Ford MKI Capri

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brucemillar

brucemillar

MB Enthusiast
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Nov 18, 2010
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Next Door to Alice - 25 'kin years now
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C55 AMG Wagon - W124 300te 4matic Wagon - BMW 4.8is X5 E53 - SWB Pajero 3.5 V6 24v
Back in the day I knew somebody who owned this heavily customised MKI 3.0 V6 Ford Capri.

The car was painted in a black flip glitter with air brushed scenes on the bonnet & boot lids. Sat on Wolf Race Alloys it was fun. Even in those days people would steal bits from it (note the missing petrol flap).

My mate liked his Capri. He just grew out of It.
b73e64cf45b2b5cb93456aeeaf6c2c83.jpg




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The 'non Mk1 Escort' rear lights = the 'face lift' model, before the Mk2.

Pure "Custom Car / Street Machine" material.
 
Oh. It’s long gone now. Probably making a 10000 baked bean tins.

It had the Ford Essex V6 and held the road like a lump of butter that was greased with greasy stuff.

But boy was it fun. We went to shows and that was really what it was all about then. I still remember the lovely power bulge in the bonnet much sought after by the 1.6 boys.


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I had a 1973 3.0 GT MkI facelift back in a previous existence. Loved the car but, as already mentioned, they handled atrociously. The common fix for this was a substantial amount of weight in the boot to keep the rear end down, usually a bag of cement. I don't think it really did much but it helped a bit.

Be interesting to know how the one pictured handled with the extended spring hangers, a very common "mod" in the 70s which I remember doing to an old PC Cresta I had. How embarrassing.

I notice that the one above also has a bar running across the rear from the bottom shackle bolts, a bit like a Panhard rod, though as it's not mounted to the frame, I can't see making much difference as there's still going to be a fair amount of sway. The painted (nearly always red) rear axle was also a very common trait back then, usually with a couple of bulbs lit up to highlight it, as were the slot mags (Wolfrace) with the red painted inners.

I like the fact that 70s modified cars all tended to be jacked up, following the American (and British to a lesser extent) drag racing scene, whereas nowadays it's all "slammed" down to the ground.

I miss the 70s...


:D
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Dave

Wow. You did your homework and it shows.

As with lots of these cars, lots of bits were bolted in for appearance. I believe that the rear bar was such an item. At one point a huge chromed industrial spanner appeared bolted to the rear diff.

The underside was lit with red fog lamps. As was the engine bay (blue lamps)

The interior was sumptuous and original black leather seats and black carpets. With a stereo that required its own military grade power source.


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Folks

Thank you. I really expected hoots if derision when you saw this?

I loved her and learned most of my spannering in her.

At one point she developed an engine clatter. After lots of engine stripping, we dropped the sump and started unbolting pistons. One fell out the bore, perfectly split in half up through the pin and leaving s perfect piston top and rings inside the bore with zero damage to the block.

Yes she was weighted in the boot with two bags of cement (true) that made no difference. But you never admitted this.

I al so recall Holly Carbs ad a huge chrome Air Cleaner that both required adaptor plates.

I am genuinely pleased that you enjoyed the pic. I shall see if I can find some more to post up. Ask away.


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I also remember the fibre timing gear on those Essex V6 engines Bruce.

Changed several of those over the years as they used to delaminate and the gear tended to spin independently of the centre if you didn't catch them in time...
 
brucemillar said:
Back in the day I knew somebody who owned this heavily customised MKI 3.0 V6 Ford Capri.

The car was painted in a black flip glitter with air brushed scenes on the bonnet & boot lids. Sat on Wolf Race Alloys it was fun. Even in those days people would steal bits from it (note the missing petrol flap).

My mate liked his Capri. He just grew out of It.
b73e64cf45b2b5cb93456aeeaf6c2c83.jpg




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Click to expand...

We used to get a (street legal) V8 (mustang engine) conversion from Basil Green Motors (in SA). Always wanted one.


Those rear window louvers were very popular in SA for keeping heat out and because they "looked cool"
 
Never owned one but I always had a soft spot for Capris.

The original Ford Capri was of course the 1960s Consul based version:

Ford Consul Classic - Wikipedia

When I lived in Walton on Thames many years ago somebody had an immaculate low mileage one laid up in their garage. A learner driver passing by lost control of their car, shot down his drive at high speed and ploughed through the garage door ... causing massive damage to it. He wasn't happy ;)
 
In the late 1970's a mate of mine owned a 3000E Mk1 Capri, while my car was a much more mundane 1700 V4 Corsair. Anyways...

A crowd of us used to make a handful of pilgrimages every year to camp at Santa Pod for the bigger events of the year. Entrance fees were pretty pricey, so sneaking passengers in was all part of the fun. The normal method was to hide in the boot which, of course, security on the gate were wise to so there would often be checks.

On the particular occasion in question, we were 5-up in my Corsair with a h-u-g-e 6-man frame tent and lots of other luggage in the usefully capacious boot. We stopped at the designated spot some way from the entrance, Kev parked up his Capri and clambered into the boot of the Corsair and we re-packed the tent and luggage behind him. At security they want to look in the boot, so I duly get out and open it. "F*** Me!," exclaims the security guy, "how much stuff have you got in this car fer f***'s sake?". Whereupon he slams the bootlid and we're waved through.

As we drive off I ask if Kev's OK back there in the boot? "Great," comes the slightly muffled reply, "and it's much more comfy than my Capri" :D
 
Had a white 2.0 Laser for a little while, it was alright. When the time came to move it on, it sold very quickly to a Capri enthusiast.
 
When the 3 litre Capri's came out, loads of E Type owners traded them in for said Capri;
at the Ford dealership which I bought a lot of cars from, they had a roof area for storage of trade-ins and stuff awaiting collection - it was full and they simply could not get rid of them at that time.

Yet another 'if only we knew then - both cars are now both rare and of varying degrees of vastly increased value.

Me - I wrote off my first Capri only 4 or 5 days after delivery, only had 800 miles on it ... :(
 
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