1981 Mercury Zephyr Z-7 review from North America

Where do I begin? When I got the car, it had no air cleaner because carburetor problems caused former owners to change the carburetor to one that didn't allow the air-cleaner to fit properly any-more. The biggest problem was with the cooling system. I blew hose after hose and we eventually had to replace the radiator and even with the new radiator we have to add stop-leak from time to time. The locks are tricky and most recently, the alternator has gone out for the third time. It won't hold a charge and it's not charging itself. I have to hook it up to a battery charger for an hour before I plan on driving it. Even then, I can't turn it off or let it die or it doesn't have enough power to turn over. All I get is a "click-click" if I'm lucky. It is a pain to get it started in cold weather and it uses a lot of gas and the starter draws hard on the battery on the coldest days. Vacuum leaks have also been a continuous problem. As for the interior, the headliner is falling down and appears as if it shrunk. The dash is cracked and the driver's side of the bench seat is in poor condition.

I call this car my tank. It is the ugliest thing I have seen since my mom's '82 Ford Granada. I was so embarrassed when my husband traded his old Chevy pick-up for it along with a cash payment of $200. We bought it from family & it had no radio and we've never put one in for fear that when we do, Zelda the Zephyr will just keal over and die for good. I never expected to own my Zephyr this long, but to drive her is to love her. She rides so nicely, it's easy to overlook the outward appearance of the car. At times I am embarassed because I'm the only one I know who rolls in a car from 1981 with the headliner falling down on top of my head. Everyone I know sees me from a mile away... "There's Lisa in her hoopdy". Haha! But the joke is on them. I have never been left on the side of the road. On her worst days, I can fix Zelda myself with no tools at all. My Zephyr gets me home every time. This car is so dependable and feels so safe even on the iciest road that recently my 10 year old son said that whenever I finally got a new car he'd like us to hold on to this one so he can have it. He's not embarasses at all because he's seen how this old (almost classic), boxy looking car has never let us down. Sure things break. It's an old car and that's to be expected, but every fix is clean and easy and he sees the value in hanging on to a good thing.