Maybe not a hero - but rare?

[LongQ]

I saw this parked up in an industrial area in a town close to where I live. The location sort of brings us back to earth compared to some of the other posts!

There can't have been many around when it was new so to find one apparently in regular use is surprising.

The overall it looks OK, except for the hood which seems crude and the twin modern aerials, until you look close up. The paintwork has a nice gloss but some questionable decals. Wheel arches and other places hint of filler rather than metalwork, but overall I have to say for a cursory inspection it looked reasonable.

If this is, as the badges suggest, a Zephyr with overdrive it must be one of very few. As I recall most of the convertibles were Consuls and even on the saloons the overdrive option was not a regular specification. My family had a Zephyr saloon of a similar age and with overdrive, mainly because we were living in Germany at the time and there were good reasons for using overdrive on the autobahns. At that time in the UK there were still relatively few miles of motorway so overdrive was a less obvious benefit.

Edited by LongQ on Saturday 28th October 12:46

[fat richie]

That's nice! As you say shame about the modern aerials, should be period ones at the same slant. Like the period accessory wing mirrors though.

[crankedup]

I'd give im'garage space, no problem, nice. Sort of car that the old Rockers moved onto after they had outgrown thier motorbikes.

[LongQ]

The sticker things on the rear windows (not very visible in the pics) sort of suggest the owner may be an Elvis fan.

Looking at the shots again it may be that just one of the rear arches is a bit iffy - in which case overall it is pretty fair condition.

Presumably the aerials would be an easy change but I would guess that they would attract vandals and therefore the risk of damage to the bodywork. So if the car is in regular use it makes sense to fit something else.

Great to see it though - must be about 45 years old? Maybe a little more?

[rich 36]

Is that your 'Daktari liveried landrover reflected in the paintwork




or do you drive for longleat safari park

[LongQ]

rich 36 said:

Is that your 'Daktari liveried landrover reflected in the paintwork

or do you drive for longleat safari park

Interesting effect isn't it.

I think it is a metal security fence behind me. (Visible on the left of the 3rd image.) The strange ripple effect suggests some wobbly panels but they don't seem too bad in the other shot. Odd really. Could be something to do with digital camera sensors and interference patterns I suppose.

The thing is that it was quite shiny and being black the smallest ripple can show up badly in that sort of light.

Edited by LongQ on Sunday 29th October 10:23

[Balmoral Green]

One of my earliest motoring memories is of being a toddler and sitting in the middle of the front bench seat of Dads MKII Consul convertible, just like the Zephyr in the pics. Only ours was yellow with a white hood and white vinyl seats. I remember the yellow painted dash and the white steering wheel. We got stuck in a ford and I can picture the open doors and water flowing by as we were pushed out by some onlookers. Mum & Dad had an awfull crash in the car, into the railings by the small building off the A52/Nottingham ringroad at the Uni, as you come off the roundabout heading out of town, probably pre Ednaston flyover and QMC underpass days too. No seat belts and the car just crumpled up.

[L100NYY]

My parents had one of these in blue when I was a kid, and to make you feel really old it was a classic then!

Seriously though, I have great memories of that huge steering wheel with the chrome bar horn push, the 'bar' like speedo and of course those superb bench seats. I remember at the time that the Zodiac was absolutely vast but I bet that by todays standards it is actually quite small.

Ahh memories.........