Henry Ford started constructing automobiles in Nice Britain all the way in which again in 1911, when the primary Mannequin Ts got here off the road in Manchester. By the Thirties, Ford Britain was assembling fashions designed only for the European market, resulting in one thing of a parallel Blue Oval universe throughout the Atlantic. After World Struggle II, left-hand-drive variations of some British Fords have been bought in the US — not many in comparison with the hundreds of thousands of U.S.-built Fords produced, however People purchased a couple of thousand new Anglias, Prefects, Consuls and Zephyrs yearly through the Fifties. The Zephyr and its derivatives have been the swankiest British Ford fashions from 1950 by means of 1971, and so they have been out there right here from the 1952 by means of 1964 mannequin years. This is a type of Zephyrs, present in a Denver self-service automobile graveyard lately.
European-built Fords grew to become extra mainstream right here within the Seventies, with the Capri and Fiesta promoting in respectable numbers throughout that decade. In the course of the Nineteen Eighties, Ford took a shot at promoting People the Sierra because the Merkur XR4Ti and the Scorpio on the identical Merkur dealerships. The Pinto-replacing Ford Escort that we received right here beginning within the 1981 mannequin yr is expounded to its European counterpart, although the 2 are extra first cousins than siblings.
That stated, pre-Capri European Fords have been extraordinarily uncommon finds in American boneyards for a lot of many years. That is the primary one I’ve seen for the reason that 1968 Cortina I documented in a Northern California yard a couple of years again.
1956 was the primary mannequin yr for the restyled Zephyr Mark II and its Detroit-influenced traces. That yr, People may nonetheless purchase the dowdier-looking Zephyr Mark I alongside the Mark II. The Mark I saloon listed at $1,899 ($23,317 in 2023 {dollars}), whereas the Mark II saloon value $2,149 ($24,123 at present).
The Mark II weighed about 2,600 kilos, making it about 500 kilos lighter than a Michigan-built 1956 Mainline Fordor sedan. In mid-Fifties Britain, the place occasions remained robust after the conflict and meals rationing continued right through 1954, the Zephyr was thought-about a standing image.
With the amenities of a lot of the abroad competitors bombed to rubble simply over a decade earlier than and smaller American opponents being squeezed tighter with every passing yr, Ford in the US was flying excessive in 1956. Ford bought almost 1.4 million new Mainlines, Customlines, Fairlanes and wagons in the US that yr. A shiny new ’56 Customline Fordor sedan with 137-horse straight-six engine had an MSRP of $1,985 (about $22,282 now), $164 cheaper than the smaller, quirkier (and extra fuel-efficient) Zephyr Mark II.
The Zephyr had a pushrod straight-six engine, too (which I used to be compelled to {photograph} by means of the grille as a result of hood latch mechanism being utterly jammed). It is a 2.6-liter rated at 86 horsepower.
People would have discovered the transmission setup on this automobile comfortingly acquainted, since it is a good outdated three-on-the-tree column-shift handbook.
The Zephyr identify has an necessary place in Ford historical past. Lincoln first used the Zephyr identify from 1936 by means of 1942, then revived it because the identify for the primary mannequin yr of the automobile that grew to become the MKZ.
There’s some rust down low, in all probability from sitting in deep snow each winter.
The inside is totally destroyed by the Excessive Plains solar.
The situation of the tires suggests out of doors storage of at the very least a couple of many years.
Nonetheless, there are lots of good components remaining on this automobile. Maybe some Zephyr restorer will rescue them.
I am skeptical about claims of this automobile getting 32 mpg.
One of many “Three Graces” from Dagenham that yr.
