New here, appreciative for the club

[mk2Colorado]

Just now signed up to join the community, and glad to be here.

I grew up with two mk2s as pretty much family members, owned by my stepfather; both being there since some of my first memories. The estate was his daily driver, and the saloon was the 'Sunday driver'. There was a previous saloon, the 1st one he had and I can't recall much about it due to me being so young at the time although there are photos of it in our driveway and still have various body parts we still have that were salvaged when the east coast weather had corroded the body beyond repair. It was already in that rusted state when he bought it, at that time just looking for a feasible/affordable daily car, but that stoked the passion everyone here feels. Before it was on it's final drive he had found the estate to take the place of the daily and not long after that he found the saloon.

The '58 has been handed down to me, and the '60 estate has yet to be determined if it'll be handed down to my brother or if it will be sold. It's not an easy decision to say the least! We have some great memories associated with each one. It's bittersweet to own it now, but they are family cars and I know he'd be happy that at least one of them are staying with us.

Next month the '58 is coming back with me to Colorado, from where it is currently at my mother's house. My brother and I visit frequently and keep the mk2s maintained and drive them for a bit each time to let them stretch their legs, to use a phrase. My stepfather might have an account here for all know, I never asked him before he passed on. I do know he visited the site frequently enough to see what posters had to say about trouble-shooting different things, being right next to him as we'd look at carburetors and then I'd cut gaskets for him for the next time he needed some hah.

Here's a few photos of each to enjoy. Plates and face edited out for privacy.

[BigFred]

Welcome to the group! One lefthand drive and one righthand drive, I see.

[mk2Colorado]

Thank you for the welcome!

My stepfather purchased the LHD saloon from a man named Ray in upstate NY who had procured in it Canada from the original owner, making me the 4th owner after my stepfather owned it for almost 40 years.

The RHD estate has made it around the world; traveled it's way from NZ to the UK where 2 brothers owned it, and I'm not sure how my stepfather found it for sale(I was a child at the time) but when he did he purchased it and had it shipped here to the states. Currently in the mid-west, it has made quite a journey from the southern hemisphere to the UK, to across the pond to NY where we lived at the time, to the mid-west and not exactly sure where it will go from there.

[peteleo]

Welcome. Pleasure to have a couple of Zephyrs included on this site.
I own a '60 206E L/L that my father purchased in '85 from the original owner. Driven usually on the weekends nowadays.
Some years back i was in contact with a Jim Palmer who had a Zephyr or two in N.Carolina. Possibility you may know him.

It happens that a '58 Zephyr is for sale on graigs list in Colorado posted on this site, for sale section.

Cheers,
Pete

[mk2Colorado]

Indeed! Yes, Jim is my stepfather, and between living in NY and the mid-west my parents were in Greensboro NC for a handful pf years. I learned a lot about how an engine works when I was a kid from him, beginning with "Hold the flashlight here," - as most know is crucial job in any home garage and/or driveway.

I just took a look at that listing after you mentioned it, it would have been amazing to find another mk2 owner so close/not that far way! I'll still be interested in contacting the seller in the off chance there's a fellow EnFo enthusiast.

Thank you for the welcome, cheers!
Aaron

[peteleo]

Jim and i spoke on the phone or by mail +30 yrs ago, before social media, believing we were the only Zephyr owners in the U.S. Finding out years later
that there are at least a handful in N.America. I sent a few parts to him, can only remember a zenith carb and hockey stick exhaust manifold.

My car was purchased from the original owner Howard Bissell. His son Bob, years later, bought a '60 Zephyr in Canada. My wife and i drove to B.C. to
visit with her mother and meet up with Bob. Rest of the story is in "Readers Rides" Pete and Bob's Zephyrs 10/9/2007 in this forum.

[angliagt]

Welcome! There's a couple more that I know of in North Carolina/Virginia/Maryland.
When I was in Denver 10-15 years ago,I saw a Zodiac convertible for sale in the Denver Post.I
went to see it way out in the middle of nowhere,SE of Denver.I kept the owner's contact info,
& put it out there that it was for sale.A guy in Australia (or New Zealand) bought it,& had it
shipped there.I was glad that someone saved it.
After looking in one of my old rosters,I noticed that there was a Jim Palmer,but he was in
Missouri,not North Carolina.

[mk2Colorado]

Wow, I wish I could've seen the Zodiac before it went to it's current home! Glad to know that whomever it is has a great vehicle with style and class.

That is the same Jim Palmer in MO as mentioned above in NC, a small college town in Missouri is where my parents have been living after moving from Greensboro. Currently both mk2s are there, and making the arrangements for the saloon to get to Colorado to an area between Denver & Boulder. A fun drive over would be ideal, but a part of driving through west Nebraska and northeast Colorado will have about an hour of bug splats all over the front of the windshield and front of whatever vehicle is being driven. A trailer & car cover is what I'm doing for the sake of avoiding any possible road damage(pebbles, rocks etc) and saving myself the problem of bugs.

I'm both surprised at not at the same time that some of you were acquainted with Jim even if just by mail, as like you said the number of Zephyr owners that we knew of at the time were quite few and far between. He'd be glad to see that I'm 'meeting' some of the same folks he had contact with and purchased parts from. And I'm sure that carb is either currently on one of the mk2s or next to the workshop bench where he kept them when trouble-shooting an aspect of one in use.

[Brett Wilkie]

It is interesting to see the exterior crank handle on the back of the wagon, does that actually lower the window on the tailgate from the outside? You have a nice collection of cars there.

[Sepp]

Welcome!!
And great cars!!!
Thanks for sharing

[mk2Colorado]

Welcome. Pleasure to have a couple of Zephyrs included on this site.
I own a '60 206E L/L that my father purchased in '85 from the original owner. Driven usually on the weekends nowadays.
Some years back i was in contact with a Jim Palmer who had a Zephyr or two in N.Carolina. Possibility you may know him.

It happens that a '58 Zephyr is for sale on graigs list in Colorado posted on this site, for sale section.

Cheers,
Pete

The seller just dropped the price, but with 2 to take care of I can't manage a 3rd hah. Can't say it wouldn't it be fun to build a rally mkii with the triple manifold, and would in a heartbeat, just not in my budget to do so.
My main curiosity is, is that another mkii highline next to it and if so - is the previous owner still in Colorado Denver/Boulder area? I sent the listing an email about it, we'll see what happens.

[mk2Colorado]

It is interesting to see the exterior crank handle on the back of the wagon, does that actually lower the window on the tailgate from the outside? You have a nice collection of cars there.

It does! Lowers the window into the tailgate. They were well maintained by my stepfather, and I'm glad they still were being driven on a regular basis. I'm about to ready the estate for non-use over the winter, however the sedan will still be driven frequently here in Colorado.

[mk2Colorado]

This was the first Zephyr we had in the family; as seen in the photo it was already suffering a lot of rust damage when my stepfather bought it and it was simply a purchase for a fairly reliable everyday vehicle that wound up being such a fun car that he was ready to get a nicer one when available. When the rust eventually erodes holes in the body he removed the feasible pieces for future use. One of the doors from the white one in this photo is actually on the blue estate from when he prepped it for a new paint job in '91. Still holding onto a bonnet, grille, bumbers, back windshield, back drivers side door, boot, steering column, all of the chrome, internal clock, the engine was rebuilt and eventually put into the estate when it passed 160k, he saved just about everything possible.

[zephyrgary]

Aaron welcome. I believe the car next to the one in the pic above is an American Ford circa 55 or 56. The roofline is incredibly similar. I looked it Ford Customline. I once called an auction company because I saw the same profile in the background in their brochure.
Cheers
Gary in AZ

[mk2Colorado]

Aaron welcome. I believe the car next to the one in the pic above is an American Ford circa 55 or 56. The roofline is incredibly similar. I looked it Ford Customline. I once called an auction company because I saw the same profile in the background in their brochure.
Cheers
Gary in AZ

Yes, you are correct. I received an email back from the seller, the gray car is a '55 American Ford sedan. And it seems the original owners of that Zephyr bought it in '58 in a town not far from where I live. It's going to be a bit of a sad moment when it makes it's way to a scrapyard; it seems the person is selling his father's collection of what was 100 cars and now down to 25, but with little to no actual interest in some of them it won't be too long before the rest of any remaining cars will go to one.
Thank you for the welcome! I've been to AZ a few times but not quite as far south as the area you're in, went camping in Sedona a couple of times after driving down 191 through Monument Valley, Arches, Moab etc.