We got a good dose of negativity the other day here about Lincoln’s reuse of the Zephyr name, even though they used it first. But obviously, most folks are going to think Mercury Zephyr, although I suspect a lot of people don’t even remember even that very well. It’s not like many are left; I was quite happy to see this survivor the other day.
It’s certainly distinctive in today’s traffic, or parking lots, especially its roof and rear end. They don’t make them like thta anymore, by a long shot.
The sign of the Z. based on the dual exhausts, I’m assuming there’s a V8 under the hood.
The front seat is pretty intact still.
Unlike the back.
Very different indeed from all of these hatchbacks. My, such long overhangs you have…
4 bolt wheels and V8? Wasn’t sure if those went together… I remember that B pillar from T-Birds… I think…
Yup, the ’77-79 7th-gen Thunderbird had a variation of this styling treatment from the B-pillar back. Apparently the Fairmont Futura (basis of this Zephyr Z-7) coupe originated as a proposal to replace that gen of T-bird with a Fox-based successor, so the styling similarity makes some sense for that intended continuity.
Not clear why they decided to make it a Fairmont/Zephyr variant instead and went a different, more conservative direction for the eventual Fox-based T-bird, but that turned out to be a bit of a flop, leading to the (still Fox-based) ’83 aero-styled T-bird.
To offer some speculative conjecture here…
I reckon this design was already late in development by the time they realized the styling continuity with the outgoing T-bird actually worked against it as a worthy successor, showing up that it was a reduced shadow of its predecessor, so a radically different, more sensational styling direction was required to compensate for the reduction in size.
It was too late or otherwise infeasible to extend production of the 7th-gen T-bird, and the Aerobird wasn’t even nearly ready yet, so as a stopgap they took the nearly-final T-bird design they had in the works, and split it in two — putting a Fairmont/Zephyr front end on the back half as a snazzy coupe variant, and quickly designing a new, simpler and more formal roofline to go with the front half and tail, downplaying direct comparisons to the outgoing model. The Futura/Z-7 coupes would gain some cachet from their resemblance to the very popular outgoing T-bird, and the new 8th-gen T-bird would tide them over at minimal cost until the Aerobird was finally ready.
The four Zephyr lug studs were half inch and not 7/16 as we had on our ’78 Z28 Camaro. The half inch lug studs never failed; however, the 7/16″ on our ’78 Z28 not only failed, they failed at 55-60 mph while my wife and two children were also in the car. Fortunately, it was the driver side rear wheel, and as it kicked off into traffic, it was briefly caught in the fender destroying it; despite that I had no trouble pulling over to the side of the road. Regardless, I’ll take four half inch lug studs over five 7/16″ lug studs any day of the week. And yes, I’ll also take five half inch lug studs over four any day of the week.
The Falcon and its Mustang and Maverick derivatives did use 4 lug wheels on the 6 cyl and 5 on the V-8s. However the Fox was all 4 lug regardless of engine for the Fairmont, T-bird, Mustang and their Mercury cousins until the 4 cyl Mustang SVO got 5 lugs. The only other early Foxes to use 5 lugs were the Mk VII and 1993 Cobra R. I’m guessing they thought 4 lugs were too downmarket for a Lincoln and too wimpy for the R. Once the Mustang was the last man standing on the Fox Platform they did go to 5 lug for all of the SN95 generation on the slightly updated Fox-4 platform, regardless of engine.
The Foxbody Continental also used 5-lug, but that also goes to your point about the Lincoln flagship.
I don’t believe the Cobra R used 5 lug for any premium qualities, what the 1993 Cobra R had that the regular Cobra did not was the 13” PBR Corvette brakes that the SN95 generation of SVT Cobras used and may have used 5 lug to amortize those brake rotors for the upcoming generation. Afterall it, as well as the standard Cobra, GTs and even 5.0 LXs used wheels with center caps that completely covered the lugnuts, going to 5 lug for the R served no cosmetic purpose
You are correct I forgot about the Conti. I didn’t mean to imply that the R got 5 lugs for cosmetic purposes, just that the buyers would have believed that the 4 lug set up wasn’t “strong enough”.
Different from the ubiquitous GM G-Body. Those do get hot-rodded some.
Unleash your inner Bob Glidden (though I don’t know if any came down the production line with a Cleveland). Better looking than a GM G?
remember the underpinnings are the mustang, in fact BEFORE the 4 eye mustang generation. So like the mustang, always 4 bolt. Had a couple, used turbine rims from a mustang! Darn horn on the turn signal though wha??? Easy rot out in the fresh air intake cowl… worse than OG mustangs! HUGE trunk, at least 4-5 JF (jimmy hoffas, the unit of measurement of how many bodies you fit vs. litres or cubic inches of space etc. which no one understands!
anything a mustang had, this had first and could interchange!
Another Ford Fox body lives on. I remember the Ford version of that Mercury was the Fairmont Futura, an additional recycled name from the past.
Considering the missing rear seat, this is a good candidate for sawzall in this region to make a large cargo aera .A kind of hatchback without the big hatch or a pick-up . This ‘fastback’ box can’t be softer anyway.
Bit of a mystery why Ford didn’t commit to a Ranchero variant like that, as the body lines certainly lent readily to it, as shown in your photo of a “Durango” (long before Dodge used that name), a very limited-production conversion run performed by National Coach Works in cooperation with Ford:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Durango
The poor man’s smaller 1977-1979 Thunderbird / Cougar XR-7 at least style wise.
As objective as I try to be regarding a car’s looks, I never thought these looked cool. More an old guy’s car, than something a guy in his 20’s would buy.
Here’s an image of the ad.
My driver’s ed class car was a Mercury Zephyr and a family friend had one, too. I spent a fair amount of wheel time on both cars. I remember that Ford set up the accelerator to give the illusion of more power than the engine actually had. Just a slight push and the car lunged forward. Then, nothing. There was little more on tap and the car was really slow after 60 km/h or so. Both cars were equipped with the 200 six. Other than the lack of power, the cars drove well. The power steering was typically Ford, meaning over boosted and lacking any road feel.
At the same time I was driving my dad’s 1979 Chevrolet Impala, which had a 350 and F-41 suspension. That car drove way better than any Zephyr. It had a feeling of solidity that the Mercury did not. I understand that these cars are not really comparable as the Impala cost a lot more.
In the back, is a cat hiding under the Sun-Shield?
Lol, I see what you mean, but pretty sure that’s just a weird reflection of a sunbeam, maybe filtered through tree branches lending that “furry” appearance. 😸
When these debuted, even though I was, I don’t know, 11? I thought, “Who at Ford thought that basket-handle greenhouse was a good idea?” It hasn’t grown on me in the intervening years.
Agreed, but the 1977 Thunderbird version of the roof sold like crazy. I really did not get it.
After the roly poly dinosaur 1972-1976 Thunderbird, the 1977 Thunderbird seemed like a Battlestar Galactica Starfighter. lol
Rented a Z7 in Hawaii in 1978.
Fancy duds but just a Fairmont underneath. Somewhat stylish but nothing to get me excited. For driving around Oahu if did the job and I recall it was comfortable and good on gas as the straight six provided power. As someone above alluded to, this model was aimed at a younger demographic. Not 24 year old me at the time. Months later I put my money down on a new Mustang Cobra.
I worked for Hertz as a transporter (in ’77 and ’78). These came out in ’78, and though it was the sedan rather than this basket handle coupe, they became probably the most popular rental…back then Hertz specialized in renting Fords (know this is a Mercury, we had a Mercury Cougar wagon at our location but way more Fords than Mercuries).
The thing I most remember about them was the outside mirror…it was what I called then “Mercedes style” in that they put it intergral with the A pillar instead of just fastening it onto the door only (not attached to the A pillar). The first car I saw with that was a Mercedes (sometime before these came out) so I call the mirror “Mercedes style” since it seemed first and then widely copied after. Also this was the first Ford to have the horn on the end of the turn signal lever….though that wasn’t entirely new to me, my Dad had a ’68 Renault R10 that also had the horn there (though he’d since traded in the Renault a few years prior). With no air bag, it was a curious choice.
I thought these replaced the Maverick (or Mercury Comet) but for some reason we never had any of those in our fleet, nor did we have a Pinto/Bobcat. Granadas, LTDII, and Thunderbird were most of our fleet, though we did have some MOPAR (mostly Dodge Diplomat, a couple of Aspens), a few GM (Olds Omega) and AMC (still a Pacer). The only imports I recall back then were a Toyota Corolla liftback and a Datsun 510 (the late 70’s rather than early 70’s version)…and only one of each that I saw.
After I got out of school, a co-worker had his own Fairmont…nothing special, 4 door sedan, but he put a Jensen stereo in it so a bit better than norm, he also spluged on Yamaha NS1000 speakers for his home system, but being young at the time, that’s when to spluge on audio stuff, your hearing only goes downhill as you get older (maybe they should have a stereo recycling program where when you get to a certain age you donate your stereo to some younger person (maybe child or niece/nephew) who can better tell the difference…then they can pass it down as well (maybe the speakers at least)
That’s why I liked the Diamond Jubilee and Heritage models of the Tbird.
A friend in high school had a Fairmont from Hertz. Though not exciting, it was a good car for him for years.
When I was a kid, the National Lampoon had a relevant definition of a zephyr- a fart.
From the clear turn signal lenses, I would guess that is a 78.
I have hit the high points of my two years of grief owning a 78 Z-7 before. Have never bought another Ford new. I have bought 3 used Fords since. Each ownership ended with some sort of failure, or multiple failures.
Mine had a 302, and single exhaust. I don’t think dual exhaust was available from the factory. A coworker bought a 79 Fox Mustang, with a 302. At considerable expense, he had a custom dual exhaust fitted. But he got rid of the Mustang after one year, due to multiple, repeated, failures. At least the stamped wheel covers on my Z-7 stayed on. Gary had the fancy “turbo spoke” wheel covers, which were molded plastic. Within a few months of buying the car, the wheel covers started breaking and falling off. The first few were replaced under warranty, with more covers that broke and fell off. Once out of warranty, those wheel covers cost $70, which was a lot of green in 79.
I sold the snow tires I had bought for the Zephyr to a guy who owned a Fairmont wagon. When he picked up the tires, I noticed his wagon had the “turbo-spoke” wheel covers, and they were held together with tape.
One more Fox body story: my mom was on a trip to Arizona, when the car rental company presented her with a Fairmont Futura. She was out at some tourist trap, when the Fairmont refused to start. Starter did not crank. She called the rental company, and told the agent what sort of car she had rented. The girl said “oh, that happens with those all the time. jiggle the gear selector in park”
I much prefer the standard 2 door box top personally. The I can’t put my finger on it but the Futura/Z-7 look off
I’d suggest the Futura/Z-7 roofline, appears gimmicky, and contrived. It doesn’t integrate well, with the Fairmont’s super conservative, remaining bodywork. It looks ‘stuck on’, to the existing lower body. Especially when the buying public, already knew what the two door and four door sedan looked like, for context and comparison.
While looking like a cheap knock-off, of the T-Bird’s slightly better integrated roofline.
I am not a fan of 1970’s domestic Ford styling, in general. As I’ve stated here before, the only styling efforts I considered solid unassailable winners, are the ’79 Mustang, and the ’75 Econoline. Toss in the 1980 F-150.
Why I was so impressed by Ford’s turnaround aero efforts in the 1980’s. Thanks significantly, to Ford of Europe.
The “Z-7”, was way more available. Very few of the “tudor sedans” were on dealer lots.
My brother bought a “79, tudor”, about “1982”. Low miles, optioned up.
Had the ‘4″, under the hood. no power (naturally)
Ran well, quiet. Good for winter, not enough power to really spin the back wheels. Mostly just slowly advanced.
Served him “ok” till late “85”.
He had/has a garage so the car stayed quite nice.
Longer, lower, wider:
https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/CC-385-058.jpg
Still a prevalent aesthetic in the late 1970s!
(Note the positively upright white Nissan/Honda/Ching Chang whatever parked to port side of the subject Mercury.)