This week’s Prime Find goes back to a time when fins on British cars were popular, and while not as extreme as on some models from across the pond, the transatlantic influence was obvious. Cars such as the Sunbeam Rapier, Hillman Minx, the Farina BMC range and others all displayed rear fins as part of their styling. It wasn’t just in the UK either – an entire range of Mercedes-Benz saloons were nicknamed “Fintail” and in France, the Peugeot 404 was stylistically almost a clone of the BMC Farina cars, fins and all – no surprise since it was also styled by Pininfarina.
Perhaps the ultimate finned cars in the UK – and thanks to the Z-Cars TV police show, the most famous – were the Ford Zephyr and Zodiac Mark III, which really were used by a number of UK police forces, and our Prime Find this weekend is a fine example of the top of the range Zodiac Mark III model.
The Zephyr name was first introduced in the UK in 1950, although Lincoln used it on one of their cars as far back as 1936. It was Ford of Britain’s most upmarket model, being effectively a more luxurious version of the Ford Consul, and the range moved further upmarket with the introduction of the Zodiac in 1953.
The Mark III’s predecessors
While the Mark I and II Zephyr were quite distinctly styled, the Mark III was a complete departure, being more modern as well as slightly longer and wider. A wider front grille and more pronounced fins were just part of the revamp, although some of the mechanical components, including the basic chassis design, were carried over.
The base car was the Zephyr 4 – so designated as it had the four-cylinder 1,703cc engine from the Consul – while under the bonnet of the Zephyr 6 was the 2,553cc unit from the Mark II. Externally they were distinguishable by the different front grilles and headlamp siting, but were otherwise very similar.
The Zodiac, however, while ostensibly closely related, had a number of differences, among them a sharper roofline, a unique grille with a four-headlamp arrangement within a unique grille, different bumpers, as well as a more luxurious interior, with the Executive version being more luxurious still. Power output from the 2.5-litre six was increased to 109bhp and disc brakes were fitted at the front.
All Zephyr’s and Zodiac’s built by Ford were four-door saloons, though there was also an estate conversion by British coachbuilder Abbotts of Farnham – it looked pretty good, I think.
Competition to the Zephyr/Zodiac came from the likes of the Vauxhall Cresta, Rover P6. Volvo Amazon and Humber Hawk, all fine cars, with the Rover probably the most advanced of them, the most “modern”.
Some of the Ford Zephyr/Zodiac’s competition
In its short – only four-year lifespan – the big Ford was a success, helped by its regular visibility on the hit British TV police series Z-Cars, and motoring press reactions to the big Ford were largely very favourable, with one major caveat, as we’ll see.
In a 1962 test the Motor magazine achieved a top speed of 100.7 mph/162.1 km/h and accelerated from 0-60 mph/97 km/h in 13.4 seconds, making this the first British-made Ford – the UK and German divisions still had different line-ups at this time – to reach 100mph. This performance was at the expense of a fairly heavy thirst, with a touring fuel consumption of 22.6 miles per gallon or 12.5 L/100 km; not what you might call economical.
Autocar tested a Zodiac in April 1962 and praised many aspects of the car – it’s performance and refinement, its appointments, heating and ventilation, comfort for those in the front, though not it’s rear legroom or ease of access. Overall, the testers considered the Zodiac to be a car of many virtues.
Motor Sport also liked the Zodiac, calling it “an impressive automobile” but also felt the lack of rear legroom a major drawback, to the point where it felt this big car – 15 feet 3 inches long – was only really comfortable for three people as opposed to the intended six. Ford replaced the Mark III in 1966 with the Mark IV, which could hardly have looked more different, and for me, less interesting.
According to howmanyleft.com, 66 Zodiac Mark III’s remain on UK roads, more than twice as many as there are Zephyrs, incidentally, with 23 SORN. Mark III’s were also built in New Zealand, competing with locally-built Holdens and Ford’s own Falcon, so there are sure to be some survivors there too.
All of which brings us to “our” car, a 1965 (despite it’s listing showing it as 1964) example that goes under the hammer with SWVA (South West Vehicle Auctions) in Poole as part of their July 29th sale. It’s finished in a very cool shade of maroon with black upholstery, which looks to be the optional leather, though this is not stated in the particulars. In fact, there’s very little information in the lot entry, which you can see here, at all.
The vendor states that they bought the car fifteen years ago, barely drove it while keeping it stored in a warehouse before having it restored two years ago, the extent of that restoration not being stated, but the car does look to be in very fine condition both inside and out.
The stated, but unwarranted, mileage is 47,000, and has an estimate range of between £7,500 to £8,500, which on the face of it seems reasonable – Historics also have one, in need of paintwork and some general TLC – with an estimate range of £5,000 to £7,000; I would suggest that “our” car represents better value having already been restored.
This is a very good example of an iconic – in the UK, at least – classic Ford that will certainly turn heads wherever it goes, and if you’re tempted to bid for it, we recommend, as usual, arranging a prior inspection if possible.
With our Saturday instalment of Prime Find of the Week, we’re offering our services to the classic car community, by passing on our favourite classic car for sale from the week that passed. This top-tip might help a first-time-buyer to own his first classic, or it could even be the perfect motivation for a multiple-classic-car-owner to expand his garage with something different. We’ll let us be inspired by anything from a cheap project to a stunning concours exotic, and hope that you will do the same.
Just remember – Any Classic is Better than No Classic! We obviously invite our readers to help prospective buyers with your views and maybe even experiences of any given model we feature. Further to that, if you stumble across a classic which you feel we ought to feature as Prime Find of the Week, then please send us a link to primefindoftheweek@viaretro.co.uk