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This seller sits on the fence in my books.
numi

numi wrote:This seller sits on the fence in my books.

...and which side of the fence do you think this example falls?

Idris wrote:

numi wrote:This seller sits on the fence in my books.

...and which side of the fence do you think this example falls?

Hard to tell unless this specimen is in-hand. I am unfamiliar with the casting dynamics but this is the 2nd specimen that had gone on sale from this seller (if its the same seller) and both playworn.
numi

I just looked at the seller's feedback and I saw that sold other 2 ford zodiac No. 53 last year, unfortunately there are more photos of advertisement.Lastly saying that the model seems perfectly original and, if false, is made just fine !!!

numi wrote:... this is the 2nd specimen that had gone on sale from this seller (if its the same seller) and both playworn.

Given how rare this wheel variation is, that's simply not credible. Add in the fact that the body is not the correct casting, plus what may be a dubious baseplate rivet and it all points to it being a fake.

We all know about rivit post tranplants - perhaps having a good pull with fingers may reveal glue holding the rivit post in place?

I tried it with tweezers, the rivet remains intact!

lesney0905 wrote:I tried it with tweezers, the rivet remains intact!

That means if it is a rivit transplant it has a serious amount of glue holding it in place - try weighing the car and weigh a bog standard one -there should be almost no difference in weight if no glue inside except for the difference in tyres being a little heavier than bpw which you can calculate the weight for........

Idris wrote:I think this model has a suspension strip, meaning that if the baseplate is removed, the wheel-sets can be changed over as complete units. Any chance of a baseplate photograph, especially the rivets?
Could you also please confirm the engine blocks casting as per Nick's variation table?

With all due respects, I suspect Idris must have been thinking of a Superfast model when mentioning a suspension "strip" and "wheel-sets" and suggesting that the baseplate may have been removed & replaced. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know, NO regular wheel model EVER had anything like "wheel-sets"; the assembly always had to be done by putting one wheel on the axle, putting the axle through the appropriate holes in baseplate (or wherever), then putting the second wheel on and mushrooming the axle end (or crimping, of course, on early models). The Ford Zodiac Mk. IV is no exception, so there would be noting gained by removing the baseplate (except slightly easier access to the axle ends, I suppose). I'd suggest on this example the baseplate rivet is probably fine and original; what needs close examination, as others have said, is the axle ends and the wheels (inside and outside) to see if the axle ends may have been tampered with or the wheels forced over the axle ends. Unfortunately, with the amount of wear on this model (it's not a low mileage car, and wasn't driven gently!) it's probably impossible to determine for sure.

Dave R

You may well be right, Dave.
The reason I wrote about suspension strips is that I once handled a faked silver-hubbed example where something had gone very wrong at the rear end resulting it what was effectively a collapsed rear suspension. I would be interested in seeing one of these models opened up in order to better understand how this could happen and thereby also determine whether simply swapping over both wheel-sets is actually possible. (Where's Antonin when you need him?)

Addendum: I've just dug one out of my collection. I definitely think there is some kind of suspension strip at the rear, but not at the front which is rock hard. So we may well both be correct!