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If ever a car really needed four-wheel drive it was the MkIV Zephyr, which gained the nickname 'Flying Pig' because of its awful handling. Budget suspension components on the much-touted independent rear end compromised the geometry: the amount of tyre in contact with the road could be reduced at just the wrong moment when the car was cornering hard. And when it lost the will to grip, the five turns it took to steer from lock-to-lock hardly helped - it was like trying to pilot a barge in a hurricane.
FF Developments built 22 four-wheel drive MkIVs for the Home Office in 1969, for use in secret trials to test the benefits of four-wheel drive in conjunction with anti-lock brakes. Most of them ended up with police forces (who gave them back to FF in 1971) although the Transport Road Research Laboratory at Crowthorne had one and another was sold to BSM for its high-performance driving course. For police use, the cars were tested alongside a standard two-wheel drive Zephyr, which must have made the FF car look pretty damn good. The weight and drag of the four-wheel drive added a second or two to the wheeze to 60 mph and knocked a couple of miles an hour off the top speed, but the FFs were very popular with the drivers who liked their grip and firmer suspension.
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