FORD CAPRI

'The car you always promised yourself' was the advertising slogan used by Ford at the launch of their new Capri in 1969 and that may well have been true for lots of people, but if you were keen on 'sporting motoring', then the Capri 1300L was unlikely to have been on the letter you wrote to Father Christmas. However as the model range expanded and larger and larger engines became available, the Capri began to be recognised as a decent performance car.

Ford were and still are experts in using their motorsport involvement to keep their showroom doors creaking, particularly so in the 1970s and soon an RS2600 Capri was commissioned and built to compete in the European Touring Car Championship, initially with considerable success. However, BMW had bigger ideas and introduced the more powerful 3.0 CSL, rapidly stealing a march on Ford at the circuits. In response, Ford Advanced Vehicle Operations got the go ahead in September 1973 to build a batch of Capri RS 3100s to homologate the car for the E.T.C.C. and the motorsport public were treated to some very special racing in the 1974/1975 season as both manufacturers showed scant regard for cost, both on and off the track.

The Essex 3.0 V6 was over bored to 3,091cc, developed by Cosworth and when fuelled through a Weber 38DGAS, produced 148bhp and 187lb/ft of torque. The gearbox was a standard Granada unit with an Atlas diff and this combination when fitted to the road car resulted in 0 - 60mph in 7.3 secs and a top speed of 125mph. The suspension was modified with stiffer front springs and competition rear springs and Bilstein Gas Dampers were fitted all round. Slightly flared arches, twin tailpipes, RS 4-spoke alloys, a shallow front splitter and an enormous rear wing completed the look. The interior was pure 3000GXL with a flat 2-spoke steering wheel. The RS3100 was offered in a number of bright colours and they were all decaled in gold around the power bulge, the rear panel and a triple line down the side. We now know that 248 were built, however in the middle of a world recession sales were slow and Ford wanted the space for the Capri II, so production was ended and the last 50 of the unsold cars were sent to Australia.