Why you’d want a Ford Consul, Zephyr or Zodiac
Ford of Britain had established a strong following pre-WW2 for its small cars, which combined simple engineering and spacious bodies to put the middle classes on the road in considerably more comfort than the Austin Seven.
The pre-war range was given a token post-war makeover to continue offering the cheapest ‘proper’ cars around, but in the growing market for a more luxurious model competition was hotting up and Ford was in danger of missing out with its aged V8-Pilot.
All this changed at the 1950 Motor Show, as the Blue Oval unveiled the new Consul and Zephyr.
Gone was the old sidevalve V8, replaced by a state-of-the-art oversquare 1508cc ‘four’ and a six-cylinder version with the same bore and stroke (for commonality of internal parts), giving 2262cc.
The Consul was 5mph faster than the V8-Pilot and the Zephyr was an 80mph car.
The styling was modern yet conservative, with European dimensions but making excellent use of the space available.
The result was a comfortable monocoque saloon (or unitary construction, more accurately, because it had a hefty welded-on underframe) with six-seater potential thanks to bench seats front and rear.
The cars were identical behind the bulkhead, but the front end of the six-cylinder was 7in longer than the ‘four’, with the wheelbase 4in longer.
