Hi from 'Sunny' Ayrshire

[cardaft]

Hi Guys, Just joined today and posted a wanted for my my old Zodiac.
Moved up to Ayrshire from Surrey a year ago, after taking early retirement from Aviation,been away for almost 30 years,so I figured it was time to come home. Been into cars since I can remember, been lucky,probably owned most things with 4 wheels,but its always been Fords,bigger the better,so I've had my share of Zodiac Mk 3s,being greedy, searching for another, for Keeps this time.
All the best
DR

[Eddie]

Hello and welcome .

[Mick]

Hi and welcome to the site

[johnnyanglia]

Hi from Glasgow

[cardaft]

Hi, Thanks for that,
Wonder if another of my old Zodiacs is running about locally?
it was a Mk3 ,ambassador blue,with overdrive,cannot remember its registration number (yet) I was living in Bowling Dunbartonshire, at the time, I bought it from a chap in Langley , Slough, sold it to a work mate at Glasgow Airport,he sold it on,last time I saw it is was in Glasgow,it had sustained front end damage ,I put a note on its windscreen but heard nothing,it disappeared! I was buying a lot of cars at that time, approx 25/30 years ago, mostly from Exchange and Mart and mostly from the London area,I would buy them blind, and fly down to Heathrow on my days off, to collect and drive back to Scotland,sometimes I got a good car, mostly I did not, was always an adventure (the mk3s heater sprung a leak and I had to by-pass the unit ,it was january,it was a 300(odd) mile trip,I still remember that trip,almost died of frostbite!!) and I lost one or 2 cars along the way, abandoned them and hitched home!!. I brought back a number of old Fords, mostly Consul Capris,Mk2 Zephyrs and over 20 PA Crestas (had a thing about them then!!) oh! quite a number of F Type Victors,for some reason those always sold well locally.
Strangely the best cars I every found were within half a mile of were I then lived,Bridge of Weir,Renfrewshire,one was a yellow and white PA Cresta,it was in a next door neighbours garage and a Mk2 Zephyr,61,maroon,reg 490 DGB ( I think) I kept that car for a few years, again, found within walking distance of my house.
So check your cars docs, if David Reid appears in them,that is some of the story
DR

[cardaft]

Hi All,'New' Zodiac ready for the road,it came with an Mot but really it was not safe,so spent the last month making it so,keen to run it for the rest of the summer,then a bit more fettleing then either sell or rebuild?
Received the latest copy of Practical Classics,looking through the pages,surprised to see myself looking back,they have featured my old car CKP 733C on their Cars Reunited column,so search still going on.

[michael]

Hi Cardaft, glad your Zodiac is ready for the rest of the summer. Are you referring to the issues with the Rock 'n' Roll Group Test (Zephyr, Cresta, Westminster)? I had an e-mail to say it was out Wednesday.

[cardaft]

Afraid not,excellent article but none of my cars, have owned a Mk1 Zephyr Zodiac and an E series Cresta,but not a Westminster ( its on my list),I'm on page 50(slim and with hair!!) same photo as posted on the Forum.
One thing I would really like to do,is something along the lines of the article in 'readers sagas 'chap has done a beautiful job on the ally body for his Special (I've had a couple of years training as an aircraft tinsmith (many years ago) I wonder if I've still got the skills?

[michael]

I have owned a Mk II, two Mk IIIs (still own the Zodiac) and a Mk IV Z car. In the big league I have also owned a Humber Hawk and a Rover P5 Coupe. Over the years I have looked at a few Crestas:– a PA and a PB were too rotten, the third one was a PA ten years ago that had been rebuilt – sadly it drove as if there was a serious suspension alignment problem so I did not follow it up. The Westminsters appeal as I recall a fleet of chauffeur driven ones (Farina style) when I was young.

My first two years working were as a Technical Apprentice. During that time I did quite a bit of training on various aspects of metal work. I can’t find the pipe bender I made but still have an oil can and funnel I made. I replaced the wings and did some inner wing repairs in the nineties but when I tried a friend’s welding set a few years ago I seemed to have lost the knack. After the apprenticeship went pear shaped I went to work as a laboratory assistant as there was no opportunity to carry it on elsewhere. The company itself disappeared around 1990.