Had several Ford Zodiacs in the early 70's .... absolutely LOVED them .... Blew the big-ends out on one of them coming back from Holiday on the Isle of Wight. Was Soooo easy to lift the body and wheel the engine out to repair, and it went on to enjoy a good life after ........ Just wish I could afford one as GOOD as the one featured HERE :-)
1984. I had just arrived at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk. I walked to the local garage in Barton Mills and rented their green-gold Viva until I bought a new car. Great time.
Had a mk2 consul high line .....1703 cc engine was gutless and 3 on the tree was hopeless .i rebuilt the engine and had the head gas flowed ....fitted a Webber carb on a custom made manifold ,still didn’t have the power of a lawnmower.......blew a piston on the way back from Weymouth.sold it running on 3 cylinders ...the new owner rebuilt it again .....happy days .....
As a small boy in the 50,s i was taken to school in a Consul, always remember the vacuum wipers that went like hell when no throttle and as slow as hell with throttle, just when you needed them.
My father also had a wine red '59 Consul. I barely remember it, because I was a baby, but my father did reminisce, years later, that it was seriously underpowered.
I've recently purchased a 1958 Ford Zephyr 6 Mark II highline. My late father had two Ford Consul mark ones (flat dash and the step dash) and a highline Zephyr 6 Mark II back when they were new. I'm looking forward to freshing it up
I remember reading an article on the Tippers in Popular Classics in the 90's showing their 'museum' collection of Ford cars and an old fridge in their house. My father had a mk 2 Zodiac in 1961 in two tone grey with white wall tyres and real leather seats.They were fitted with the old style vacuum wipers that went slowly at speed when you needed them to go fast.The '62 mk 3 had the safer electric wipers as we know today. The 6 cylinder straight six was sweet and smooth and all my father's Fords were very reliable and trouble free.
You all probably dont give a shit but does someone know a way to get back into an Instagram account?? I somehow lost my login password. I appreciate any tips you can offer me.
@Dakota Layne I really appreciate your reply. I got to the site through google and im in the hacking process now. Seems to take quite some time so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
My paternal granddad banned Ford "as their engines had too many holes drilled in them" referring to the overheating problems in a 40+ °C climate. When I once bought a new Ford Laser (rebadged Mazda 323!) I was met with shouts of "treason...treason...treason."
I remember my Dad having a Velox in the mid 1950s, it was a dark metallic blue colour. Later in the very early 1970s I myself had a very nice second hand Zephyr 6 MK 3 finished in white with red vinyl interior, column change and big fins, a great car. I enjoyed the lovely shots of Bournemouth and Poole harbour.
My father had a second hand Velox in the early 60's, must have been a "cut and shut" mum and dad were touring in Scotland, went down a hill, through a puddle and it broke in the middle..
Mid 60's my late father bought a Zodiac auto from his long term hospital bed, it was on a 2nd hand car forecourt he could see from the window. He had that old bus for years, he modified it for more go fitted a 6 branch tubular ex manifold & modified the auto change so he could hold it in the gears longer in the revs. Often seen 100 on the speedo downhill. Was the first car I drove at the tender age of 8 years old, sat on a large cushion.
Learned to drive in my fathers 1961 Velox and passed my driving test in his ‘64 Zodiac.. Kudos to the dedicated who keep these models alive but I cannot muster any enthusiasm. I can remember a great many good things from the sixties but British cars and motorbikes from that era are not amongst them.
This was when cars looked good, not like the blobs on the road today trouble was they rusted away quick the thing I'm like about today's cars are power steering and air con
Fantasticly interesting video, you cannot beat long term provenance & ownership like that !.I thought we were doing well with a 1928 R-R Phantom 1, owned since my brother bought it in 1965, aged 17 for £190 !.47 years later, we have owned it now longer than anyone,and like all old cars, I suppose thay are living well beyond their life expectancy but it does bring a unique aquaintance with a car.Many more happy miles with the Zodiac & Velox.
I had a 1959 Consul but it was not a good car...not for the American market. But to be honest, I did not have a clue as to maintaining it. I did trade it for something and a few years later, I saw it at a used car dealership...I said I used to own it and the guy asked if I wanted to get reacquainted :) I did get a ride by a private hire taxi in an MG Magnum 4 door and I did like that very much....I do not recall it being sold in America...too bad..
We all had one including my mum. Take that awful walking stick exhaust header off and put a bunch of bananas on it and it would sure go then. You would not stop it then though !!.
Its confusing, Zephyr, Zodiac etc, and the lineup look alike. I know one of them has a 4 cylinder engine. I think they should have had different body styling.
Steinwaygrande I read that GM lost $1500 dollars on the sale of all their carsin the nineties . They made their money off of dealers fixing these cars . Thus they make them impossible for the backyard mechanic to work on himself . I keep hoping some billionaire entrepenuer decides to make simpler cars that are easily modified and maintained by the owner . That would be greeted with open arms by buyers but secretly worked against by lobbyists in DC , I am sure .
The UK government signed out a quota of government seized exotic cars of different products, for auction at lovely prices for citizens and resident permit of UK..cars sold at 70% discount less the market price value ...... wow great opportunity for a lovely end of year 2017 .contact the Government Agent Mr Moore(a.hmoore@ukgov.io) for paperwork and getting your goals achieved.
both models show a different style and "interpretation" of what today could be "D segment" estate, Vauxhall a richest & luxurious appearance, Ford a sober & "faster" body line.
My dad had a Zephyr of the same shape,still remember the reg 8509 PE, nice old girl until some divvy twat hit the accelerator instead of the brake and rear ended my dads car and wrote it off
@@Eastsussexbiker Not so... Many rusted, but Vauxhall products seemed to be the worst - including light Bedford lorries, such as the J series: the wings used to rust away terribly - but I don't recall other brands being so bad.
American cars would considered vulgar or gauche . To be honest I can see their point but still happy to see finned out heavy chromed two toned Detroit steel rolling down avenue .
They were both subsidiaries of American of auto manufacturers but were designed engineered and manufactured for European consumers. They had little to nothing in common with American cars.
@@williamegler8771 the profits they made , especially with ford returned to Detroit. I'm sure Detroit is not in the UK. When ford stopped making profits in the UK, they quickly left. US companies, with their bottomless pit of advertising budgets (aka propaganda) did much to sell the myths of " it's a nice little British car" It seems you swallowed their snake oil.
