1980 Mercury Zephyr

The Zephyr was the Mercury counterpart of the Ford Fairmont, replacing the Maverick-based Comet in 1978 and built through 1983. It rested on a 105.5-inch wheelbase platform and had an overall length of 195.5 inches. Body styles included a two- and four-door sedan, a five-door station wagon, and a two-door Zephyr Z-7 sports coupe. Distinguishable differences between its Fairmont counterpart were the four headlights, non-functional front fender vents, a waterfall-style grille, and horizontally-ribbed taillamps. Updates to the 1980 Zephyr included the slight relocation of the front bumper guards inward. It continued to wear the bright frames around the quad, horizontally stacked headlamps and quad park/signal lamps. Between the front headlights was a vertical-bar grille residing above an aluminum bumper with bumper guards and below the stand-up hood ornament. It had dual front fender louvers, deluxe wheel covers, and upper bodyside dual accent stripes. In the bac were horizontal taillamps with integral backup lenses and bright bezels. Brightwork included the roof drip moldings, rocker panel moldings, and wheel lip moldings. Optional brightwork included bright window frames and rocker panel moldings.

The interiors housed all-vinyl low-back bucket seats, Euro-style front door armrests, and woodgrain instrument cluster applique. Among the list of optional equipment were a lockable side storage box, non-reclining bucket seats, bench seat, cigar lighter, tilt steering, electric clock, leather-wrapped steering wheel, power door locks, power decklid release, power windows, tinted glass, and fingertip speed control.

Standard equipment included a 2.3-liter (140 CID) four-cylinder engine paired with a four-speed manual shift transmission. It had overhead cams, a cast-iron block and head, 9.0:1 compression, hydraulic valve lifters, a two-barrel carburetor, and five main bearings. Ford management considered making the turbocharged version of the engine available, but that did not happen. Optional powerplants included an overhead-valve inline six-cylinder unit with a cast-iron block and head, 200 cubic-inch displacements (3.3 liters), 8.6:1 compression, seven main bearings, hydraulic valve lifters, and a 1 barrel Holley carburetor. This engine produced 91 horsepower at 3,800 RPM and 160 lb-ft of torque. A new 255 CID (4.2-liter) V8 (replacing the previous 302 CID V8) had overhead valves, 8.8:1 compression, five main bearings, a two-barrel carburetor, and offered approximately 115 horsepower at 3,800 RPM.

The Zephyr Z-7 Sport Coupe, priced at $4,880 ($5,045 with six-cylinder), had a wrapover roof design with an upper bodyside accent stripe treatment that traveled over the roof. There was Z-7 ornamentation on the wide center pillar, bright wheel lip moldings, brightwork around the window frames, lower bodyside molding with black vinyl insert, and wraparound taillamps. The interior had pleated vinyl seat trim and tinted rear window glass.

In 1984, the Zephyr was replaced by the Mercury Topaz.

By Daniel Vaughan | Jul 2022