Zodiac was in the stars for Ford of Great Britain
Last week, we jumped the Big Pond and pulled a 1965 Ford Zodiac off the highways of England.
Drivers in this country used to have a simple term for Ford Motor Co. products produced in Great Britain. They might have been Anglias, Consuls, Corsairs, Zephyrs or something else, but as a whole, these small cars were lumped into the term “English Fords.”
The one we showed you was the rear of a 1965 Zodiac Mark III, the largest, most luxurious of the Ford offerings in England. The right-hand driver offered lots of amenities unknown to American cars at the time. Available were such features as disc brakes all around, independent suspensions, reclining front seats (the brochure called them “squabs”), ventilation, driving lights, sliding roof panels and adjustable steering columns.
Zodiac was the top version of the Zephyr, whose name, you might remember, adorned a Lincoln model in the 1940s and the Mercury twin to the Ford Fairmont in the 1970s and ’80s. Coincidentally, or maybe not, the Zodiac brochure of its luxurious Executive model showed the 1960s car was adorned with the Lincoln four-pointed star emblem.
The Zodiac was available as a saloon (which translates to “sedan” in American) and an estate (station wagon). After 1965, restyling gave the sedan a more formal roof instead of the thin, but still handsome, roof pillars in this car. An inline six-cylinder could push the rear-wheel-drive Zodiac to about 100 mph, according to literature of the day.
We gave a detailed clue last week because we thought the English Ford might be too obscure for many of our readers. We needn’t have feared. We heard from many of you, and some said the clue helped. Here’s what it said to steer you to the Zodiac:
“This car is a bit far off and obscure, from the land of lions, scorpions and crabs. I think a little research will help. Jim and I recognized it, and Leo did, too. If you drive a Ram or a Taurus, you might be closer than you think.”
See there, we practically spelled it out for you. “Zodiac” is the land of lions, scorpions and crabs – three of the 12 astrological signs – in addition to Gemini (Jim and I) and Leo (there’s that lion again) not to mention the Ram and Taurus (bull), two vehicles sold today.
As a result, more people identified the Zodiac than we ever would have guessed. Or maybe it was just because the readers of What Is It? have a wealth of knowledge that astonishes us each week anyway.
In either case, our email inbox was full, and chosen from the correct entries was the name of Ron Main, of Augusta, who wrote:
“The photo shows a Ford Zodiac, probably a Mk. III model from the 1962-66 time frame. The Zodiac was essentially a luxury version of the Zephyr, and the extensive and interesting chrome treatments make it stand out from other full-size British cars of that time.”
Thanks to Ron for his entry; we agree with his styling assessment. Other readers identifying the vehicle last week were:
AIKEN: Ann Willbrand identified the 1965 Zodiac Zephyr Mark III and said: “Great clues. It didn’t take much to find it once I realized that they were all zodiac signs. This was a British Ford that was sold in the U.K. and New Zealand between 1962 and 1966. The Zodiac was the higher end version of the Zephyr 6.”
AUGUSTA: Gary Engen said: “This week you have pictured a European car rarely seen on the highways in the USA but quite common in England. Its a Ford Zodiac Mk. 3 that was produced by British Ford Motors from 1962-66. I might take a guess that the one in your photo is a 1963. I traveled some in England in the mid-80s so I very well may have seen some on the road while there, but none really appealed to me or stuck in my memory.
“They were up-scale four-door sedans, and I think they also made a station wagon version. The only ‘Zodiac’ I ever rode in was a Zodiac combat rubber inflatable boat in the swamps of Florida during Ranger school back in the 1960s. It was not very upscale!”
Tony Brunson said: “This week’s What is it” is an early 1960s Ford Zephyr Zodiac made in Britain by Ford of Britain. Oddly enough, I had seen this car while I was looking for another car awhile back and remembered it by the cool name ‘Zodiac.’ However, I thought more of the inflatable boat not the astrology sign. This was a fun one.”
CANTON, Ga.: David Anderson wrote: “I have never been a big believer in living my life according to what my horoscope says each day, but perhaps I should have consulted the star charts to help with this week’s What Is It? Actually, I thought that I was somewhat knowledgeable of the cars across the pond, but I have been humbled.
“From last week’s Metropolitan, which was manufactured in the U.K. but shipped here to the States to sell, this week’s Ford Zodiac is a model both made and sold in the U.K. Being partial to the big American V-8 cars of the 1950s and ’60s, I can honestly say I have never heard of this model. I am familiar with the Cortina and the Anglia, but not the Zodiac.
“I can remember working with a fellow way back in my hungry college days who drove a Cortina, and I can remember at least a couple of Cortinas and Anglias parked around the Augusta College campus, too.
“As far as I can tell, no Ford Zodiac was ever officially exported here to the States for sale, so if you claim to have seen one, it was most likely brought here by someone who just could not part with it when they left jolly old England.
“The Zodiac is the bigger, more luxurious model of another Ford model of which I was not aware, the Zephyr. Here in the States, the Zephyr name has been used by Lincoln and Mercury but never on a Ford. In the U.K., it was a base model sedan and estate (station wagon), and the Zodiac was the upscale model.
“The taillights of the teaser shot, I believe, identify this as a 1965 model, and the fancy chrome strips across the back most likely mean it is further upscale with a six-cylinder engine rather than a four.
“I have to wonder whether the Zodiac was the vehicle of choice for all of those horoscope fiends? I found an online Zephyr/Zodiac owners site, but it offered no hint as to the personality of a typical owner. Seriously, it appears that these cars were as much a staple of European, Australian and New Zealander life as much as the Ford Falcon and Fairlane here in the States. That owners site even has a picture of a 50-year-old unrestored Zodiac in Pakistan that still sees daily service.”
EVANS: Bill Harding said: “Could you have possibly selected a more obscure car for our What Is It? quiz? Your clues were most helpful, I must admit, because without them, I would have been totally lost.
“Fortunately I was able to figure out that the vehicle in question had something to do with the signs of the Zodiac. In fact, it was a Zodiac – a Ford Zodiac Mark III, which was produced from 1962 to 1966. Zodiacs were assembled in England, Australia and New Zealand. I couldn’t locate any proof that they were exported to North America, so I assume they were all right-hand-drive models.
“The cars had a 2.6-liter inline six with a column-shifted manual transmission as standard equipment. An automatic was optional, but most purchasers elected to stay with the stick-shift version. Bully for them! Yes, I am a shift-it-yourself kind of guy.
“Now, quite honestly, I do not know this Zodiac’s year. I graduated from high school in 1964, and I will make that my guess.”
HEPHZIBAH: Theo Hammontree knew it was the Zephyr Zodiac and guessed it to be a 1960 Mark II with the six-cylinder engine.
Martha Crump wrote: “My guess for this week’s quiz is a Ford Zodiac Mark III, and I’ll guess the year is 1964.”
JOHNSTON, S.C.: Lee Williams wrote: “Ford Zodiac. The best that I could come up with as far as year is a guess at a range of 1962 to 1966.”
KEYSVILLE, Ga.: Glenn Widner said: “Ford of Britain built Zephyr cars from 1952 through 1972. The Zodiac was a luxury model; this is probably a mid-’60s model. They were not very reliable cars, and Lucas wiring was and still is very exasperating to figure out.”
MARTINEZ: Cheryl Cook wrote: “As I read your clue for this week, Zodiac immediately came to mind, of course. I’d never heard of a car named Zodiac; asked my hubby, he said no way. Ah, but, yes way! I hit the internet and there it was!
“And it’s a Ford! Well, Ford of Britain, but still. They were made from 1952 to 1972. After that, it morphed into the Consul and Granada. I think we had a Granada for a short time in the 1970s, but don’t remember liking it very much at all.
“Some models of the Zodiac had the names Zephyr, saloon, Mark I and II attached to them. There were tons of info on these obscure (to me, anyway) cars from the Brits and I’m sure you’ll get a lot of that info in the other answers this week.
“Too much to choose from for me. Keeping it simple, had a little trouble with the year and might be wrong (what?), but my guess is 1965 Ford Zodiac, maybe a side of Zephyr.”
NORTH AUGUSTA: Karen Bickley guessed a 1960 Zephyr Zodiac: “I did not own one but I do think they are cool-looking. I have seen them on American Pickers. I confess I had some help from Google.” (Editor’s note: We all rely on Google, Karen, so don’t worry about that.)
Ed Wilcox figured it was the 1964 version of the Zodiac: “My first guess was Zodiac based on your clues. And sure enough, Ford made a Zodiac in England. The car in the picture has trim of 1964-66 model years.”
PERRY, Fla.: Larry Anderson said: “As Batman’s sidekick might say: ‘Holy signs of the Zodiac!’ Clever clue. ‘Let me tell Jim and I, also Leo,’ that the car is an English Ford Zodiac Mark III. That model was made from 1962 until 1966, I believe. I thought that the English Ford was an Anglia but the Zodiac model was an eye-opener. By the way, I think Zodiac is a great name for an auto and should have been used more.”
