Description:

SUMMARY

Built for British entrepreneur and Dragons' Den star, Theo Paphitis, to compete in Goodwood Revival's St. Mary’s Trophy, this well prepared and well presented 1958 Zodiac racer, complete with its V5C and Goodwood Technical Declaration, would make an ideal introduction into the addictive world of historic saloon car racing. 

DESCRIPTION

Pre-’60 Touring Cars have always held a strong position in historic racing going way back to when the CSCC ran races for such models, albeit in very standard form. As interest in more potent versions of these cars became evident, Top Hat Racing announced a series named 'Oldies but Goldies’ which firmly established the status of these cars in modified form and this continued until the HRDC announced a revived series in 2010 named ‘Touring Greats’.

In a collaboration between HRDC founder, Julius Thurgood, and Lloyd McNeill, who was then the Competition Manager at Goodwood, a set of regulations were drawn up that could be shared with both organisations. Goodwood had then taken the decision to split the Pre-’60 Touring Cars from their combined 50s/60s St. Mary’s Trophy race for these cars thus allowing Goodwood to run separate versions of the two genres on alternative years and to secure a stable regulations platform for the ‘50s cars. The regulations for the Pre-’60 Touring Cars are shared by Goodwood and the HRDC and, as period regulations for these cars were vague or non-existent, the basis of these shared regulations was to maintain the appearance of the cars exactly as they raced in period but to allow pragmatic upgrades in the use of ‘family’ components from pre-’66 cars to enhance their performance in terms of tuning and safety. Goodwood issues a Technical Declaration document for these cars, and the HRDC issues a Historic Race Passport, both of which are recognised by these respective organisations.

Dating from 1958, this very smart, second-generation Zodiac was built in order to compete at the amazing Goodwood Revival in the St. Mary’s Trophy for saloon cars manufactured between 1950 and 1959 and carefully prepared to the regulations set by the ‘Oldies but Goldies’ series run by the HRDC and the brilliant Julius Thurgood for saloon cars from that period. As well as its UK V5C, it benefits from a current Goodwood Technical Declaration.

Back in 2020 and during lockdown, British entrepreneur and previous Dragons' Den star, Theo Paphitis, was keen to participate in the Goodwood Revival and commissioned his close friend Kerry Michael, an established and successful historic racer and team owner, to build a suitable car that would reflect the appropriate specification and follow the values of the well established Revival meeting. Kerry himself is well known as a fierce competitor around Goodwood in his own Zodiac racer and the decision was made to source a similar car and prepare it in Kerry’s workshop to the same specification as his own car.

SSY 286 was duly sourced, fully stripped and professionally prepared for the St Mary's before being finished in a deep red over light grey - the Mk II Zodiac was famous for its distinctive, trans-Atlantic styled factory two-tone paint schemes designed to separate the top-tier Zodiac from the single-tone Consul and Zephyr models. It features an engine built by Steve Stanton Motorsport (only one event since a recent refresh), a four-speed Rocket gearbox and a Ford mini Atlas type rear axle. Racing dampers and competition brakes complement the usual racing seat, belts and fire system. It's ready to compete and enjoy again although, as with any competition car, interested parties need to establish the currency and suitability of any safety-related equipment (seats, belts, cage, tank, extinguishers etc.).

Well prepared and well presented, this handsome Ford has enjoyed competing on several occasions at Goodwood sharing with two times DTM Champion, Gary Paffett as well as Indianapolis legend, Tony Kanaan. It is priced to sell today and offers a fantastic entry point into historic saloon racing with the added excitement of a potential Goodwood entry.

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