Swedish Police Zephyr
By Bjorn-olof Berglund
The following text is
translated from a Swedish site: (http://hem.bredband.net/jt600118/Polishemsida/Fordon/03%20Ford/04%20Zephyr/zephpol.htm). All circumstances are those as they were in Sweden
at that time. The abbreviation, RPS, is the Swedish state police board. Also
thanks to Jan Tagt, who allowed me to translate this article. Any errors are
completely mine and are a result of misinterpreting during translation. Read
and enjoy.
Ford Zephyr was not a common
police car. There were only ten or so in use in Sweden.
This is told by Lars-E
Freeman: “When police nationalized 1 of January 1965 the RPS
had been working since 1 July 1964.
We started to investigate the market
to find suitable cars mainly for patrolling duty.
The cars in
this service had to be stable and with enough space to handle disorderly
persons. We rather not wanted to have big American cars. We also wanted a
counterweight to Volvo. The English police had developed a Zephyr suitable for
their needs. We then ordered 10 or 15 Zephyrs to check if they could fulfil our
needs.”
Maybe one of
the nicest cars built by Ford in UK.
The reason why it didn’t succeed in Swedish police force was just that
it was considered too weak and did not have the technical quality that the
police demanded.
-It just didn’t cope to be used as a police car.
The police force had a lot of problems with the Zephyr. It wasn’t steady
on the road, not to mention icy roads. Furthermore Ford had a very poor spare
part service in the country. It could for example take up to 14 days to get a
silencer. The police do not buy cars to have them in garage. No more Zephyrs
were bought.
The Zephyr were rebuilt and equipped to
RPS: s demand at Ford plants in Stockholm. This is how Ford Motor Company AB
describes the changes:” The cars are
delivered from England with some changes and some extra equipment. Furthermore some
rebuilds are done and some equipment is installed in Sweden. Below mentions in
parenthesis witch equipment that origins from England (E) or Sweden (S), as it
may be in importance for purchasing of spare parts.”
Zodiac engine (E)
Nylon tyres (E)
Armrest(E)
Red light (S)
Searchlight (S)
Beacon (S)
Siren (S)
Radio (S)
Modified wiring (E)
Rear window fan (S)
Power horn (S)
Floor mounted gear shift (E) Bucket
seats (S)
Gauges (E)
Laminated windscreen (E)
Stronger suspension, front and rear (E)
Stronger shock absorbers, front and rear (E)
Wing mirrors (S)
Co drivers rear view mirror (E)
Rust protection (S)
Battery cut off (E)
High beam/low beam switch moved to the direction switch lever (S)
Map light (E)
Trunk light (S)
Better windshield washer (S)
Noise suppressed wiring system (S)
Towing hooks (S)
Lucas Alternator (S)
Furthermore the cars alternator and electrical system are described on 3 A4
size papers concerning description and maintenance. –It is not for nothing that
Lucas is described as”The man who
invented darkness”. That’s a little bit mean as Lucas electric equipment
usually worked very well. One confusing thing with the Zephyr, and many other
English cars, was that it was positive earthed. He who has tried to install a
“normal” radio in a Zephyr knows what I’m talking about. Short-circuit plain and simple!
Something that not so many knows of, is
that it is fairly simple to change to ”negative” earth. At least on those cars
with generator. Just to”turn” over the battery.
But never the less the Zephyr was a nice car: Fast, fuel efficient, quiet and
“American” styled. It also was equipped with four speed gearbox and front disc
brakes.
The interior. Note the heavily redesigned panel with the large
speedometer in center. Carefully calibrated to a tolerance of only + - 2% by
Smiths Motor Accessories LTD.