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.
Unfortunately 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.
