Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Ellis]

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Big impressive cars, are they not?

There were no less than four of these big Mark 4 Fords in my village at one time :

HUN 462E - Ford Zodiac
TVX 718E - Ford Zodiac
JFF 804 H - Ford Zodiac
KFF 646H - Ford Zephyr 6

The first two of these were silver, the third Fern Green and the last a solid light blue. A father of one of my school friends had a maroon Zephyr V4 as well which he used as a private hire vehicle.
These big Fords were longer than nearly every other car on UK roads in the 1960's and if you owned one of them "you had arrived" in the car owning pecking order.

I drove one of them. :

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One of these, the "super" version of the Mark 4 Zephyr Six with the one piece grille - KFF 646H.
It was just before Easter 1972 and I was press ganged to help a family friend to get a new shop open before the weekend. At 4.00pm on the Wednesday the owner was short of paint and archetraves and I was sent to the local builder's merchants five miles away. He pointed to his Zephyr adding that the keys were in the ignition.
The Zephyr had individual front seats and a floor gearchange and I was no stranger to the "umberella" handbrake.
I had driven "big" vehicles before despite only being 18. A Ford Transit, An Austin J4 van, A Bedford CA and two Bedford CF's ( great van by the way, far nicer than a Transit) but even I was intimidated by the big Ford.

The bonnet looked like an aircraft carrier flight deck. The 2.5 V6 engine was lusty, certainly but driving it was like steering the aircraft carrier. It was cumbersome with vague steering and it pulled to the left alarmingly when braking.
The builder's merchant yard was confined and awkward and rear visibility of the Zephyr was poor. A small rear 'screen and that big "C" pillar did not help. I left it by the entrance gate and carried my goods by trolley.
I arrived back very relieved and the next day when sent on a similar errand I took the owner's Commer Minibus instead. I felt happier in it.

There was an "Executive" version of the Zodiac in the nearest town but I never saw the estate version
The local funeral director had a Mk 4 Zodiac hearse for years and the "first car" was a black Zephyr V6.

I had driven a Mark 3 Zodiac with the superb 2600cc straight six engine with the novel four speed column change and far preferred it.

What do you remember of the big Mark 4's?
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Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[peter scott]

[baconsdozen]

I bought a dark green Mk4 estate from a Norwich car auction many years back. Tax and a full MOT.
Driving at 30mph on the way back I had to brake hard when a car pulled out of a side road and the front wheels ended up a foot further back than when I'd bought it. The bodged front chassis sections had given up the ghost and the roll bar,suspension arms and whole shebang had parted company with it.
I only really wanted the engine (to stuff in an unsuspecting SWB transit) so I jacked it up and tied and wired it back enough to drive it back home.
I doubt the road holding or steering was any different before or after.
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Thirty years selling imperial hand tools for old machinery(Now happily retired).

[BigJohn]

I remember my old Man collecting me from school in a brand new green one which the local Ford dealer had lent him as a sales pitch, the next day he came home in a Lotus Cortina saying the Mk4 Zephyr six only needed six pockets on the bonnet to be a mobile snooker table. He swapped his mk3 Zephyr Six for a Vauxhall 3.3 PB Velox which was left when the new PC came out. All company cars. but he was the operations manager, so he picked them.

[V8 Nutter]

I used to know someone who worked at the local Ford dealers, he told me Ford had plans to offer a 3.8 litre version of the V6 and the 302 (5 litre) V8 in the mark 4's. Low sales didn't justify the expence. The 3.8 V6 engine did make it into production in America.

[websnail]

My Dad had one when we were kids. Us five kids loved it.
He used it to tow a large caravan for our holidays around Devon & Cornwall.
With the caravan on the back, it was a 'mile long' and just a little tight in the lanes

[Fluffle-Valve]

I remember back in the early 1970’s my dad having a Zephyr 4 and one time when parked on our sloping driveway, the very young lad from next-door was sat in the driver’s seat while my dad and neighbour were doing something in the garage. The lad let the handbrake off and the zephyr rolled down the drive and into the garage. The only problem was that the lad tried to get out as it rolled down the drive and trapped his leg in the door and the sill as the car wedged its self in the garage doorway. He got away with bruises to his leg and a clipped ear from his dad. His dad had to fork out for a replacement door.
Another time with the same car, we were on holiday in Wales somewhere, towing a sprite musketeer around from campsite to campsite. Then one day I heard my dad moaning about lack of power and that something was wrong with the engine. I remember him having the head off from one side of the V4 and he was grinding valves in, in the middle of a camp site! It attracted plenty of attention from other holiday makers and I was telling everyone that my dad could fix anything anywhere.
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Series 3 1972 LWB Truck Cab Pick Up. My daily drive.

[poodge]

The Ministry of Transport in new zealand,who employed the "road cops" in those days,used mk4 V6's as patrol cars for a while.
None of the cops liked the "Zeph's",so they were invariable stuck in the garage,until an unfortunate latecomer had to take what was left
They much preferred the agile Fiat 125's the mot also ran about this time,in addition to the Australian Holden's.Although the Holdens were also no great shakes in the handling department,they had a good turn of speed ,and were utterly reliable,unlike the aforementioned Fiats.
Vauxhall PB was also used,and though fast,suffered similar handling problems to Holdens and Zephyrs.

[Tricky Dickie]

I remember all the series of Consuls, Zephys and Zodiacs very well, as my father used to buy a new one every January - stating with Mk 1 Consuls and progressing through Zephyrs to a Mk 3 Zodiac for a total of 8 of these great cars. It all ended when the Mk 4 came out - that first V6 engine was such a let-down after those wonderful in-line engines which served Ford and its customers so well for so many years; and that awful body....! That was the end of Ford cars for my Father, who had sworn by them until then.
Tricky Dickie

[BigJohn]

I remember on my first Police driving course, on our first visit to the skid pan we were using knackered Triumph 2000's. Parked up was a Mk4 Zodiac, whilst I was sat on the pan side having a fag I noticed it had drive to the front wheels, i.e. a Ferguson conversion. At brew time the instructors challenged the more cocky of us to a "chase" and they would drive the Dagenham Barge, 50p stake if they caught us. I said nothing but could not be goaded into the bet as 50p was serious beer money to me. Money was lost by many until I told the instructors I didn't bet against loaded dice.