For those interested in old cars.

[alastairq]

2 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

I wonder when you last drove a modern Ford - or indeed other contemporary makes?

Frequently [although, not mine]

Yes, the 'power' is there [and so it should be, given the advances in technology & engine control?]  But, neither Fords , nor anything Korean  or vaguely germanic, do anything for me, as a 'driver'.  Driving, as such is pretty much all I have done for my entire working life.....[it's something I enjoy doing! ] Not necessarily about 'speed'..in fact, I do not drive overly 'fast' at all..

'SAfety' of the vehicle? Not something that concerns me in the slightest.....Again, that's just 'me'....

I find the interiors to be almost claustrophobic in the way they hug me...

Plus, I truly dislike the way I am expected to embrace 'technology' to do what I long ago learnt to do for myself. [To the extent I could instruct on the various aspects...eventually, once I learnt how to teach!]

I find no pleasure in the skills of driving, in a modern car. Or whatever.

Sorry if that offends the younger generations, but it is what it is.

But life across the board has become 'samey'......and cars...and the expectations of the driver...likewise. In fact, I'm not so sure the 'driver' isn't the biggest hindrance to car design these days?

[Enterprisingwestern]

15 minutes ago, alastairq said:

But life across the board has become 'samey'......and cars...and the expectations of the driver...likewise. In fact, I'm not so sure the 'driver' isn't the biggest hindrance to car design these days?

 

I think the driver is the last person car companies think of.

 

Mike.

[Kickstart]

4 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

Is there something wrong w current Fords?

Main thing seems to be a lack of fashionable badge.

 

All the best

 

Katy

[boxbrownie]

13 minutes ago, Kickstart said:

Main thing seems to be a lack of fashionable badge.

 

All the best

 

Katy

When the Sierra was launched at the Frankfurt show we had the throngs of the unwashed press gathered for the unveiling of the XR4......Bob Lutz gave the talk and at the end he pointed out that the only problem with the car was the little blue oval on the front.........the XR4 left the M5 for dead around Lommel handling circuit.

[Kickstart]

And that was long before the worship of German car makers really got under way, and when they still actually tried for long term engineering!

 

All the best

 

Katy

[Oldddudders]

1 hour ago, alastairq said:

Sorry if that offends the younger generations, but it is what it is.

I'm 72 next month! And relish designs that use less fuel and last longer than was the case in my yoof. And safety does matter to me, starting with improved handling, roadholding and brakes that mean avoiding accidents is easier.  

[steve1]

1 hour ago, Kickstart said:

And that was long before the worship of German car makers really got under way, and when they still actually tried for long term engineering!

 

All the best

 

Katy

For a long time, Ford were a German car maker...

 

My brother was a confirmed Ford fan.

 

steve

[rocor]

4 minutes ago, steve1 said:

For a long time, Ford were a German car maker...

 

My brother was a confirmed Ford fan.

 

steve

 

Blue and white badges go in and out of fashion. In the UK, in the 1960's, Ford had a reputation as a performance brand among a large swathe of the population. "You have a Cortina GT, nice!". A certain Bavarian based company, with a blue and white badge has been in a similar position of high esteem among the motoring buying population until comparatively recently.

[PatB]

My Mk2 Escort was, for the money I paid, and the level of tech it embodied (ie, not much), probably the best car I've ever owned, certainly in terms of driving enjoyment. OTOH, the Fairmont station wagon I had at roughly the same time is one of only two vehicles I truly regret buying. An awful car, even if accepted for what it was; a big, woofly, old-tech Aussie six pot with some luxury add ons and no pretensions to being a driver's car. It even did that badly in comparison to the competition. 

[boxbrownie]

28 minutes ago, steve1 said:

For a long time, Ford were a German car maker...

 

My brother was a confirmed Ford fan.

 

steve

They were also a US, Brazilian, Canadian, German, British, Australian, Spanish, et al........car maker, but their heart was US of course, manufacturing excellence was German, innovation and performance British.......the Spanish had great Oranges  

[PatB]

19 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

They were also a US, Brazilian, Canadian, German, British, Australian, Spanish, et al........car maker, but their heart was US of course, manufacturing excellence was German, innovation and performance British.......the Spanish had great Oranges  

And a locally manufactured/assembled Alpine A110, IIRC, so not all bad. 

[PhilJ W]

3 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

I'm 72 next month! And relish designs that use less fuel and last longer than was the case in my yoof. And safety does matter to me, starting with improved handling, roadholding and brakes that mean avoiding accidents is easier.  

And reliability, being stuck in the middle of nowhere on a freezing night with a broken down car is no joke at 72.

[jcredfer]

22 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

And reliability, being stuck in the middle of nowhere on a freezing night with a broken down car is no joke at 72.

 

Yep, for many years I serviced my own car and a few others.  Problem in the middle of the night, or whenever, open the boot, out with the tools, fix it drive on.

 

Then I got old, the night were cold and me not so bold, so paid up to the good old RAC [place your own favourite in here].  It cost a a bomb and 25 years on, have only ever used them twice and worth every penny!!

 

Julian

 

Edited October 18, 2020 by jcredfer

[MJI]

Zodiac is a posh zephyr. My sad bought one in mid 70s to tow a boat and it was very unreliable was 2.5 v6

 

The Zodiac had a faffier grill.

 

Was seen in Worcester

[MJI]

Dad not sad typed on a telephone

[PatB]

I gather the Essex V6 was not Ford's finest engine, although those who know what they're doing seem able to make them hold together and go rather well. Dad had a Scimitar SE5, and reckoned it's rather tired example was OK to drive but prone to overheating. Sadly he passed before experiencing the professionally built, breathed on example he commissioned. 

[peanuts]

any one interested in a " project " came via a land purchase apparently 

 

 

[Oldddudders]

I think the most disappointing thing about the Mk4 Z-cars was that they were so apparently hopeless compared to their predecessors. I had a couple of mates with Mk3 Zephyr 6s and we really loved them - sure, they had boatamatic suspension but plenty of go and fairly chuckable, really, as young lads would want. The Mk4 just seems to have been a boat - all at sea, especially in car-parks!

[BernardTPM]

On paper the Mk.4 looked good (fully independent suspension, all-round disc brakes, new V engines) but it fell well short in the execution.

[MJI]

Head gaskets, Essex V6 not great.

 

Rear calipers seized as they had hand brake rods in them.

 

Could have been so much better.

[Joseph_Pestell]

8 hours ago, PatB said:

I gather the Essex V6 was not Ford's finest engine, although those who know what they're doing seem able to make them hold together and go rather well. Dad had a Scimitar SE5, and reckoned it's rather tired example was OK to drive but prone to overheating. Sadly he passed before experiencing the professionally built, breathed on example he commissioned. 

 

I owned a Scimitar (SE6) with the 3 litre Essex. They were well known for overheating (mine did as soon as held up in traffic) but that was due to the way that the block fitted rather too tightly into the engine bay of the Reliant. There was a standard replacement radiator set up which cured it easily which Reliant should really have done from the start.

[PhilJ W]

I had a Corsair V4, The fuel pump was operated  by a rocking lever worked off of one of the cams. The lever used to either wear or bend and the fuel supply diminished accordingly. I was told to fit a V6 fuel pump, this I did and there was never any more trouble. If anything the V4's were even worse than the V6's because they were out of balance. The ideal angle on a V4 or V8 to balance the engine is 90 degrees, with a V6 its 60 degrees. The Essex engine was 60 degrees. Fords did fit a balance shaft to the V4's but as the engine wore it became less effective. The Transit was designed around the V4 engine and many owners, especially of motor caravans fitted the V6 (with the diesel version snout) which not only gave more power and reliability it improved fuel consumption as the engine was not so stressed.

[Kickstart]

I was told years ago, and not a clue if true, but there was a weak link in the oil pump drive of the Essex v6, which could snap if started from very cold (ie, thick oil).

 

Is this true?

 

All the best

 

Katy

[alastairq]

35 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

The Transit was designed around the V4 engine and many owners, especially of motor caravans fitted the V6 (with the diesel version snout) which not only gave more power and reliability it improved fuel consumption as the engine was not so stressed.

Ambulances were fitted with the V6 from 'new'....[at least, round these parts they were]

 

Then there's the famous [well, I think so] recovery beaver tail Mk1 Transit....with an extended chassis, a 3.1 litre V6 [s it is now] made by David Bogg of East Lutton..a famous tuner amongst the sporty brigade...well known for making cars drivable after they'd been on one of those newfangled compoooterised rolling roads in the West Riding. Sons famous for their aluminum bike carb conversions...with many being retrofitted in place of recalcitrant EFI.

[alastairq]

5 minutes ago, Kickstart said:

I was told years ago, and not a clue if true, but there was a weak link in the oil pump drive of the Essex v6, which could snap if started from very cold (ie, thick oil).

 

Is this true?

 

All the best

 

Katy

 I think possibly referring to one of the  Ford V8s?