I was driving up to Glasgow on Sunday and passed an early 70's Ford Zephyr estate car.
My dad used to drive one of these in the mid to late 70's as a taxi. I was 6 or 7 at the time and when I first saw it and I thought it was the biggest car in the world. It DWARFED other cars on the road at that time.
However, when I went past the one I saw on Sunday, it looked just like a regular sized modern car, maybe even a bit smaller than average. I'm not sure but it's dimensions may be similar to a Focus estate nowadays.
Times change...
Last edited by: Pugugly on Tue 24 Aug 10 at 09:05
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They do indeed. My old MkI Astra is now probably comparable to the current Corsa and my old MkIII Granada seems comparable to the current Mondeo.
I wonder how much larger the cars of the future will be?
Last edited by: Pugugly on Tue 24 Aug 10 at 09:06
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Zephyr Mk4
Length 180.75 in (4591 mm) (saloon & estate)
Width 69.25 in (1759 mm)
Current Mondeo
Length 4778–4844 mm
Width 1812–1886 mm
Family Mondeo is longer & fatter than the executive Zephyr of 30/40 yrs ago
Last edited by: Pugugly on Tue 24 Aug 10 at 09:06
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That's quite interesting Falkirk B, I used to drive a Zephyr 4 mrk 3 in the 70's and thought it was huge,
When I look at a new Fiesta down the road on my 6-30am sorte with the mutt, I think back to the original
*small* fiesta.
Similarly, compare the mini with The Mini.
Last edited by: Pugugly on Tue 24 Aug 10 at 09:07
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If you want a good example of what's happened to car sizes over the last 30 years in one model, look at the Golf. The mk1 is almost half a metre shorter than the mk6, half a tonne lighter, and is TINY by modern standards.
mk1 Golf
Overall length 3705mm
Overall width 1628mm
Overall height 1390mm
Kerb weight (1.6 GTI) 810kg
mk6 Golf
Overall length: 4199 mm
Overall width: 1779 mm wide
Overall height: 1479 mm tall
Kerb weight (GTI): 1318kg
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or look at the size of rats
when i were a kid they were small
now they come as big as houses in bradford
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Spiders too.
Wanted to rake the grass yesterday but there was a spider in the shed that just refused to let go of the rake.
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>> Spiders too.
Yes, our cat was lying peacefully on the grass next to me under a tree on Sunday afternoon, when a spider the perceived size of a dinner plate descended down a thread and landed in front of her nose. I made a hasty retreat and saw the cat running for her life in the other direction. That's all I need, an arachnophobic cat.
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>> now they come as big as houses in bradford
>>
Given that they're the staple diet of some of the polulation, hardly surprising! ;-)
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My 1995 Granada was big, or at least it felt that way, 15 years ago - it is shorter and narrower than the current Mondeo.
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That would be the one with the big, flat, square bonnet apparently longer than the rest of the car? Our physics teacher had one. I remember an account of him going over the Hardknott pass in it. It was some sort of school trip. The bonnet apparently just kept going up into the sky, goodness only knows what lay beyond. Somehow they stayed on the road.
JH
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>> That would be the one with the big, flat, square bonnet apparently longer than the
>> rest of the car? >>
They were probably the ugliest heaps ever made by Ford.
Real rustbuckets too, within very few years of production ending you hardly ever saw one.
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Bonnet like the flight deck of USS Nimitz. Inside had rather less space than an Austin 1800. Dad's office manager booked him one on hire for a couple of days while the company Victor was in dock. Old love thought she was getting the boss a treat; he was so intimidated he came straight home with a migraine!!
The V6 version was reputedly prone to overheat at fhe slightest provocation.
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Something about dodgy / hard tyres rings a bell too for some reason. Someone will remember the details no doubt.
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>> Something about dodgy / hard tyres rings a bell too for some reason. Someone will
>> remember the details no doubt.
>>
Yes Ford used hard firestone tyres on the Mark 4 Zephyr. Spun like tops in the wet.. I cannot see why they did as the simplest road test...
But then in those days Ford only fitted Goodyear or Firestones.
CAR magazine called the Goodyear equivalent tyres for the Zephyr "Goodyear Gripless ".. I can't remember what they called the Firestones...
As a result neither Firestone nor Goodyear advertised in CAR for years..
I've stopped reading it when it went all spotty yoofs who knew nothing and judged a car by how fast it went round a racing track... and could not write prose like Bishop or Setright...
The passing of an era? No just shows I'm an old windbag :-(
Last edited by: madf on Tue 24 Aug 10 at 16:21
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>>could not write prose like Bishop or Setright...
No madf, I for one certainly miss the passing of those that can use the Queen's English.
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"probably the ugliest heaps ever made by Ford." Hmm, I'd offer the boss eyed final edition of the Granada as a contender.
JH
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Would that be the Scorpio, what on earth ford where thinking with that, heaven knows? a god awful looking car.
Actually saw one about a month ago picking someone up outside work, still looks awful.
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...Would that be the Scorpio...
Plenty of room in it - back and front.
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The Scorpio did cross my mind before I made that post, but the latter day Z cars fell from a much taller ugly tree.
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The Scorpio was fugly alright, but very likeable. Particularly in 24v Cosworth guise, where it was fast, comfy, spacious, effortless, and laden with every gadget known to man. Built like a tank, to boot.
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>> The Scorpio was fugly alright, but very likeable.
Miles behind the competition to drive though. In the early 90s I once stepped out of a BMW525i rental car into a 6 cylinder Scorpio (can't remember the engine size). It had more toys than any car I'd driven up to that point but felt like a boat powered by a tractor engine compared to the BMW which had no noticeable gadgets whatsoever but drove so well I didn't care. I'm not surprised Ford gave up on the premium saloon market.
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The old pushrod V6 was gutless and thirsty, but Cosworth's magic turned it into a belter. Quad cams, 24 valves and 204 bhp from 2.9 litres made it easily a match for the contemporary 3.0 BMW unit. Granted, the car wasn't as polished as a 5 series, but an equivalent spec and performance BMW was 8 grand more expensive at street prices.
I really liked this car. It wasnt the best dynamically, but it went like stink, was truly all day comfy, sounded fantastic, and was very well put together. The standard V6 was very forgettable, but the Cosworth was huge fun.
Last edited by: DP on Tue 24 Aug 10 at 23:01
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That' the one Red, sorry I forgot thay'd changed the name. Not a bad looking car until they restyled it. Inoffensive anyway.
JH
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The estates were quite rare - custom built by Abbot of Farnham IIRC from my PC reading days.
I personally liked the fintail MkIII - there was a battleship grey one with red vinyl interior round the corner from where I lived as a youngster.
I'm sure my dad told me about someone with a MkIV where the huge bonnet flew open on the move - scary.
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My Dad had the Zephyr version of the Mk2 and after that he had one of these.....
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ford_Zephyr_6_License_plate_1965.jpg
I used to sit on the fold down centre armrest in the front so I could see out as a small child.
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>> I used to sit on the fold down centre armrest in the front
Get you, my mum had a Zephyr 4 without the armrest :-(
It was a '64 B reg in the same Windsor Grey as the one in Humph's link. Red vinyl bench seats, column change (which snapped off one day halfway home from town, causing the remainder of the journey to be made in 2nd gear!), only did about 800 miles between MoT tests. It was bought in the late 60s before I was born and it was eventually sold in 1988 when the clutch started to slip. It only had 67,000 miles on the clock, I do hope the next owner fulfilled his promise to change the clutch and keep it on the road.
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"Zephyr Mk4
Length 180.75 in (4591 mm) (saloon & estate)
Width 69.25 in (1759 mm) "
Fascinating - many thanks, Falkirk Bairn. That's very little longer than my current Octavia estate, but I remember the Mark IV well, and still have no idea what sort of advance it was supposed to represent over the (to my eyes) quite good-looking Mark III.
If I remember right, the football-pitch bonnet covered the spare wheel as well as the engine. I suppose the rear legroom and boot must have been a lot smaller than in an Octavia or Mondeo.
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The usp of the Zephyr 4 was independant rear suspension, but it was very poory designed so the handing when combined with standard crossply tyes and 6 turns unassisted steering was often lethal. Ford GB gave up designing large cars after this and shared designs for the Granada with the Germans.
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>> but I remember the Mark IV well, and still have no idea what sort of
>> advance it was supposed to represent over the (to my eyes) quite good-looking Mark III.
The Mark IV Zephyr had, for its time, very sophisticated independent rear suspension using semi-trailing arms and had disc brakes all round. It was therefore not only far more sophisticated than the Mk III with its live axle and cart springs, technically it was right up there with the contemporary Triumph 2000 and Rover P6.
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Just shows the mind plays tricks. My memory is that they were/are vast with w i d e bench seats. I drove a V4 Zephyr Mk IV gently in ~1969 and found it quiet and comfortable.The steering was light come to think on it.
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>>>The Mark IV Zephyr had, for its time, very sophisticated independent rear suspension using semi-trailing arms and had disc brakes all round. It was therefore not only far more sophisticated than the Mk III with its live axle and cart springs, technically it was right up there with the contemporary Triumph 2000 and Rover P6.
Maybe but the end result was something of a floaty tank with rear end breakaway at the slightest excuse. Nothing of the class or finess of the Rover and Triumph 2000 models.
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The Mark IV Zephyr to have was the Jensen FF 4x4 that was developed specifically for the UK Police.Web browsing suggests that only 20 were made but I cannot find any comments on the driveability. I remember going to a Govt Auction of ex police and military vehicles in about 1970, (in Leicestershire?), where there were about 6 of these for sale. If only I had had the money then!
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I can remember driving along a road in a Mk.I Escort twin-cam;exciting,bags of noise,hard suspension and then the following day going just as fast on the same stretch of road in overdrive top in a Mk. IV Zodiac with the radio playing-tell me which was better!
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My father drove one for a while, He called it the Ark Royal
The bonnet was a flight deck and it handled like an aircraft carrier.
Last edited by: Zero on Wed 25 Aug 10 at 16:03
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The later ones had much better handling and a gun-sight on the front of the bonnet.
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Ford - Ford Zodiac/Zephyr - Size of cars - Badwolf
