, Subject: The Zodiac Mobile Mon Mar 15, 2010 8:12 pm

This is another post from we were working on when the ZodiacZee site was deleted. Personally, I believe that the Zodiac drove a white, Chevrolet Impala. And, here is the information that I have come up with to support my theory. But, I will leave you to come to your own conclusion:

Two raccoon hunters noticed a white, four-door, hardtop ‘60 Impala parked by the entrance to the Benicia Water Pumping Station on Lake Herman Road.

Bingo Wesher, a sheepherder at the Old Borges Ranch, also noticed a white Chevrolet Impala. (Zodiac, Robert Graysmith, pp 3-4)

Officer G Meyring (#298 Vallejo PD) came into the S/O. He stated to RO that Stan__, 14 yrs… told him today that he and a friend of his, a student from Solano College, were going towards Blue Rock Springs on Columbus Parkway and a __ and a ‘63 Chevrolet Impala turned off Lake Herman Road onto Columbus Parkway heading in the direction of Blue Rock Springs__10:30 pm Friday 12/20/68. (ZodiacKiller.com, Police Report, P 52.)

According to the “Supplemental Investigation Report, Solano County Sheriff’s Office, Fairfield, California,” a white, 4-door, hardtop, ‘59 or ‘60 Impala was parked near the crime scene.

On February 26, 1969, Darlene’s babysitter noticed a white, American made sedan parked in front of the Ferrin’s home. (Zodiac, Robert Graysmith, p 3-4.)

“Description of a man following Darlene Ferrin: American made sedan, white with a large windshield.” (Zodiac, Robert Graysmith, p 318.)

Michael Mageau was interviewed shortly after the shooting by Dave Peterson. During the interview, he described his assailant’s car. “It could have been a 1958 or 1959 Falcon.” (Vallejo Times Herald, 8-19-69.) But, according to Graysmith, “The car was changed to a light, tan Chevy.” (Zodiac, Robert Graysmith, p 318.)

Earlier, on the same day that Bryan Hartnell and Cecilia Shepard were shot at Lake Berryessa, three women reported seeing a light colored Chevrolet at 2:50 pm at an A&W. “…Another car, driven by a lone man, pulled in beside them and then backed up so that his rear bumper was even with theirs. The man sat there with his head down as if he were reading something. The women got the feeling he wasn’t. The car was a silver or ice blue ’66 Chevrolet two-door sedan with California plates.” (Zodiac, Robert Graysmith, p 63.)

“In Santa Rosa, a man frightened three separate women motorists in an identical manner between 3:00 am and 4:00 pm. At 5:10, police stopped a man who’s auto and license number matched their descriptions. He was identified as a Vallejo resident in a 1962-64 white Chevrolet.” The man, “about twenty-three,” was stopped on Fourth Street after he had followed a woman right into the post office parking lot. He claimed that he was lost and looking for a way out of town.” (Zodiac, Robert Graysmith, p 134.)

On March 17, 1970, a Vallejo woman going to Travis Air Force Base was followed by a man driving a white Chevrolet. (Zodiac, Robert Graysmith pp 3-4.)

On March 22, 1970, Kathleen Johns, who was pregnant, and her baby, were picked up by a man driving a white car. (Zodiac, Robert Graysmith, pp 3-4.)

“On April 7, 1972, Isobel Watson, a thirty-three-year-old legal secretary in San Francisco, got off the bus in Tamalpias and began walking up Pine Hill. Out of no where, a white Chevy swerved at her. The car stopped and the driver leapt out, explaining: I’m terribly sorry. Please let me drive you home.” The driver was in his early forties, about 5’ 9” and wore heavy black-rimmed glasses.”

“Ms. Watson replied: ‘No thanks.’ The man repeated his request in a very concerned voice and was again refused. At this time, the man flew into a rage and, pulling a short-bladed knife, began to stab at her back. She let out a series of screams. As a result, lights went on in all the nearby houses. The man raced back to his car and sped off. Watson was rushed to the hospital and treated for her wounds. Ken Narlow of the Napa P.D. believed that there was a good chance that the attacker was the Zodiac, being that he fit all of the previous Zodiac descriptions to a tee and that the attack took place on the weekend.” (Zodiac, Robert Graysmith, pp 181-182.)

“Fifteen minutes before the killings on Lake Herman Road, and throughout the evening, a white Chevrolet sedan was seen parked exactly where the murderer’s car was parked. If the killer of Faraday and Jensen drove a white Chevrolet and the man asking about Darlene drove a white Chevrolet, then chances were that they all belonged to the same man, Zodiac.” (Zodiac, Robert Graysmith p 294.)

The following account is from a Mr. W. Crow who was driving the car that was chased on Lake Herman Road the night Betty Lou Jensen and David Faraday were killed, December 20, 1968.

“I received your (Tom Voigt) e-mail concerning the Zodiac and, yes, I was the driver of the sports car that night in December 1968. I was born and raised in Vallejo, and I was living with my parents at that time. My former girlfriend who had moved to San Francisco was visiting her parents in Napa and had just purchased a sports car. She dropped by our home in Vallejo and since I was going to get up early to go hunting with my father the next morning, instead of going out, we decided to go for a ride and catch up. She asked if I wanted to drive her sports car, a and I went down Lake Herman Road to see how the car handled. There is a place where a private road intersects the main road. There is a gate across the private road maybe thirty yards down. It provided a spot known to local teens as a place to “park” and I will leave it at that. This night, I was in a small two-seater and “parking” was not in the picture. I had just gone through the gears and pulled into the private road area and turned the car around with the front pointing to and a few feet from the main road. The engine was running and the lights were on. I had never driven a car that had toggle switches on the dashboard. As my former girlfriend was explaining to me what each one controlled, I noticed a car coming down the road from the direction of Benicia. The car passed in front of me then I noticed that it came to a stop and its taillights told me it was backing up. Common sense suggested to me to put the sports car in gear and leave. I pulled out and started driving toward Benicia. The other car backed into the area where I had been parked, turned around and in a second or two was behind me. The car hit its bright lights and then did a bright off, bright on, bright off, etc. I went through a few young testosterone moments where I was going “to pull over and kick that guy’s —”. My former girlfriend started getting upset and I sped up. The car behind me also sped up, and at one point as I was looking over my shoulder the car behind me came up on my side with its right front fender near the driver’s rear quarter panel and appeared to be moving toward making contact. I shifted to a lower gear and hit the gas. There is a fork in the road where one continues toward Benicia and the other more towards the freeway toward Vallejo. The other car was clearly chasing me and I waited until the last moment and then turned off. The larger car behind me could not make the turn. “I went down approximately two hundred yards and stopped in the middle of the road. The other car had stopped shortly after the turn-off. Each of us sat there in the road. Again, youthfully stupid, I yelled about kicking his —. After some moments, the other car turned around in the roadway and went back down the road from which we had come. I kept making macho statements, but not totally without some sense about me, I drove home. I did not see the car again. I could not see the passenger seat, but the driver was a man with short hair and glasses. I did not see his specific facial features. The two from Benicia were killed exactly at the same place where I was parked that night when I first encountered the other car. Therefore, in my opinion, he either randomly came upon that spot or was from the area and knew of it.

“Either that next morning or the day after there was a story in our local newspaper the Times Herald. I believe there was a picture showing where the car of the slain couple had been parked. For sure there was a description. I put my shotgun in the car, as if he would really still be there and drove back out Lake Herman Road to confirm the location. I came home and told my mother that I had been where the couple had been shot shortly before and of the car that had chased me. She suggested that I report it and I called the Vallejo Police Department. They explained that they did not have jurisdictional and referred me to Solano County Sheriff. I was interviewed and gave an account. I have never seen the report, nor been asked any further questions. A few years ago, a sheriff I knew who was reviewing the Zodiac records asked me if I was the W. Crow who made a report. I told him it was me and asked him if he could get me a copy of the report. I am still waiting.

“There is a part of your e-mail that I find extremely intriguing. I never told the sheriff who interviewed me that the car I encountered was a Valiant. As I recall, as I was attempting to describe the car, the sheriff came up with a “Valiant”. In the years that have passed, when I have shared the events of that night, I have described the car as a four-door light-colored Chevy. Until your e-mail I have never known that two hunters came upon a white Chevy or that any reference to a Chevy existed in the investigation. I know this does not support the theory of two cars, but it is important to me that my account be accurate.

“I can assure you that the events of that night remain vivid in my mind. I till cannot drive down Lake Herman Road without goose bumps. I feel very fortunate.

W. Crow”

tahoe27, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Mon Mar 15, 2010 8:49 pm

I see a lot of blue cars mentioned in LHR police reports. The two cars mentioned by Meyring, and the blue "what could have been" a "Valiant" which is what Crow originally stated…take it or leave it.

There is also mention of a blue car parked near the crime scene at BRS, just before the attack.

http://www.zodiackiller.com/LHRPR52.html

The girls at LB for sure saw a blue two-door Chevy in daylight hours. If it was Zodiac, and the car at LHR was Zodiac’s I’d say it would be the others on LHR that night who were mistaken about it being white.

Graysmith stretches a bit. Michael says from the beginning the car is brown–or at least around the same color as the one Darlene was driving. Kathleen Johns in her own voice doesn’t say the car is "white".

Just additional observations…

bentley, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Tue Mar 16, 2010 12:27 am

And to add a little more:

Tire imprints were found at LB behind Hartnell’s VW, assumed to be from Zodiac’s car. These imprints were from the front tires. The width between the tires (measured from the center of one front tire imprint to the center of the imprint of the other front tire, called the track), was approximately 56-57 inches. The front track on Chevy Impalas of the ’60s is over 60 inches. The track of a Corvair is 55. In addition to being wider, an Impala is much longer (two feet perhaps) than a Corvair.

My guess is, if the LB tire prints were Z’s, and Mageau’s size description is accurate, something smaller than an Impala was used at BRS and LB. Perhaps Z went scouting around in an Impala and then switched cars to avoid detection. Don’t know how he would get two cars to LB without an accomplice.

tahoe27, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Tue Mar 16, 2010 12:36 am

I always wondered, but I guess it would be assumed Zodiac would have pulled in behind them. I just question it being his car tracks. Could the tracks have been from someone else earlier? I say yes. There were no foot prints going from Bryan’s to the other car right? Maybe gravel or whatever…but, really no 100% they were from Zodiac’s car.

What if, I mean WHAT IF, another car had pulled in there in ADDITION to Zodiac’s car while he was down by the shore commiting this crime. Wouldn’t the killer have thought of that possiblity? Would he have been so brazen to park his car there while he did this?

, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Tue Mar 16, 2010 1:07 am

Interesting comments from Bently, our resident car aficionado, and Tahoe, who has a passionate fervor for detail!

I was wondering if anyone had any idea where the Zodiac’s car and Bryan Hartnell’s car were actually parked that day? After watching Tom Voigt and Ed Neal’s video, I had the impression that Bryan’s car was parked farther away and that he and Cecilia had to walk a little ways before they got to the penninsula. But, that the Zodiac had parked somewhere on the road that was closer to that area. It is interesting since Cecilia mentioned that she had seen a man on the "road" although there wasn’t a road near by. (So, I would assume that she meant "path".) I believe that Tom and Ed also mentioned that the parking lot that is there now wasn’t there forty years ago.

tahoe27, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Tue Mar 16, 2010 2:07 am

Hey–interesting comment made by Crow in your post above MadameX…

Crow states the officer came up with "Valiant/blue", but then Crow states he said:

"I have described the car as a four-door light-colored Chevy."

, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Thu Mar 18, 2010 3:46 pm

One of the three girls at Lake Berryessa described the car as a late model Chevrolet, sky blue in color. This overvation was made around 2:55 in the afternoon on what we can assume was a sunny day since they were sunbathing and BH and CS were sitting outside on a blanket. Yet, the car is so often described as white.(

Perhaps Bentley can tell us if they even made a light blue Chevrolet or Chevy Impala in those days? My mom had a light blue 1956 Chevy, perhaps a Bel Aire. But, I don’t recall ever seeing a light blue Chevy Impala. So, I looked it up on Google Images and I didn’t see any there either.

Anyother interesting comment from that same report is that she said that the "rear lights appeard to be long rather than round." I think this is interesting since Chevy Impalas had three, small, round lights in a row. (See Calman’s Avatar.)

Then again, just to be fair (since I do believe that it was an Impala), the Dodge Charger had a single, rectangular light that went across the back of the car from one end to the other. But, then again, this is such a distinct design that it seems that she would have described it as going all of the way across the back. Not to mention that none of the witnesses described the car as a Dodge Charger.

bentley, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Thu Mar 18, 2010 4:34 pm

Hi MadameX,

The 1966 Impala had long rectangular tail lights and is one of the cars I’ve always pictured the girls as seeing. I remember them in blue as well, not ice blue exactly, more a sky blue. Here is a photo of the tail lights and if you scroll down the second link below you will see the colors available in 1966.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2269/243 … c94a2b.jpg

http://www.oldride.com/library/1966_che … mpala.html

, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Thu Mar 18, 2010 5:09 pm

Bentley,

Knew I could count on you! (Hey, wasn’t there a Bentley in the movie 2012?) Interesting, rectangular tail lights on that ’66 Impala! Had no idea they came in so many shades of blue! But – at those prices – I’ll take two!!

tahoe27, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Thu Mar 18, 2010 5:39 pm

Here is a ’67 Chevy Impala.

Since they described it as "silver blue" and "light blue", as well as it NOT looking like a teenagers…I looked for something that would fit the bill in my mind.

Girls’ description of vehicle: http://www.zodiackiller.com/LBReport9.html

tahoe27, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Mon Apr 26, 2010 12:03 am

Trying to figure out where or who mentioned a Falcon in regards to BRS?? Can someone refresh my memory?

bentley, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Mon Apr 26, 2010 1:51 pm

Might have been in an article Dave Peterson wrote for the VTH while MM was in the hospital, think he got an interview. I thought I had it but can’t find it Tahoe, sorry.

Theforeigner, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Sun Oct 31, 2010 9:29 pm

Darlene Ferrin, ca Feb 1968, with her daughter Deena.
DF is standing next to her Chervrolet Corvair, the same car in which she was killed Jult 4th, 1969.
Her car, IMO, seems to be identical to the 1963 Chervrolet Corvair seen in the below picture, notice the arrangement were you fill fuel to the car, they are indentical.

Mike Mageau told police that the car the killer was driving was simelar to Darlene Ferrin´s Chervrolet Corvair.

Now in the 60s there was a car produced called "Mercury Comet", and the 1962 model had a crosshair symbol simelar to symbol that The Zodiac killer, in 1969, would start use to sign his letters.
Additionally the name "Mercury Comet" kind of connect to the astrological concept of The Zodiac.

This "Mercury Comet", IMO seems to be simelar to darlene Ferrins Chevrolet Corvair.

, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Mon Nov 01, 2010 9:12 am

Great post, TF.

Wouldn’t surprise me if at some time Z rode around literally with people in his crosshairs in this model.

And maybe later retired it to his garage because it’s too obvious a Z mobile.

Might help explain why he took that cab ride with Paul Stine.

tracers, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Mon Nov 01, 2010 2:25 pm

Tahoe, looks like the Falcon possibility came from an Aug. 19, 1969 article in The Vallejo News Evening Chronicle, as pointed out by our own Sandy:

http://www.zodiackiller.com/mba/dfamm/1202.html

By Sandy (Sandy) on Sunday, July 27, 2003 – 05:14 pm:

Doug, It looks like It came from The News Evening Chronical a Vallejo paper tuesday Aug 19th 69. I can write from one paragraph starting with the reporter saying: He elaborated on his description of the murderer’s car."It could have been a 1958 or 59 Falcon". The body type was similar to that of the 63 Corvair driven by Mrs Ferrin, Mageau said. The color was Bronze or brown.
A powerful beam of light then was shone (sic)on the couple from within the other car. They thought it was a policeman’s spotlight.

Sadly, this article is NOT in the collections of articles we z gals copied at JFK Library in July. Maybe Sandy and Zam can look for a copy of this article when the go there this month? (hint, hint, Zam and Sandy!)

Zamantha, Subject: Zodiac Theories :: The Zodiac Mobile Sun Nov 07, 2010 8:18 pm

While Sandy n I were driving out of Vallejo a couple months ago, this car caught my eye. So, I turned around took a few pic’s. The car was at a gas station. The owner of the car said he brought it 1971 as a used car lot a few blocks from Mare Island. The car seemed a little Z like. I also have a pic of the black n yellow plates. Now I have two sets of plates I would like to get run, just out of curiously…. anyone know how to go about that???

Zamantha, Subject: Zodiac Theories :: The Zodiac Mobile Sun Nov 07, 2010 8:19 pm

The car that caught my eye in Vallejo…..

Zamantha, Subject: Zodiac Theories :: The Zodiac Mobile Sun Nov 07, 2010 8:23 pm

The owner of the car said there was a center console. It’s just out right now.

Zamantha, Subject: Zodiac Theories :: The Zodiac Mobile Sun Nov 07, 2010 8:24 pm

calman, Subject: light blue looked like white at night Mon Nov 08, 2010 11:57 pm

look at my profile picture the one with two boys standing in front of an old light blue chevy impala. maybe my mom didnt know what she had.

Dice, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Tue Nov 09, 2010 4:04 am

I think Z may have used more than 1 car for his attacks.

morf13, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Tue Nov 09, 2010 8:36 am

I think Z may have used more than 1 car for his attacks.

I second that!

Read this post and you will see an attack very much like the Kathleen Johns attack. The attacker used multiple cars. This happened in southern CA in late 1967.
http://zodiackillersite.forummotion.com … se-t49.htm

wv171, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Thu Mar 08, 2012 7:21 pm

After thinking about this long time and I keep asking myself how could they be so many different types, colors and reports of cars reported as Z-Moblies.. 1 thing he scared the poo out of victims that lived or was a witness. This could account for many bad witness reports.

Not these peoples faught. They just went through a nightmare you not really pre-planed this nightmare was going to happen and had with you a pen and paper in hand taking notes of everything going on as Z is looking at you or stabing or shooting you as some police think you should be doing at that very same time all this is going on..

Common sense would tell you all police be keeping a eye open for these suspects vehicle’s. And pulling over and checking out cars that matched.

Z really did had a love affair with Chevy Impala’s, And I feel with Mercury Comets too but leave these 2 cars in your driveway you sure to catch somebody notice on this and local LE would be not far behind.. Auto Colors would change as about as quick as Gary Ridgway was painting Kenworth Truck’s daily in Washington.. Who knows Ridgway could been offical auto painter of the Z..

What be chances he owned or good friends or even maybe a brother or a family who was a owner of a Used Car Lot.. Plus if this true he could hid his car’s in the garage covered up that he like "To do his Thing" in. And/or use endless supply of cars he liked just maybe knowing the car going in paint booth tommarrow and will look completely different within few days or less.. These cars appear to pop up from nowhere then dissappear off planet earth..

Not Used Car Lot owner.. Every little area has somebody or few people that buy’s couple auto’s cheap fix them up and resale’s these to make few buck’s on them.. Is This possible..

I remember we look at a gas station at one time in one of the case’s.. But this was a short amount time suspect even had access to the station..

I just wonder if anybody allready went down this lane of investigation work before.. Could be a quick dead end road what 40 some years ago.. Lot of used car lots and people has came and gone in them many years. I found it allmost impossible to trace them from east coast of usa..

If he used the same Impala the metal be sanded off that car it changed colors so much through the years..

I just don’t know maybe I been studing autos too much and getting as crazy as that ole WV161 dude is.. I only been on this road about 8 to 10 months and got nowhere on this.. Well really not narrow down couple close year model’s and colors.. But car now more than likely is a fender on a Honda now.. Maybe beside of Jimmy Hoffa on other side and Judge Crater on the hood. Who know’s really after 40 some years..

bentley, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Thu Mar 08, 2012 10:36 pm

Who was it that traded in his car the day after one of the crimes? Cane?

bentley, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Thu Mar 08, 2012 10:39 pm

Wow, I missed this post. That’s a Z mobile for BRS and maybe LB. Nice find. Problem is there were so many cars of that vintage at the time, what are the chances his survived?

Quicktrader, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Fri Mar 09, 2012 4:03 am

Think in the police report of Kathleen Johns I had read that the interior of the car had yellow lights, was that common at this time? Anybody knows how it is with this car?

QT

Zamantha, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Fri Mar 09, 2012 10:46 am

Wow, I missed this post. That’s a Z mobile for BRS and maybe LB. Nice find. Problem is there were so many cars of that vintage at the time, what are the chances his survived?

Bentley, I look for cars when I’m in Vallejo because of you! This one totally caught my eye and Sandy & I turned around
for a closer look. Did you see my first two picture posts on it?

Quicktrader, ah no idea if it has yellow lights, sorry. Do know were it’s at IF anyone wants to go to Vallejo to ck it out more?

bentley, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Fri Mar 09, 2012 12:57 pm

BTW that’s a 1963 Ford Fairlane, and it’s track is…drum roll…57 inches, exactly the LB measurement! Did it have two different front tires…

http://www.automobile-catalog.com/make/ … /1963.html

Fairlanes were longer than Corvairs by about a foot but still a mid-sized car, I think it’s conceivable to fit Mageau’s description given the situation. Right color. But Johns describes a late model car. Granted she was driving a ’57 Chevy but would she consider a 7 year old car a late model? I don’t know if you could get bucket seats in a ’63 Fairlane but many gear heads, myself included, put bucket seats and consoles in cars that didn’t come with them. Even this car appears to have one bucket seat, a high back which would be from a later model car. I’m not sure what is meant by the yellow light. Interior lights commonly had a white plastic lens that turned yellow over the years.

tahoe27, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Fri Mar 09, 2012 1:45 pm

Neat photos Zam! Is that an old VTH on the floorboard? :tongue:

I wonder how many of these vehicles were available for use by Navy personnel and would they have been issued to a specifc person or were they shared?

sandy betts, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Fri Mar 09, 2012 9:05 pm

Bentley, Did you ever look into the Mercury Comet ? It came with bucket seats and a center console. I never received a answer back from anyone that I asked about the Comet. What is the front wheel base measurement on the Comet ?
The one I saw in 68 had no chrome on the sides, a rather plain looking car. Light golden brown. It looked a lot like Darlene’s brown car, only lighter in color. It also looked like the Ford Falcon.

Kathleen did say that the dash lights were yellow, and they reflected off of the perps very shiny spit shined shoes. Some other poster asked about a car that was turned in right after Darlene was killed ? It was Larry Kane who turned his in car, I think it was five days after not one day. Poor Harvey Hines , he had Kane/ Cane and one other man that he thought was just one man . They look very much alike, the man Kathleen and I picked out ( we picked the same picture ) is still alive, so he can not be kane.

traveller1st, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Fri Mar 09, 2012 9:12 pm

Very cool.

Could this be one of those sublim…subliminn….sulbilimin…hidden clues lol

sandy betts, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Fri Mar 09, 2012 10:11 pm

LOL very funny, we missed that one. I decided to ask a guy who has a older car radio show on Saturday mornings at 9am on KSTE, about the Mercury Comet. He has a large group of friends and listeners who may know the answer of what kind of car pre 1968 would have had yellow dash lights ? Also the front inside wheel base of 57 inches, center console and bucket seats.He might answer that question on air tomorrow ?

sandy betts, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Fri Mar 09, 2012 10:18 pm

Darlene Ferrin, ca Feb 1968, with her daughter Deena.
DF is standing next to her Chervrolet Corvair, the same car in which she was killed Jult 4th, 1969.
Her car, IMO, seems to be identical to the 1963 Chervrolet Corvair seen in the below picture, notice the arrangement were you fill fuel to the car, they are indentical.

Mike Mageau told police that the car the killer was driving was simelar to Darlene Ferrin´s Chervrolet Corvair.

Now in the 60s there was a car produced called "Mercury Comet", and the 1962 model had a crosshair symbol simelar to symbol that The Zodiac killer, in 1969, would start use to sign his letters.
Additionally the name "Mercury Comet" kind of connect to the astrological concept of The Zodiac.

This "Mercury Comet", IMO seems to be simelar to darlene Ferrins Chevrolet Corvair.

Thank you TF, I didn’t know about the Z logo on the Comet ! For as many yrs as I have posted about the Mercury Comet, you are the first that I know of to do some investigating on the car. WV7 Got interested in them after reading my posts and bought one, not the same model I saw in 68, but a different Comet .

tahoe27, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Fri Mar 09, 2012 11:30 pm

I too have never seen that on the Comet. I did look at them once when Sandy had talked about it. Does look like the car Darlene was driving. Good find TF!

bentley, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Sat Mar 10, 2012 10:58 am

Bentley, Did you ever look into the Mercury Comet ? It came with bucket seats and a center console. I never received a answer back from anyone that I asked about the Comet. What is the front wheel base measurement on the Comet ?
The one I saw in 68 had no chrome on the sides, a rather plain looking car. Light golden brown. It looked a lot like Darlene’s brown car, only lighter in color. It also looked like the Ford Falcon.

Kathleen did say that the dash lights were yellow, and they reflected off of the perps very shiny spit shined shoes. Some other poster asked about a car that was turned in right after Darlene was killed ? It was Larry Kane who turned his in car, I think it was five days after not one day. Poor Harvey Hines , he had Kane/ Cane and one other man that he thought was just one man . They look very much alike, the man Kathleen and I picked out ( we picked the same picture ) is still alive, so he can not be kane.

Hi Sandy,

Thought I had responded on the Comet, sorry. At 55 inches, it’s two inches narrower than the LB measurement, but size wise it is almost identical to a Corvair. That’s the dilemma, cars that fit the LB measurement are larger than Corvairs. Probably means 1) The car MM describes was actually larger than a Corvair, or 2) The LB measurements were not of Z’s car or 3) The LB car measurement was effected by the different tires/wheels or 4) Z used two different cars for BRS and LB.

I was the one who asked about the trade in by Kane. Seems they should have know what kind of car he traded in, since they even knew he had traded it in.

sandy betts, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Sat Mar 10, 2012 11:43 am

Thank you Bentley, I knew you would know. I have a copy of registration or transfer slip of Kane’s car that showed he had a Ambassador car.

sandy betts, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Sat Mar 10, 2012 9:23 pm

Trying to figure out where or who mentioned a Falcon in regards to BRS?? Can someone refresh my memory?

It was Mike Mageau who felt the shooters car looked like a Falcon , and also a lot like Darlene’s car.
In another report he said it looked like Darlene’s ex husbands car.
Police questioned Jim about that car, he said he drove it down south and parked it .

sandy betts, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Sat Mar 10, 2012 9:34 pm

Bentley, Could the smaller tire, and the other worn tire on the killers car, make a 2 inch difference on the 57 inch measurement ? I seem to remember that the older cars had a spare tire that was smaller ( more narrow ? ). Thank you very much for your help.

bentley, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Sat Mar 10, 2012 10:11 pm

Snady, yes it’s possible different wheels could change the offset and measurement. The registration you have for Kane’s car, does it state the year model? An Ambassador would be a Rambler Ambassador. They were available with bucket seats.

wv171, Subject: Re: The Zodiac Mobile Fri Jun 15, 2012 10:43 pm

Well I got a new car with O with + in middle. "Gunsite" Is what I call it for short..

Watching a Andy Griffith Show on TV this evening .. Little research this show was Andy Griffith on Season 1 show # 2 name of that TV show was The Manhunt.

Barney was driving squad car a Ford Galaxie somewhere between a 1960 to 1964 car..

I am sure this is not a known Z car, But on the hood on both sides was clearly the old famous Z gun site’s on front of each fender..

Amazing these cars could been bought with the famous Ford 427 engine in them from factory..

I Just making a point these sign’s has been on a number of Auto’s during this time period. Mainly Ford’s product’s/ and or family of Ford that I seen.

Anybody check out Barney Fife & where he was during times of the Murders? Could we have a new Suspect????

Last line was a Laugh Ha Ha joke bring a smile to people faces..

But you can look up Ford Galaxie cars on internet during 60 to 64 and see they was really on these cars that ole sharp eye myself caught on TV this evening..