number CNX126Y. Restored in 1995, light rear end damage in October 1996 while parked. Been garaged since, no major rust but everything seized solid now, needs full rebuild once I get around to getting it trailered down here :-/

For that car he traded in GTV568V, a blue 1.6LS in which he'd been hit by an uninsured driver on the way home from work a couple of months before.

Before GTV was SLO999R (yes that plate is real, would love to have it now), our first Capri, a Mk2 2.0GL in custom bronze and cream paint, chrome lattice wheels, tan vinyl roof, very 1970's. That car suffered a cracked cam and later overheated and did quite a bit of damage to the engine, hence it met its maker circa November 1988.

Title: Re: Zephyrs
Post by TRACEYS_LIMO on Jan 11^th, 2008, 11:32am

any of the cars gone yet were are you any pics

Title: Re: Zephyrs
Post by mindofitsown on Jan 11^th, 2008, 9:06pm

'Traceys_Limo' I assume you are asking about the Zephyrs? If so I've still got them. No pics but can arrange it. Wiltshire.

Title: Re: Zephyrs
Post by TRACEYS_LIMO on Jan 19^th, 2008, 11:18am

:D yes i am intrested any pics

Title: Re: Zephyrs
Post by gozz on Jan 19^th, 2008, 8:43pm

Our local traffic police used mk4 Zephyrs,and as a fireman in 1970 I was driving the emergency tender and was called to one road crash after another.The most memorable one being an aforementioned Zephyr,the driver of which had suddenly found out that his vehicle had no more grip than the average motorist when driving on ice,and had propelled his steed some distance into a field where it lay on its nearside.Being a strong old car only one officer was injured,and that was when his colleague dropped the door on his fingers as he tried to exit vertically from the vehicle!

Title: Re: Zephyrs
Post by Bren on Jan 24^th, 2008, 2:56am

on 01/07/08 at 15:24:51, mindofitsown wrote:

Mr Floppy.....yeah, MKIV is my favourite all time British car despite its weaknesses. It had some good points though like disc brakes all round and the great BW35 transmission.

Fords put their own (I think it was their's anyway) C4 box in some Mk1V's and what a pig that was. As a scabby little apprentice all I remember is the buckling legs I had taking them out and putting em back. Wow they were HEAVY !!!