You could say Nigel Banks has his father, Jack to thank for an introduction to Ford’s elegantly styled Consul, Zephyr and Zodiac range of 1956-62. Yet, prior to purchasing a Consul Deluxe for the bargain sum of £90 which included a spare reconditioned engine, Jack was driving around in a relatively-new Mk2 Cortina. “My father was left quite dissatisfied when he was told his Cortina’s strut tops would need repairing for its first MoT,” Nigel recalls. “He decided to opt for an older and cheaper car instead and bought the Consul from a friend of a friend.” Until this point, Nigel admits he’d always been obsessed by cars, although he had no specific favoured models. “All that changed one Saturday morning as I eagerly awaited the arrival of my father’s new car,” Nigel smiles.our house beforehand and later I’d spend the whole afternoon sat in the driver’s seat, reading the instruction manual!”
