{Moved from the "Ford Capri-good buy?" thread & re-titled - DD}
Ok Possible problem.......
Life on mars - set in 1973.
A ford zodiac/zephyr. With the big pointy angle out wings at the back ala Z cars.
1973? I don think so it would have been at least 7 years old by then? It was the big square jobs then surely?
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Can't comment on the above, but they showed an Allegro police car, and it had the updated rear lights with integrated reverse lamps which I don't think were available in 1973??? Otherwise, enjoyed the show!
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The Zodiac was on G plate making it a 1968/9 it was the wrong shape it should have been the more boxy (bloated mk2 Cortina) Mk2. Agree about the Allegro. Anyway no need to be picky, it was a good yarn and the sets had the feel of seventies Manchester a place I knew very well.
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Caught an interview on breakfast TV the Cortina was bought from a lot in Swansea. If the series flops it'll get e-bayd.
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The Zodiac MkIV (66-71) had a boxy shape by 69G reg granted, but I thought the car shown was a Zephyr MkIV which still had the pointed rear wings until its demise in 71 as far as I can remember.
If they'd wanted to use a new car for 73 they should have used a Consul 3000GT like Regan had in the Sweeney but that would have been too much of an imitation!
Good show, look forward to next weeks episode
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Marc
You must one of the few that noticed Reagan's motor isn't the Granada it's usually assumed to be, but actually the Consul GT!
JS
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Checked a few of my back issues of Practical Classics today and I'm wrong in my post above. The Zephyr MkIV was the same boxy shape like the Zodiac MkIV therefore the Zephyr/Zodiac in the prog with pointy rear wings and a 69G plate is all wrong - that car ended in 66.
Incidentally, not many Zephyr MkIV 4s or 6s about anymore - judging by the number of issues I had to trawl through to find one for sale. Plenty of Zodiac MkIV Executives to be had though.
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Good show,nice nostalgia. Didnt know they filmed it in Stockport though. Police station is actually Stockport MBC offices.
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I wouldn't buy anything under a 2.0l if you want a bit of sideways access. I favour the 3.0s but probably because I don't dabble in the injection system.
They have a few issues........
They do like to spin in the wet.
Look for rust:
Front strut tops
Around the headlights
Top front of wings
Top back of wings, where the ariel is
Rear arches
Boot floor
Sills
They also like to rot from the inside out so check all the inner wings, etc
Most can be fixed easily, and probably have been so check out for shabby repairs as aftermarket panels never fitted properly.
As for the mechanicals, all pretty cheap to buy from a dealers and fit, alot of similar parts across cortina's, capri's, sierras, but do check the mk's your matching.
My ideal would be a MK1 3.0 :-)
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A lot of misty eyed nostalgia here. Ford Capri-Good buy? Contradiction in terms - and that applied when they were still making them!
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I believe the GXL featured in Life on Mars is the very same 2000E with GXL front (and 5 speed box) that is for sale on the affordableclassics link posted by mikeyb. A few interior shots showing the dash gave the game away, it has the later '74 on facelift dash.
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The boxy big Ford Mk IV with body and handling like a barge was made from 1966 to 1972; the finned Z-car jobs were 1962-66; the elegant clean-cut Granada started in 1972 and lasted until the dismal Sierra-like Scorpio in 1985 and its catastrophic (sales wise) 1994 blob version:
tinyurl.com/8mjs6
tinyurl.com/8xnmu
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Zephyr
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_of_Britain
I had a Mk IV Zephyr briefly as a company car in 1972. It was undoubtedly the worst four-wheel car I have ever driven (top prize for all vehicles going to the Reliant three-wheeler).
As for the Capri, my 2.8i is now 21 years old, has never gone wrong, has barely a touch of rust, and brings a smile to my face every time I drive it.
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Actually made a point of seeing this prog.
Agreed the Zephrt was the only real 'mistake' in the excellent selection, of vehicles & memories in a non-motoring tv production.
Not sure why it's not a 7pm BBC 2 type scheduled output. Little violence/swearing & distinct lack of , 'he was in so & so, wasn't he!!' Newish actors then??
If they keep the nostalgic motors rolling, I'll think about borrowing a telly, again!!
VB
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When the my old man went on strike he got a job doing courier runs from a company in basildon. The transport provided was a MK1V Zephyr. It had quite a few miles under the bonnet, and one of the front struts had gone a bit soft. NOt a good handling car at the best of times, this thing rolled like a narrow boat in the north sea, and the tiller (cant really call it steering) gave less feedback than the narrow boat.
It was I seem to recall about two years old and already riddled with near terminal rust.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Anyone else watch this last night? It was a real nostalgia fest. I thought that the coke bottle cortina looked fabulous, particularly in brown. I wonder hwere they would have got all teh old cars from, there were loads.
{Merged with the thread TVM started, which was originally in the "Ford Capri-good buy?" thread, but subsequently moved to it's own thread. DD}
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A few comments on the Capri thread, as I said there I believe the GXL featured in Life on Mars is the very same 2000E with GXL front (and 5 speed box) that is for sale on the affordableclassics link posted by mikeyb (in the Capri thread). A few interior shots showing the dash gave the game away, it has the later '74 on facelift dash.
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Is this variant of the Cortina the only car that has ever looked good in brown? Perhaps it is.
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Not sure the mk3 coke bottle actually looked good in profile in any colour. Grey hair seems to suit it tho, it looked better than I remembered.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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very same 2000E with GXL front (and 5 speed box) that is for sale on the affordableclassics link posted by mikeyb (in
I had a very similar looking MKIII Cortina 2000GXL in that same Bronze colour - lovely car, wish I had it now !
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Thought the programme was good with a fine nostalgic collection of cars.
One observation though was they were all in such good condition unlike the reality that would have been filthy with rust coming through on 2 year olds.
--
Was Charles {P} but someone c o p i e d my name with spaces.
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I liked the Allegro Panda car... one of the Mark 1 transits looked appropriately ropey, though. I suppose there's also the question of the number of pre 1973 vehicles on show. Prize for the oldest spotted?
Tim{P}
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The TV company will use specialist firms who supply the particular vehicles required or, alternatively, ones owned by enthusiasts.
Incidentally, the Ford Anglia used in the Heartbeat series looks in excellent condition. I used to own a 105E in deep blue with a grey insert which proved great to own, but eventually had to go as the rear offisde wheel arch began to rust. It was time for a change any way...:-)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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I wondered if the old ford Zodiac (or Zephyr) police care was contemporary for the time. I would have thought they'd been phased out long before 1973.
Does anybody know when they were last used by the police (BD to Z Victor 1) etc.
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Oops, posted this on the second thread and didn't see all the previous postings.
Sorry
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Think it was a black Zephyr Six.The Mark IV? Dagenham dustbin Zodiac/Zephyr suceeded that.(Bonnet like an aircraft carrier). The correct model in 1973 would surely have been the early Granada.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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the cortina mentioned in brown is actually painted in roman bronze.
Nobody has mentioned the hb viva so "hara" hb viva :)
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The trailer for tomorrow showed a "proper" Alfa. I'm not old enough to know which one without getting my Observer's book of cars out.
John
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Think it was a black Zephyr Six.The Mark IV? Dagenham dustbin Zodiac/Zephyr suceeded that.(Bonnet like an aircraft carrier).
>>
And swing axle back end. Rare as hen's teeth these days unlike some of its predecessors. There are several Mk 11 Zephyr/Zodiacs in poor condition still in use around here, and I glimpsed a couple of weeks ago a customized, tuned, immaculate Mk I Zodiac, sounded absolutely terrific and looked it too.
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On Cortinas, I wd have thought anyone with an eye for horseflesh wd realise that the best Cortina was the Mk I: small, light and simple. Mk I Lotus Cortina was extremely quick for its day, and I treasure the memory of Clark, Hill, Gurney and other F1 drivers rubbing doorhandles on three wheels in them round Paddock Bend at Brands, followed by a jostling phalanx of Mini Coopers. No one raced the Mk II (well they may have done, but it wasn't a successful racer). As for the Mk III it was pure carp, a rustbucket with the agricultural Pinto engine, a car that felt a lot bigger than it was to the driver, in other words the absolute opposite of a decent car but somehow what Americans used to like.
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Hey and check out those Y shaped rear lights. The first time I reckon that design became a rear light feature.
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ban the bomb lights copied by the hippy peace movement.
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On a simailar note, on Heartbeat a year or two ago, there was a G reg grey 68/69 Jag 240 {aka by some as a MKII}, so brand new, as Heartbeat is set in the late 60s, despite running for about 15 year now, no specific date ever given, so the Jag should have been just about brand new, but when the requesit villan opened the boot, it was full of rust.
I know that they were bad on rust, but this was pushing it a bit!
LOL
Paul {Forest of Bowland}
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Interesting cars in the final episode of this series of Life on Mars including a Hillman Imp. However I noted, I kknow how sad is that, the registration of the Ford Police car KJM 212K a quick check shows this car has no road Tax. I'm surprised it still moves as it must be over 35 years old. What year was a K plate. Regards Peter
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K plate is somewhere between 69-71. Do tax exempt cars show up on the dvla site as untaxed or taxed??
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They will show as taxed. 'Tax exempt' isn't strictly the case. You still have to tax or SORN them every year - it's just that the rate of Duty on a 'historic vehicle' as they are classed is Zero.
Lovely to turn up at the Post Office, hand over a licemce reminder, an MOT and Insurance Cert and get a tax disc for free!
JS
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In case you missed it first time around, or just want to watch it again,
It's being repeated on Bravo (Sky digital channel 124) starting tonight at 10pm, and another episode on Tuesday's at 9pm for the next few weeks.
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Seconded. Great drama, plus plenty of old motors!
--
Dr Alex Mears
MG BGT 1971
If you are in a hole stop digging...unless
you are a miner.
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