Founded by Harold Lightburn in the Adelaide
suburb of Camden Park as a white-goods manufacturer,
the company would for a brief time in the mid
1960’s turn its hand to the manufacture
of lightweight fibreglass bodied cars. Initially
launched in 1963, the Zeta was manufactured
in three body styles, the 2 door sedan, 2 door
roadster and utility – each clearly targeting
the “cheap and cheerful” market
segment.
On paper at least, the Zeta put forward
a compelling argument to augment the Aussie
family with a second car, the £595 asking
price amazingly low. But the execution was
poor, build quality and insipid engines combining
to wipe the smile off any new owners face in
seconds, rather than minutes. And with the
release of vastly better vehicles such as the
BMC Mini, few were tempted to give the little
Zeta a try. The Sydney City Council did purchase
a handful of the utility body styled Zeta’s
to supplement it’s Hyde Park fleet, but
these rarely ventured onto the bitumen. In
the end, only 400 would be sold, production
ending in 1965 and the last vehicles being
sold in 1966.
