THE 4X4 ZEPHYRS
Land Rover? No thanks. When the BBC went looking for a vehicle to test in the Andes mountains they turned to a special Mk4 Zephyr.
Created by Ferguson and put through its paces in the Andes by the BBC, this is the story of the ill-fated Mk4 project.
If you wanted a car for use over unmade mountain roads, would a Mk4 Zephyr be your first choice? Maybe not, but it’s what the BBC picked in 1971 for testing in the High Andes. But this was no ordinary Mk4. It was a four-wheel drive one (4wd), using the same Ferguson Formula four-wheel drive as the Mk4s that operated with police forces around the UK from 1969. This particular car, YRK 444H wasn’t a police car, though. It was allocated to the British School of Motoring’s Advanced Driving School.
The 4wd Zephyr story has its roots in 1952, when tractor millionaire, Harry Ferguson started pouring cash into DixonRolt Developments to develop a super-safe family car with full-time four-wheel drive, and renaming the company it Harry Ferguson Research Ltd (HFR) in the process. When Ferguson died in 1961, HFR abandoned their exclusive research cars and started developing four-wheel drive systems that could be installed in production cars. This became the Ferguson Formula that went into the legendary Jensen FF.
Through various connections (some of the details remain secret), the Ministry of Defence wanted to know if a car with the Ferguson Formula would be right for certain Cold War operations in East Germany.
Government departments being what they are, the MoD wanted a thorough assessment of the 4wd system and the best people to provide it, it was decided, were the police. So the Home Office, responsible for Britain’s police were brought in. Through GT40 man, Roy Lunn, Ford of Britain were brought in and sent 22 police versions of the Mk4 Zephyr V6 saloon to HFR, who converted them to full-time four-wheel drive. The Home Office then allocated 18 of the cars to police forces around Britain. The remaining cars went elsewhere, including YRK 444H, which went to the BSM.
Going wild
The Zephyr and the Jensen were the only FF-equipped cars to be had and the Jensen was totally unsuited, but why did the BBC want to take a 4wd Zephyr to the High Andes? The team chosen for the trip included a specialist in South American wildlife, photographer Tony Morrison, so maybe they wanted to see if it was suitable for use on wildlife trips.
HFR’s managing director, Tony Rolt arranged for YRK 444H to be modified for the trip and brought it into the works in Coventry. Here, the transfer case was beefed up, the suspension was uprated and undershields were fitted throughout the car. The brake pipes and underfloor wiring were re-routed inside the car, towing eyes were installed and metal grilles were fitted over the air intake and headlights. Ford Contour Rally Navigator seats and temperature gauges for the engine oil and transmission were also fitted. Finally, the car was resprayed in Sunset Red, with a black bonnet.
The car was then shipped to Peruvian capital, Lima, where Ford’s man on the spot, Alex Murga of Ford Credit Peru (he had been a liaison with Ford of Britain during the World Cup Rally) had it checked over and replaced a fog light that had mysteriously disappeared during the sea voyage. The car was tested at near sea level around Lima and then at high altitude on the Andean Highway, near Lake Titicaca. At 3812 metres this is the highest navigable lake in the world. From La Paz, Bolivia they twice attempted to climb to 5180 metres on the highest road in the world, over Mount Chacaltaya. Here they encountered fuel starvation and an overheating automatic transmission, which prevented them from driving above
5000 metres. The car was brought back to La Paz, where the fuel problem was cured by fitting an electric fuel pump.
The expedition proper began on May 18. The Zephyr and a Land Rover back-up vehicle set out from La Paz on the first leg, over the 100-mile, winding mountain road to Sucre. This was not the best place to find that the transmission sump bolts were loose and all the oil had drained out. With the transmission refilled, they drove to Potosi, where extra holes were made in the undershield to help keep the transmission cool.
Morrison described the road on the second leg, from Potosi to Uyuni as no more than a track. It proved just too much for what was a family car with standard ground clearance, four-wheel-drive or not, and neither vehicle could drive faster than 15 mph. The Zephyr got stuck in a deep, muddy stream and had to be towed out by the Land Rover and after that, it bounced on its front suspension and came down heavily on a rock. This pushed the radiator into the fan. Fixing it, in sub-zero temperatures proved impossible and the expedition had to be called off. The car was towed to the nearest railway station and put on a train back to La Paz.
No sale
If the BBC were impressed by the Zephyr, they didn’t buy one, or any other Ferguson 4wd cars. The MoD, though were happy with the Zephyr they had been allocated, because it led to them commissioning a series of Opels converted to 4wd for the British Army in Germany. Most importantly for the Ferguson people, it heralded their participation in Ford’s four-wheel-drive story. The Capri 4x4 project followed soon after, leading in the 1980s to the RS200, the 4x4 Sierras and Granada, and the Sapphire and Escort Cosworths.