Mk4 Zephyr What you need to know if buying the big Zed.

Big, brutish — and budget-friendly. The Mk4 o ers a lot of Ford for your cash if you can separate the myths from the facts. Here’s why.

When Ford pulled the wraps off the Mk4 Zephyr and Zodiac on April 20, 1966, there was certainly no missing its new flagship.

At 4.7 metres long, the slab-sided new arrival was one of the biggest cars ever produced by the manufacturer’s UK division. What’s more, it didn’t just stand out when it came to its size, Ford’s latest Z-car having a specification that was equally outlandish.

Beneath its sprawling bonnet there were new compact Essex V6 engines, with the Zephyr receiving a 2495cc unit and the more upmarket Zodiac getting an even bigger 2994cc version. At

the back end, there were the additions of disc brakes and independent suspension. The new V6s, plus the 1996cc V4 powering the entry-level Zephyr, were twinned to a strengthened version of the Mk3’s four-speed manual gearbox and both could be specified with a Laycock de Normanville overdrive. There was also the option of the three-speed C4 automatic on all models.

On paper then, the Mk4 looked like it would be a cracking drive, but its new-fangled suspension and rear brakes proved to be arguably more trouble than they were worth. With only 35 per cent of braking effort going to the rear discs they were woefully underused, while the complex rear suspension utilised fixed-length driveshafts, instead of more expensive variable items, and moving wishbones mounted on ‘swinging shackles’. The result was that the Mk4 lifted an inside rear wheel during hard cornering before snapping into oversteer. The standard-fit Goodyear G8 tyres did little for adhesion too, but both these and the rear suspension were changed in 1967. In the same year, the Deluxe specification was also introduced, which complemented the lavishlyappointed Zodiac Executive that had arrived in June 1966.

Further upgrades followed in 1969 too, which notably included enhanced suspension and cooling systems for all models.

In 1972 though, the Mk4, together with the Zephyr and Zodiac name, was retired, Ford replacing it with the first ever Granada and reintroduced Consul. Nearly 50 years later, and the Mk4 is still overshadowed by the later Granada and the earlier Z-cars, which actually makes it quite the bargain. Granted, it’s not as desirable as other big classic Fords, but at the end of the day it’s pretty much the cheapest way to own anything with an Essex V6 and rear-wheel-drive.