SCZZEC Magazine Decermber 2002

During November four club members attended the Vintage Car Club All British Day in Christchurch - Bob Stevens, Mk III Zodiac; Reg Stokes and Laurie Spillane, Mk III Zephyr; and Robin and Lois Marshall, Mk I Zephyr.

This was an interesting run from McLeans Island through Springston, Leeston and Doyleston to the Rakaia Huts camping
grounds where about 100 cars assembled. It was a very good turnout with some interesting old and odd cars participating.
We managed to win a prize for the time taken for the run - surprising really as we got lost at one stage.

The Moeraki trip was cancelled due to poor weather over the weekend, and also the visit we had planned was cancelled.
Our apologies to Andrew Leask, who travelled down from Methven in his Mk I Zephyr.
Thanks to Peter Hunter for calling down to the meeting point and letting people know this run had been called off.

December is our last meeting for the year, with our Christmas dinner and get-together on the 7th at the Greyway Lounge, Timaru Raceway at 6.30pm.
If you haven�t indicated you are attending, please ring Garey Hanifin on 688-6663, as we have to confirm our numbers.

This will be the last mag until February 2003. I hope everyone has a great festive season and we will see you at the first meeting of the new year - Monday, 3 February.
Merry Christmas, happy holidays and keep those Zephyrs rolling.

Bob Stevens
President

Eric Scott informs us that his dog Peppa has died. Peppa has joined the club for many runs over a good number of years, from Nelson to Dunedin, Balclutha and Alexandra. He will be missed.

I am an old car enthusiast and stumbled on your club site today. My first car (ever) was a brand new 1955 Ford Consul purchased in Belfast, Northern Ireland for around 670 pounds sterling.
This included extra for the heater, Lucas spotlights and radio which were not standard. It was shiny black with red vinyl seats and proved to be a first class crumpet collector (I was 21 at that time).

After I emigrated to Canada my father drove the car for many, many years and it looked like brand new when he traded it for another new Consul in 1980. I still have my original owner�s manual.

Enough about me - all sections of your magazine are great to read, but I especially enjoyed the comedy corner.

Incidentally, I visited Auckland 30 years ago and loved what I saw and the people I met -you are very fortunate.
My wife competes in triathlon and swimming and she is thinking about Ironman New Zealand, so we may meet some day.

Thank you for an excellent wander down my memory lane.
Regards, Stan Jordan yyjyyj[Remove this to write]@shaw.ca
149 Norwich Road, Gabriola Island,
British Columbia, Canada VOR-1ZO

Mike gets reports on what people are looking for when they use the search facility on our club website.
This is from the August report:

Day/Time of Query Query

Though history normally regards the 1949 US Ford range as the great turning point in the rebirth of the Ford Motor Company under Henry Ford II, there was nothing in the mechanical specification of that range that couldn�t be matched by Ford�s rivals, to
whom hydraulic brakes and independent front suspension were old hat and the sidevalve V8 engine was the day-before-yesterday�s news.

In contrast the Consul/Zephyr range launched at the 1950 Olympia Motor Show by Ford of Britain was one of the most advanced designs of popular car then produced anywhere in the world, for it combined monocoque construction and an oversquare overhead valve engine (the first-ever use of upstairs valves by Ford) with the first application of an
ingenious independent front suspension system designed by Ford�s vice president of engineering, Earle MacPherson.

Today, the MacPherson Strut is used by car makers all round the world.
Another breakthrough for Ford was the use of 12V instead of 6V electrics, while the 13in wheels were the smallest seen on cars of that size in Britain up to then.
Because Ford of Britain�s engineering department was small, the new cars were designed in Dearborn, though engineers from Dagenham were sent there to work on the project.

The over-square engine dimensions were the first to be seen from a British manufacturer since the abolition of road tax based on cylinder bore in June 1947; indeed, the bore/stroke ratio was 0.96:1 at a time when the rival Vauxhall Velox had a bore/stroke
ratio of 1.44:1.
A couple of years later Vauxhall used identical dimensions for a new Velox engine ...
Another instance of the advanced thinking applied to the Consul/Zephyr project was the pioneering use of automatic transfer machinery to produce the cylinder blocks, a move which doubled production rates at a stroke.
The Consul and Zephyr differed mainly in front end treatment and 4in extra wheelbase on the larger car

A redesigned instrument panel which incorporated a full-width parcel shelf was shown in prototype form at the October 1951 Motor Show. It was intended to replace the original �flat dash� - criticised for its lack of stowage space - though it was slow to get into
production and the changeover was not fully accomplished until September 1952.
Higher ratio final drive and slightly lower intermediate ratios were adopted in November 1951.
In April 1953 the intermediate ratios reverted to the 1951 specification.
Initially, only four-door saloons were available but at the October 1951 Motor Show a prototype of a Zephyr Six two-door convertible was exhibited.

The convertible (available on both Consul and Zephyr) was not put into full production until 1953, as problems were experienced with structural rigidity, and production convertibles, built by Carbodies of Coventry, needed a special �X�-form bracing welded
beneath the floor in improve matters.

An unusual feature of the design was a hood that could be used in the �coupe de ville� position; the Zephyr convertible�s hood was electro-hydraulically operated.
Though it was built by an outside supplier, the convertible was classed as a production model since the body-shells were modified and trimmed in Coventry but returned to Dagenham for final assembly.

Another variant on the theme was the �luggage locker expansion� launched at the 1954 Motor Show by E.D Abbot of Farnham in which the roof was extended rearwards (the extra pressing was done with concrete dies instead of steel) and an extra pair of side
windows added along with a side hinged rear door to create an estate car at modest extra cost (at its launch the price of the conversion was quoted at 145 pounds).

The performance capabilities of the Zephyr were shown when Dutchman Maurice Gatsonides won the 1953 Monte Carlo Rally with a virtually standard car, modified only in the fitment of an adjustable-jet carburettor (and a switch in the brake-light circuit so that �Gatso� could delude competitors following closely on his tail into braking too late on bends!)

In October 1953 both the Consul and Zephyr were facelifted in minor details and a new de luxe variant on the Zephyr theme called the Zephyr Zodiac was introduced.
This featured �all the special fittings that the fonder owner loves� including two-tone paint and leather upholstery, gold-plated insignia, heater and demister, screen washer and whitewall tyres (though the radio was an extra): it also had a raised compression ratio which enabled the car to use premium-grade petrol and lifted power output from 68 to 71bhp.

SPECIFICATION Consul 1951-56
Produced January 1, 1951 (EOTA 001) - February 23, 1956 (EOTA 232198)
Engine in-line ohv 1508cc four (EOTA)
Bore x stroke 79.37x76.2mm
Maximum power 47bhp @ 4400rpm
Transmission three speed
Chassis pressed steel monocoque
Wheelbase 100in (2540mm)
Track 50in (1270mm)
Length 166in (4215mm)
Suspension independent MacPherson strut front/semi-elliptic rear
Brakes four wheel hydraulic
Bodywork four door saloon, convertible, estate car
Maximum speed (approx) 75mph (120km/h)
Total production 231,481 (BU 158,012, KD 73,469)

For our female readers
Five secrets to a great relationship

1. It is important to find a man who works around the house, occasionally cooks and cleans and who has a job.
2. It is important to find a man who makes you laugh.
3. It is important to find a man who is dependable and doesn�t lie.
4. It is important to find a man who�s good in bed and who loves to have sex with you.
5. It is important that these four men never meet.

The car was first registered in Amberley on 1 October 1965 by a Mr Robin Gould.
After the Goulds sold it in 1967 it had two owners in three years.
I had trouble with the paintwork in 1973, so I scraped it back to the bare metal and changed the colour of the roof from mustard to blue.
The car had done 44,000 miles when I bought it. In 1981 at 100,000 I had it done up, being bored out to .020�.
I have just had the motor done up again at 211,000 miles, this time bored out to .040�.

We have another car now, but for the first 18 yeas of married life the Zodiac was our only car.
The children didn�t mind travelling in it when they were young, but as they grew up they were not so keen to be seen in it.