SCZZEC Magazine October 2002

In the glove-box and parcel tray were a road map of Britain, one English AA book, the Highway Code for London, and the Dagenham plant visitors� book (did you know that in 1959 the Dagenham factory produced 2400 vehicles every 24 hours?).
All this together with Saturday 1st November 1958�s copy of The Poultry and the first warrant of fitness application from the Christchurch City Council costing five shillings.

Since we have owned the car we�ve had the dash re-vinyled and windscreen and rubbers replaced.
It�s very tidy inside, but the motor�s a bit smoky. We are currently working on getting the car repainted.

I suppose my love affair with Fords started when I was a young�un. My old man had several Ford cars as we grew up in the late 50s/early 60s.
My first car while at school was a Model A Ford, then on leaving school I progressed to
a Mk I Consul.
I would have owned a Mk II Zephyr next, but someone stoved in the rear end of the Consul a couple of days before getting the Mk II, so that was the end of that.
The last Ford I owned before the boy-racer days were over was a 105E Anglia running a Lotus Cortina motor, a very quick wee car.
This car had box-section lowering blocks on the back and chopped front coils. Haven�t the rules changed!
We actually had this car at the Timaru Raceway in 1971.
In 1996 my then neighbour owned a vintage Dodge and a GT Cortina, so this rekindled my interest.
We looked at several Zephyrs but finally saw our 1962 Zephyr Mk II advertised in Christchurch.
It�s a very original car with quite an interesting history.
The car was ordered from Ford in New Zealand by a Miss Hine of Christchurch in 1961. She travelled to England and took delivery of it herself from the Dagenham factory in Essex.
She used it to travel around England for several months, then shipped herself and the car back to Lyttelton, arriving in April 1962 with 4113 miles on the clock.
Being first registered in New Zealand in April of that year it has now become a 1962 model.

September was a busy month with a trip to Auto Restoration on Anniversary Monday and the annual trip to the Alexandra Blossom Festival.
Anne and I had a few days in Queenstown, travelling in our Mk III Zodiac, prior to attending the blossom festival.
This was the first long trip we had done in the car and we enjoyed cruising through the great scenery of the area.
October 6 is the club trip to meet up with our northern members for a day in the Ashburton area.
We look forward to a great day out and interesting places Geoff and Bill have been working on.

Happy Zephyring

Bob Stevens
President

Auto Restorations Ltd, Christchurch Anniversary Day 2002

A group of about 19 made the trip to Christchurch for the visit to Auto Restorations.
We arrived at Riccarton Mall about 11am where we had an hour and a half to look around shops and have lunch.
We were joined there by some more of our members and some members of the Christchurch club.

We were met at Auto Restorations by owner Alan Stanton who gave us a brief rundown about the business. It was interesting to hear that Alan�s business began when he was working on the cars of three men. Later their friends also wanted work done on their cars and the business grew from that.
Outside the workshop there were two small sports racing type cars, a Packard Woody from the US that was going to be repowered with a Chev engine and modern running gear.
In the mechanical workshop there was a Shelby Mustang and three Ferraris in various stages of repair.
In the panel shop there was an Aston Martin that was having chrome and wipers fitted. The chassis of an XK120 Jaguar was waiting to be rebuilt.

Under a cover was a 1930 yellow Alfa Romeo that was completed after 18 months work and $150,000 spent.
A 48/49 Humber Pullman was being restored for the King of Tonga, just to make it look good... they are not worried about the mechanical side because it will only do about 20 miles a year.
There was a French car with the strangest of shapes being restored. Only two were ever made apparently.
We had a look through the machine shop where they make and repair just about anything ... they were ready to make a front stub axle assembly from a solid piece of metal.

A lot of the company�s work appears to come from overseas.
We were shown photos of cars the company had completed - a very professional job.

Jim Macdonald

The run to Alexandra was attended by Don and Ruth Campbell (Mk IV Zodiac), Graeme and Noeline Smith (Mk III Zephyr), Peter and Gail Casey (Mk III Zephyr), Max and Doreen Rose (Mk II Zephyr), Bob and Anne Stevens (Mk III Zodiac), Neville and Pat Stevens (Mk V Nissan), Gavin and Marilyn Ladbrook (Mk II Zodiac convertible), Gary, Lindsay and Helen Hodder (Mk V Falcon), Matt and Mel Opie (Mk I Zephyr). Matt is looking for a starter motor bolt after being seen pushing the Mk I to start it!!

Friday, 25 September and all members and cars arrived safely with no mishaps.

The usual parade of big V8s prowling the main street, with about as many police following and stopping them provided entertainment during the weekend outside our motel.

That evening, we all enjoyed a meal and get-together at the Combined Services Club and watching the NPC rugby on the big screen.

On Sunday, while some stayed on in Alexandra, we travelled back to Timaru via Tekapo and were greeted with torrential rain and snow.
We managed to get through, but wouldn�t have wanted to leave it too much later - I believe some cars were abandoned at Burkes Pass later that evening.

This was a great weekend and it�s good to see the cars being driven.

Bob Stevens

Here�s an interesting question. When you see a new J-registered Ford Granada on the roads, how do you picture the driver?
As a sober-suited captain of industry on his way to another interminable meeting, or a tee-shirted youth wearing a baseball cap back-to-front and racing to the latest KLF single?

On the face of it the second image is absurd, but it�s no stranger than the way most of us associate the Granada�s spiritual ancestor, the Zephyr Zodiac Mk I, with rock �n� roll music, flat-top haircuts and suede shoes.
Cars with a fifties feel are much sought after today by youngsters looking for the ultimate style accessory, but of course there weren�t many youths around in the fifties who could afford a new Zephyr or Cresta. The most they could have hoped for was an illicit cruise in Dad�s new car when the parents were out playing bridge for the evening.

The Zephyr Zodiac and E-series Cresta were pretty radical by the standards of the day, however. Ford brought out the Zephyr Zodiac in 1953 as an upmarket version of the successful six-cylinder Zephyr, complete with optional two-tone paint, whitewalls and gold-plated badges!
It must have been a real eyeful to British drivers used to dingy old pre-war Morrises and Austins.
Vauxhall�s Cresta was less obviously modern in its looks, but could be had in the same sort of American-inspired colour schemes as the Ford.

Like the Zephyr Zodiac, which topped off Ford�s medium-large car range (four-cylinder Consul, six-cylinder Zephyr and luxury Zephyr Zodiac), the Cresta was the top-spec model from Luton, coming above the four-cylinder Wyvern and the six-cylinder Velox.

Both were aimed at well-off buyers of the senior management type, which in those days generally meant men in their forties and fifties.

A Zephyr Zodiac was priced at 851 pounds 2s 6d in 1954 and the Cresta matched it closely at 844 pounds 0s 10d.

Leather upholstery was standard in both, but a radio would have cost you an extra 28 pounds 4s 11d for the Vauxhall, or a monstrous 47 pounds 17s 1d for the Ford!
In today�s money that�s over 1000 pounds for a simple MW/LW receiver...

Not only do both cars have a six-cylinder engine, but their capacities and bore and stroke dimensions are identical.

It�s actually very good for a car of its era, but you can�t rush it if you want to avoid nasty crunching noises from the gears.

The engine in this Ford has yet to be overhauled to complete its restoration, so it didn�t seem a good idea to push it too hard on our test.

It was perfectly happy at an indicated 55mph, though, and doubtless would be good for much more.

Where the Ford gurgles, the Vauxhall has a sporty thrum.
Like the Ford it has a three-speed column change which, on this example, was quick and easy to use.
Changes from second down to first are almost impossible to make silently unless the car�s virtually stationary, though, because there�s no synchro on first.

The Vauxhall�s performance feels better than the Ford�s, although that might be an illusion caused by a slicker gearchange and an inaccurate speedo. Certainly the car is merely strolling along at 60mph and its owner says he once took it up to an indicated 85mph without reaching its limit.

The great thing about big, lazy straight sixes is their low-down torque, which reaches its peak at a ridiculously low 2000rpm. In both cars you can hang onto third gear for most driving situations.
Equally, you can just about start off in second, although a bit of clutch
slip is needed if you take this lazy option.

Brakes on both cars are non-assisted drums, so a good prod is needed on the pedal to bring them to a halt.
Defensive driving is a must in modern nose-to-tail conditions.

OBITUARY

It is with deep regret that we record the death of club member Liz Fisher, suddenly at her Geraldine home on 15 September.

Liz and Woody were part of the South Canterbury contingent to make the trip to Palmerston North for the 2001 convention and they have been part of many local club events. Liz will be missed by us all.

Our thoughts are with Woody and his family.