My Zephyr Experiences
By Rob Patterson
MORUYA NSW
Australia
When
I was a little fella growing up in the 50's in Wagga Wagga NSW Aust. My Dad had
a Wolseley 6/80. My Grandfather had a Mk1 Zephyr. Both cars were about the same
age, black and shiney and there was quite some rivalry between the two as to
whose car was the best. They used to argue about speed, economy, road holding,
power, etc. But it seemed that I was the only one interested in the category of
"Style". In those days I used to go to the Saturday Matinee at the
local Hoyts Plaza theatre. I'd be given 2 shillings and that would get me a bus
ride to the theatre, entry into the theatre and something to eat at interval.
My Dad would come and pick me and my mates up after the movies had finished and
drive us home. Saturday afternoon was also the time that he would grease his
Wolseley, and it required greasing regularly, every 500 miles. So, often he'd
turn up in his father’s Zephyr and I was always happy to see it arrive, rather
than the Wolseley, because it was way more stylish. My mates thought so too.
Later,
in 1967, when I started driving, I decided I wanted to buy a car. By then there
were 3 Mk1's in the family. My Grandfathers, fully imported '53, my Uncles,
pale blue, flat dash, and my Dads newer black Geelong built '55. He must have
seen the light at some stage. Anyway, with all this influence on me I had
virtually no choice in the matter and it was decided that young Rob would have
a Mk1 Zephyr. I looked around for one and found a beauty with just 40,000 miles
on the clock. It had belonged to a farmer’s wife and she had used it only to go
into town and back once a week for about 10 years. It was in the used car yard
attached to the local Ford Dealers, "Great Southern Motors". I only
had half of the $250 they were asking for it and I had to borrow the rest from
Dad. So the deal was done. I then owned my 1st car, a '54 Mk1 Zephyr, just like
all the others in the family. During the Xmas of 1968 there were 4 of them
lined up in front of my Grandparents house in Wagga. I was proud to have my
cream '54 parked at the front of the line and I remember taking a photo of them
all. (I wish I could find that shot....been looking for it for years, it should
be here somewhere).
Even
though I loved that car I didn’t treat it with the respect it deserved. The
reason being.....I had a girlfriend. (Well that's my excuse anyway). You know,
17, petrol in my veins, lust on my mind and testosterone raging through the
rest of me. She was absolutely gorgeous and I had to make a suitable
impression. I'm sure you know how it is. My mates all had grey motored
Holden’s, 4 cylinder British Fords and some of those BMC things. The Zephyr
could out run all of them and I was king......well I thought I was.....OK? Then
one day, a mate turned up with a new car, an XL Falcon, and I knew I was in for
some competition. So one Saturday afternoon we took our girls out of town to
Plum Pudding Hill reserve, had a picnic and when it was all over, we raced each
other the 10 miles back into town. The Falcon immediately took the lead and
despite being flat out, we in the Zephyr seemed to be getting further and
further behind. There were some curves up ahead and I decided to push through
them as hard as the car would let me and sure enough, we started to close the
gap. Then I pushed her a little too hard. We went into a right hand bend, the 4
bolts holding the left stub axle to the strut sheared off and the wheel/brake/stub
axle wedged hubcap down under the sump. We left the road at about 70mph. I had
no brakes; no steering and the girlfriend and I were both passengers. On that
stretch of road there is one tree in the 500 yard section and that poor old car
hit it, fair & square in the middle. Because there were no seatbelts in the
car, the girl and I were pretty cut up and I broke my nose on the steering
wheel. I bought the remains back from the wreckers, stripped it and sold it off
for parts. The only thing I kept was the steering wheel and the horn ring. That
was the end of that and I had learned the hard way. The girl was still hanging
around, indicating that the whole thing was a wasted exercise.
I
have ALWAYS regretted not treating that car better and I have always had a
strong affection for Zephyrs. My wife and I used to pit crew for a mate who
raced an Alfa Romeo Giulia Super Ti in Appendix J Group N. We'd be cheering him
on, but I'd always secretly be barracking for the Zephyr, whenever there was
one. Zephyrs, Zodiacs and Consuls always caught my eye at car shows or in a
parking lot and I always said that one day, someday, I'd own another one. Well
more than 35 years later one came on the market. I saw it on the rent-a-shed
section of Dan Rumsey’s old "Z cars" website. Sandy wife, not
girlfriend) and I made a trip up to Cambelltown in order to inspect the car.
The owner had taken possession of it in exchange for debts owed by the previous
owner and really didn’t know much about Zephyrs or this particular car. Despite
my wife saying it was one of the ugliest cars she had ever seen, I made him an
offer far less that he was asking and to my surprise he accepted it. We tried
to drive it back home to Canberra, but before we even got it out of
Cambelltown, it stalled in traffic on a hill and when I tried to pull the
handbrake on, the cable snapped and I punched myself in the mouth with the
handbrake handle in my hand. I wasn’t
very happy with the way things were going about then. The reason it stalled was
because of water in the fuel. Rather than risking the 250kms trip back home we
took it back to the seller who said he'd fix the problems. We then arranged to
pick it up a week later. For my peace of mind, this time I took a mechanic mate
along. Just as soon as we got her on the Hume freeway she started missing. An
inspection indicated she was fitted with (way) wrong spark plugs. This was the 1st of several things that went
wrong with the car on that trip, due mainly to previous owners not being
educated in the Zephyr Zodiac University. We got her home eventually.02
Since
then, I have been slowly working on the car, correcting mistakes made by
previous owners and probably making a few myself. She is now named
"Purdie" after another gorgeous woman.....Joanna Lumley from 'New
Avengers' fame. I have found that she has a lot of owners/men over the years,
the tart, and they have all molested her to some degree. She was repainted
black about 15 years ago and the silver about 12 years ago and even though its
showing its age in some places its is still good. Apart from that, she's mostly
original. The doors rattle because she needs new rubbers, likewise the boot and
front and rear screens leak for the same reason. But its because of this
originality that I dont want to replace these things and do a full restoration
on the car. She's no winner, but despite her problems she can still hold her
head up high at a car display. When I took possession of her, the steering
wheel and horn ring needed replacing. As mentioned earlier, the only things I
kept from my 1st Zephyr were the wheel and ring and they were still hanging on
the shed wall. It has been moving from house to house with me for nearly 40
years and its now steering my new girl "Purdie". Another interesting
thing is that Sandy, who once said Purdie was one of the ugliest cars she had
ever seen, now calls her "cute". How things change.
Purdie's
in good company, she parks next to my other mechanical love, Anastasia, a fully
restored, trophy winning, '21 model T Ford. Sandy and I get a great deal of
enjoyment from these two vehicles and hope to for many years to come.
Some
more info on Purdie.
EOTTA 137262
Shes an April '55 Mk 1 and was sold new in
August '55 to Mr. G.M. Ivans
66 Invermay Rd
Launceston
Tasmania
and owned by him until at least Feb '79.
Her 1st registration plate was #WRG-530 until
March 1970 when she had Tasmania plates
#RA-2275 She had an engine rebuild in
Nov '69 at 84,660 miles.
She disappeared off the radar in early '79
until about 16 years and 5,000 miles later, when she showed up in the hands of
Mr. Phillip R Burns
32 Dunrobin St.
Coolamon
NSW.
NSW Rego# ABP-02F
I have full records leading up to Feb '79 and
after July '95 but nothing between these
two dates.
All up including Sandy and I, she has had at
least 6 owners, and now has 7,000 miles on the clock.
If there is ANY information out there about
this car and its history, we would love to hear it.
Thanks,
Rob & Sandy Patterson