Henry Ford has been building cars in Great Britain since 1911, when for the first time Model BILLION was out of line in Manchester. By the 1930s, British Ford was assembling The model is designed only for the European market, resulting in a transatlantic parallel Blue Oval universe. After World War II, left-hand drive versions of some British Fords were sold in the United States – not many compared to the millions of US-made Fords, but Americans bought several thousand new ones. Anglias, Sheriff, Consul and Zephyrs every year in the 1950s. Zephyr and its derivative are the UK’s most luxurious Ford models from 1950 to 1971, and they were available here from the model years 1952 to 1964. This is one of those Zephyrs, found in London. Denver self-service car graveyard recently.
European-built Fords became more common here in the 1970s, with Capri And festival sold in respectable numbers during that decade. In the 1980s, Ford tried to sell to Americans Sierra is the Merkur XR4Ti And Scorpion at similar Merkur dealers. The pinto-replace Ford escort that we started here in model year 1981 related to its European counterpartthough both are cousins rather than siblings.
That said, European Fords before Capri have been found extremely rare in American cemeteries for decades. This is the first one I’ve seen since the 1968 Cortina that I recorded in a yard in Northern California a few years back.
1956 was the first model year for Zephyr Mark II redesigned and its Detroit-influenced lines. That year, Americans could still buy Zephyr Mark I looks more degraded with Mark II. The Mark I saloon was listed at $1,899 ($23,317 in 2023), while the Mark II saloon was priced at $2,149 ($24,123 today).
The Mark II weighs about 2,600 pounds, making it about 500 pounds lighter than the a 1956 Mainline Fordor sedan built by Michigan. In the mid-1950s in England, where times were still tough after the war and Food rations continued throughout 1954Zephyr is considered a status symbol.
With the facilities of the majority of overseas competitions bombed to rubble just over a decade ago and America’s smaller competitors With each passing year, Ford in the U.S. surged higher in 1956. Ford sold nearly 1.4 million new Mainlines, Customlines, Fairlanes, and wagons in the United States that year. A shiny new ’56 Custom Fordor car with a 137-horsepower inline-six with an MSRP of $1,985 (about $22,282 today), $164 cheaper than the smaller, quirky (and more fuel-efficient) Zephyr Mark II.
Zephyr already has a straight-six propulsion, (which I was forced to photograph through the grille due to the hood latch mechanism being completely stuck). This is a 2.6-liter type with a capacity of 86 horsepower.
Americans will find the gearbox setup in this car comfortably familiar, as it is a good old tree three column teleport manual.
The Zephyr name has an important place in Ford history. Lincoln used the name Zephyr for the first time since 1936 to 1942, then revived it as the name of The first model year of the car became the MKZ.
There is some rust on the bottom, probably from sitting in the heavy snow every winter.
The interior was completely destroyed by the High Plains sun.
The condition of the tires suggests outdoor preservation of at least several decades.
However, there are a lot of good parts left on this car. Maybe some Zephyr restorer will rescue them.
I doubt the claims about this car hitting 32 mpg.
One of Dagenham’s “Three Beauties” that year.
