FORD ZODIAC 1960

by Jean-Jacques Treyvaud

This letter was sent to Classic and Sports Car Magazine

It is always with great interest that I read, month after month, every copy of your wonderful magazine. Sometimes I wish I live in England in order to participate in the fantastic events described in your pages. I also thank you for all the interesting articles about all theses fabulous cars described and photographed in Classic & Sports Car.

You may be wondering about why one of your Quebec reader is committing a letter about cars, while living in a country mostly known for its snowmobiles and frozen lakes. My story goes back to the time Quebec was (and still is) part of the Commonwealth and England supplied some exotic pieces of machinery known as MG's, Riley's, Jaguar's and Sunbeam's to the pure joy of Quebec sports car lovers. In the middle of racy pieces of English automobiles, you will be surprised to learn that some down to earth mechanic was exported by English manufacturers to Canada, hoping that one crazy Canuck will buy it.

After a long hibernation of 45 years, I was lucky enough to discover one of these intriguing pieces of tin top. In a barn (a real one), a odd black car covered with almost one inch of dust and an old piece of what should have been a car tarpaulin was asleep next to a collection of old cars and farm machinery. Looking at the bonnet, a odd name was blinking with its chrome letters: "ZODIAC". It was the first time (and probably the last) that recognized one of the big English Ford's that your magazine was reporting sometimes about rallies events in Europe.

I instantly bought the car, asked a friend with a tow truck to come pick up the marvelous old Zodiac, and suddenly the car was in the garage of my old mechanic. The paint was in a such derelict state that the black original paint was so thin that the white showing the white undercoating. The interior was obviously a fantastic playground for a bunch of mice that destroyed the seats leaving the dunlopillo in a powder state. But, after a check of the vital parts of the car, a new battery was connected, a little gas was poured in the single Stromberg carburetor and, miracle, the car started immediately !

An across the board inspection of the body followed and absolutely no rust was detected, thanks for the extremely heavy gauge of the steel used by Dagenham. The cars was then painted in two tones of cream white and plum red, the seats were rebuild and covered in a plush naugahyde, alas Connoly leather was to much money… After a complete check up (the vacuum windshield wipers took me two months to understand how they worked), the Zodiac is now a fantastic car and its comfort and road holding is very much appreciated by the family. We have done almost 1,000 km since the car was out of the paint shop and it is much appreciated by the public when we go to shows or rallyes.

For your information, the Zodiac has been imported from England in early 1960. It is a Serie II model, with an automatic transmission (3 speed Borg Warner). A single Stromberg is feeding the six cylinder engine which is still incredibly smooth. This car is only one of a few Zodiac that were sold in down town Montreal through a Ford dealer who was at that time more successful selling Anglias and Consuls. Zodiacs were at that time competing with larger American Fords and was a car sold only to folks with strong memories of the British Empire.

As far as I know, only two Zodiacs are surviving in Eastern Canada. The chassis number of "Zoe" (the nickname of my car) is 206E 241841. Since I haven't been able to locate any documents concerning this car (owner's manual, workshop manual, etc…) I will really appreciate the help of your magazine and owners of similar car in order to be able to take care of my last and wonderful acquisition.

For your information, "Zoe" has some good friends in my garage: a Sunbeam Rapier convertible Serie IIIA, another Sunbeam Alpine roadster Serie IV, an MG B GT 1973 and a Morris Minor !

With my best regards,

Jean-Jacques Treyvaud

© VEA