SCZZEC Magazine June 2003

For Sale
Set of Mk1 glass, front and rear. Mk2 Boot lids [rust free] Mk3 Zephyr kick plates [full set]
Contact Garey Hanifin Ph 688-6663

Club gear for sale:
Car sash$13.50 each
Cloth badges $3.95 each
Lapel pins $4.50 each
10th anniversary pin badges $5.00 each (only two left)
Phone Wayne Phillips, (03) 686-2523 evenings

Club Captain's Report

In This Issue.............

South Canterbury Zephyr & Zodiac Enthusiasts Club

Well here we are back in the hot seat again! It was not my intention to stand for president until a committee meeting a week or so prior to the AGM. At that meeting we looked at who might be willing to take over the job from Bob. No one stood out as wanting the job so the meeting finished with a "let�s wait and see" situation .
On the way home I thought that if there were no nominations for the job I would allow my name to go forward .
Well the outcome was no takers, so here I am.

I am very happy with the strength of the committee that I have in support, and I know that this is going to be another great year. I think that is very evident with the absolutely great "Show �n' Shine" we had mid May. Johnnie, Glenis and the two Bobs did a great job and I thank them very much.

To have 19 Zcars turn out for a country run to an unknown venue to be judged was just great. Not forgetting of course the two Mk5s that turned up as their Z cars were off the road. If that is the strength of enthusiasm in the club we are in for a great year!
I went to great lengths at the AGM to state my thoughts on getting info to Carol for the mag. Carol does a supreme job with the mag but she is very dependant on getting info from members. Please pass any info you may think suitable on to Carol or any of the committee members . Our mag is too good to risk losing!!

I will finish by congratulating all the winners at our Show �n� Shine. All the cars looked great and I know that they all deserved recognition, but there can only be one winner in each category.

Drive safely
Garey Hanifin

This is my first report as your new club captain. I will be working with Malcolm Stewart, social convenor.
We have put together the runs and activities for the coming year. These are listed in coming events. Mark these dates in your diary.
We will be visiting some interesting places on our runs with input from our Ashburton and Oamaru members. I can see some great cruising coming up. If your Zephyr is out of action or being restored you are most welcome in your Mk 5 or organise a seat in another member�s car.

The Show and Shine run organised by John and Glenis Hull (with help from the boys) was a great day�marvellous effort with a good turnout, and those goodies bags�what can I say? Thanks guys.
The next run will be a Poker Run on Sunday, 22 June.

The Zephyr Which was Ageless
By Rob Campbell
From Hot Rod magazine, April 1970 ............continued from last month

I championed my cause at school too, and also got hell there. One big guy said: �Hear about the new Consul towing a trailer up King Street hill? � got half way up and all the doors flew open.� If I�d been a cool cat I could have simply stated it was strange that half the town happened to be there at that moment and seen that incident, for everyone was saying it. But as I was a hot-head I tried to cut him down with the first thing that came into my head � �Anyway they�ve brought out new door locks.�
Instant guffaws, throwing of old sandwiches and banana skins, raspberries, bring my blood pressure to over boiling point, SWIPE � forgetting he was bigger � wonder if Ford would have appreciated I got a busted nose for them?

Anyway as time went on and so did the Fords, stories and busted noses diminished somewhat. And a guy with a Consul in the area towed a whopping great launch over the hills to Mercury Bay every three weeks without a hitch. The stories must have got back to the Ford dealers for this guy brought his car back for a grease and check after every one of those trips, and the Ford mechanics checked the door clearances with micrometers and reassured people like my Dad that everything was A1.

This Consul was the first car I drove: the whole family was up the East Coast bays north of Auckland for a holiday one Christmas around �53, and Dad relented to my pleadings and let me sit behind those volatile pedals. I pulled the starter; I knew that you pushed in the clutch to move the lever into any gear, so I did that. Okay, it�s in gear, so what you do now if let the clutch out again and press on the accelerator when you want to move off. You can guess what happened � we went leap-frogging down the side of the bach like a jellyfish on a pogo stick; younger brothers leaping and running and screaming with delight beside the car; Dad screaming at the kids to shut up and keep quiet, screaming at me with my foot tromping on the gas pedal every time the car leap-frogged which made things worse. Here came the rear corner of the house and with a spinning steering wheel around I cam like a grass track flier; grass and sand flying everywhere like a motor mower gone crazy; and Mother standing transfixed under the washing line with a handful of clothes and pegs, thinking her day of reckoning had come. So did I, and Dad swore I�d never drive again. I felt like a twitching heap on the ground.

But my second attempt did come, a year later on the road, and after watching everything people did with their feet when driving, all went smoothly. So smoothly that after we got back I told Mum I was able to drive just as good as Dad now. That brought an instant cutting remark to put me in my place�deflated ego again. Back to the push-bike.
But the Fords kept on; in the days when Grand Prix meant roaring around the Ardmore Aerodrome near Auckland, and when you had at least ten different models of cars in every saloon race while twin carbs, cam, planed head and branch exhaust were all anybody wanted and had, George Dickson made himself immortal in a Mk I Zephyr by beating the almighty Jaguars. I�ll never forget that black Zephyr wallowing and tearing its tyres off (no wide wheels in those days) and I�ll also never forget the number of people who speculated whether his bumper-mounted spare wheel was illegally filled with water to weigh the back down!

By the time the Mk IIs came out the old Mk I Zephyr had accomplished some amazing things � Ken Wharton won another Tulip Rally in one, finishing with front coils sagged two inches; the Raymond Mays head had allowed guys over here like Spinner Black to be feared, and someone in England fitted one of them with Raymond Mays gear, overdrive unit, and 16 inch rear wheels to tour the continent cruising effortlessly at 90mph. So the Mk IIs had some record to beat, but they had one big advantage: all four wheels had been pushed forward four inches, giving better weight distribution than the Mk I�s notorious 58% front and 42% rear.
With allcomer monsters still going on the roundy-roundy circuits here, Mk IIs kept going reasonably well with more specialised souping, wide wheels and suspension packages, until their generous engine compartment room started people thinking. A guy in Aussie could have been the first to do something about it in early �58; he stuffed a Customline V8 motor and gearbox into one with moderate souping and found the weight distribution with the heavier motor wasn�t affected badly because the mill�s weight was further back than the original six.

Then Rod Coppins really came into the limelight with his Mk II � Corvette motor and Borg-Warner T-10 gearbox, widened and strengthened Thames Freighter 15 inch wheels with racing Firestones, lowered front suspension by mounting the coil pods up through the engine hood, with eight exhaust stacks belching straight up. Mighty stuff, and everyone from salesmen, family men to farmers were still using Zephyrs without breaking their backs, and without the suspension falling off in pot-holes.
By the time the Mk III had been released I�d had some fun with Zephyrs too; like designing and making a twin carb �ram� manifold using two ancient down-draught SUs off an old Jaguar, which with twin exhaust system and high compression gave good performance but only 12 to the gallon at the best of times! Restricted leg room in the back of the Mk III was about the only real criticism; they didn�t make everyone drool with their looks but at the same time I admired them very much because they were different in styling from anything going � all the Holden, Vauxhall, Falcon styling, for instance, was only poor imitation of our American brothers in a way, compared to the individuality the Mk III gained through its side-crease which tapered to the front. And of course, lowered with mag wheels and fats, and especially with a Corvette mill underneath, they were a groovy machine and still are.

If the Mk III didn�t push the Mk II out of favour for racing, which it didn�t despite its four-speed box, then the Mk finished things off altogether. Ford changed its policy by trying to get away from the Vauxhall poor man�s six-seater, and offering a bulky answer to a poor man�s luxury car, or something � who knows what, because despite its extremely potent V6 mill, it constituted the end of the breed. Finished the reign of the old Zephyr most of us knew and loved � the car which could suit any purpose and be butchered to any degree.
And Dad�s still got the old Consul, still near good as new, so that old school-bus driver was wrong see? And I was right see� And that goes with a big raspberry to the guy who bust my nose at high school too!

Zephyr which was ageless

Show �n� Shine 2003
Sunday 18 May

35 members and some friends met at Zanzibars for breakfast and a yarn. Mid morning we were given easy to see and should have been easily followed, simple instructions which sent us south through Pareora and east towards Maungati.
Just before the Pareora Gorge at a checkpoint manned by two of the Hull boys (sorry, now Hull men!) and their girls, we were given a run pack which contained products and either a substantial prize or voucher�very nice and a real surprise.

With 20 vehicles doing the same run some still managed to get a bit lost, a couple of instructions did have to be thought about.
Jim Bower, first run in his just-purchased ex-James Langston Mk III Zephyr, unfortunately ground to a halt not too far from the run venue. With many helpers and a tow rope we got Jim to Cave. Bob Duke shot into town to pick up a new rotor. Problem solved.
The lunch stop and judging was held at the Cave Arms Tavern where Mike and Lyn Balchin made us feel most welcome, virtually letting us have the run of the hotel. Choice of bar meals or eat your own on the premises!!

The judges from the local Falcon Fairlane Club had sorted out the winners within an hour and from then on it was up to Garey, Johnny and Bob to deal with trophies and some nice surprises for most of the competitors. No-one went home empty-handed, prizes from jellybeans to meal vouchers topped off a great day.

Trophy winners were:
Best Mk I: Malcolm Stewart
Best Mk II: Ross Warner
Best Mk III: Bob Duke
Best Mk IV: Neville Stevens
Best club car: Russell Paul

John Hull

On behalf of all the members of the South Canterbury Zephyr and Zodiac Enthusiasts� Club I thank the following businesses for their kind donations of products and vouchers for our Show �n� Shine
Moyle�s Pharmacy, Dee St
Roberts Pharmacy, cnr Hassall & Harper Sts
Ashbury Pharmacy, Northtown Mall
Robert Harris, Stafford St
Kowhai Florist and Garden Supplies, Church St
Zinnias, Stafford St
The Loaded Hog, George St
Hairy Lemon, Stafford St
Plantorama, Levels
Farmers, Stafford St
Coq & Pullet, cnr Stafford & Beswick Sts
Footprints Caf�, Northtown Mall
Hideaway Coffee Lounge, 218 Stafford St
Hopkinsons Giftware, cnr Hilton Hwy & Seadown Rd
Autotrans, 3-11 King St
Autoalign on King St, 17 King St
BNT Automotive, 4 Barnard St
Avon Cosmetics, Springs Rd
Muffler & Auto, The Terrace
SC Toyota, cnr Stafford & North and Heaton Sts
Zanzibars Restaurant & Bar, 56 The Bay Hill
Dee St Chemist Ltd, 5 Dee St
Classic Hits 99FM, Sophia St

Members are strongly urged to support those who support us. Thanks again, and as they say: �You guys rock!!�

It was suggested at the convention that contributions might be a good thing for the magazine. Or a section for women.
Yvette has offered to start us off with: �Lessons learned in the back seat of a Zephyr�. So how about it?
All contributions gratefully received.
We hear that Geoff found a good use for the condoms so thoughtfully provided by the Southland club at the convention. Mmmmm�. Always heard the capacity was quite amazing�.
Good to know the magazine�s got a following in Cambridge. Greetings Jane and Mike! Hope you had a safe trip home.