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- October 2008 - Restoration Project - Part Nineteen
As promised, this set of pictures show you the restoration of the rare
slotted rostyles that this particular 3000E was fitted with. In many
ways, nice wheels can make or break the look of a car so here we show you,
picture by picture, exactly how the wheels are brought back to "as new"
condition. These wheels weren't in a bad state to start with but often
wheels are, in which case a visit to the grit blaster is well worthwhile.
The key is to work out the order in which to re-apply the paint and to mask
well. The blue tape is a special type which, when applied correctly,
will give you a really sharp edge between the black and the silver.
There's not too much to do now for the car to be complete but - as you have
witnessed through this restoration story - it has taken longer than
originally planned.
.......watch out for Part Twenty
- September 2008 - Restoration Project - Part Eighteen
Just a brief update this time. The lip of the boot is smothered in
grease to allow the easy fitment - and weather protection - of a brand
new trim strip along with the hockey sticks. Up next will be sorting
those wheels out.
..... Part Nineteen soon
- September 2008 - Left hand drive Broadspeed Turbo Bullit makes its UK
show debut
The All Ford Show at Blackpool on Sunday 14th saw the show debut of a
very rare Mk1 model. The pictures below show the beautiful left hand
drive Broadspeed Turbo Bullit - the only survivor of two converted for
export to Spain back in 1973 - now back in the UK, restored by a Club
member.
- September 2008 - Restoration Project - Part Seventeen
It's been a while since we looked at Michael's 3000E restoration project
car. Well the good news is that it's progressing. As you can see
from these pictures, the interior of the car is now virtually finished.
Not sure about those wheels though?
.....look out for Part Eighteen
- September 2008 - Capri Mk1 Owners' Day at Mountnessing, Essex (Sunday
7th September)
Giles Ford-Crush's biennial get together for Mk1 owners was yet another
potentially superb event ruined by the threat of bad weather. As he
has a knack of doing, Giles found a location well placed for many southern
based Mk1 owners with a superb setting on the village green at Mountnessing,
just five minutes up the A12 from the M25 junction 28. With the back
drop of a working windmill and three or four pubs within a ten minute walk,
all that was needed was for the British summer to relent and dish up a sunny
dry day. In the end Sunday in this part of Essex did turn out dry and
in the afternoon the sun managed to show its face however, heavy overnight
rain and a threatening sky in the morning persuaded all but the very hardy -
or very foolish! - to venture out. Nonetheless ten fine examples were
on display and, as always seems to happen at such events, one really special
example created great interest. A Broadspeed Bullit, unseen by most
for a long time, made its show bow. Thanks to Giles for staging the
event and lets hope he'll put another show on here soon. Finally, my
apologies to Andy and James. You arrived after I had put my stills
camera away!
- September 2008 - Ace Cafe Capri Meet (Saturday 6th September)
Despite the appalling British summer, the second Ace Cafe Capri Show
organised by Kevin Blows and the Surrey Capri Club once again attracted an
array of spectacular examples of all marques of our favourite Ford.
Thanks to Gary for the Mk1 pictures below.
Kevin and the Surrey boys have got a great day in the planning for 2009 at
Brooklands to celebrate the Capri's 40th birthday - more news on that soon.
- September 2008 - A European Photo Treat
Back in August one of the Club's members visited the Rosenheim Capri
Meeting at Ubersee in southern Germany. The first gallery of the Mk1
Capri pictures he took are located in the Germany 2008 gallery in the
Picture Galleries area. Alternatively click
here to get straight to them.
- August 2008 - Hampshire Pageant of Motoring, Romsey, Hants. (Sunday
24th August)
With the Southwest region's outing to Fairford cancelled the previous
week due to the wet conditions, it was a determined crew who set out for
Romsey. Kevin, who organised the Club stand, had a nightmare journey.
Rain, local road flooding and then car problems caused him to arrive over an
hour later than fellow Club members.
The day started off overcast and damp. The Show filled up quickly with
other cars and clubs. There was a lot going on during the day including a
Stunt rider jumping over a lorry with his motor bike and quad bike and doing
other tricks. There was also a team of children doing a display on
motorcross bikes. For aviation enthusiasts, there was even a fly past
by three World War Two planes from the Battle of Britain Memorial flight.
- August 2008 - Knebworth Classic Car Show, Knebworth, Herts. (Sunday
24th August)
The last Southeast Club stand of the outdoor season saw the weather in
one day encapsulate the entire summer. We travelled in a torrential
downpour, arrived in light drizzle, got soaked during the morning setting up
and walking across the grass field to the autojumble and then slowly dried
out to enjoy a glorious English summer afternoon. Once again the Herts
Branch of the CCI joined us to ensure a display of the entire range of
Capris for the paying public. We had six Mk1s on display and a scout
around the private exhibitors discovered a further four.
Another reminder - particularly those of you based in the southeast - of the
Capri Mk1 Owners Day at Mountnessing on Sunday 7th September. An
independently organised event, it's a must for the Mk1 enthusiast.
Details can be found at
www.fordcapri.co.uk
- August 2008 - Classic Ford Day at Battlesbridge, Essex. (Sunday 17th
August)
Once again, in this weather spoilt British summer, heavy rain threatened
to ruin one of the souths best Ford shows. However, despite heavy
overnight and early morning rain in the area, the show went ahead and, apart
from a little drizzle early on, the day blossomed into brilliant sunshine.
As usual the Essex and surrounding blue oval enthusiasts brought their
finest out in large numbers - not least Mk1 Capris. No fewer than
thirteen were on display.
A little reminder to you all that Sunday 7th September sees another of Giles
Ford-Crush's Mk1 days - this time at Mountnessing in Essex. Last time
no fewer than 28 (or was it 29) Mk1s were in attendance. If you'd like
more details pop over to Giles' excellent website at
www.fordcapri.co.uk
- August 2008 - Restoration Project - Part Sixteen
Time for those all important lights and brightwork parts to be added.
New headlight and indicator units are being fitted to the front and rear.
The fog and spot lights along with their associated brackets have to be
removed from the front grill and will be restored before being refitted.
Brand new old stock bumpers are being fitted both front and rear. New
chromes are being fitted to the headlight surrounds.
Part Seventeen to come........
- August 2008 - Woburn Classic Vehicle Rally, Woburn Abbey,
Bedfordshire (Sunday 10th August)
The club's southeast based members turned out to the very picturesque -
if somewhat windswept - Woburn Abbey Park for the 17th staging of this
enthusiasts run Classic Vehicle Rally. Unfortunately, although Sunday
remained dry and even sunny at times, Saturday had not been and so one had
to tread very carefully through the park land which is also home to a large
deer herd! Once again the organisers were well supported by the local
classic car, truck, bus, tractor and bike fraternity. An new
introduction this year was the feature club stand. This celebrated a
milestone in the history of the Model T Ford. The Event Organisers
have kindly invited us to provide the feature stand next year to celebrate
the 40th birthday of the Capri.
- August 2008 - Wroughton Classic Car Show, Wroughton, Wilts (Saturday
& Sunday 2nd & 3rd August)
Despite the rather changeable weather around the country, Wroughton
managed to serve up two relatively dry if not particularly sunny days for
its Classic Car Show. The club stand featured an RS3100, a low mileage
one owner 3000GXL, a 3000E, 1600GT XLR, 1600XL and a 1300XL. Something
to whet the appetite of every visitor and that they did, attracting many
admirers. Indeed the maize yellow 1600GT XLR is for sale and on its
own had several visitors studying their piggy banks carefully to see if they
could afford this fine example of the top spec. pre-facelift 1600.
- August 2008 - Classic Car Racing at Castle Combe (Saturday 2nd
August)
Saturday 2nd August and a great day of racing at Castle Combe. Could
not have gone any better as after a very wet practice the Capri
was struggling to get the power down compared to a couple of very quick
Escorts. By race time (20mins before the start!) it dried up and the team
(Swindon Racing Engines) put the car on slicks. With perfect conditions,
Dan Cox went out for the first stint and by driver change was 2 laps in
front. Vince (Woodman) took over just needing to bring the car home which
he did with one lap 3 seconds to spare. As you can see from the pictures
there were some fantastic cars on the grid for this race including a very
well prepared Camero and a BMW Bat Mobile.
- July 2008 - Restoration Project - Part Fifteen
Inevitably the summer months - with other distractions - have slowed the
rebuild down. It's also far more time consuming cleaning and
refreshing all those trim pieces to put back on the car compared to removing
them. Most of the dashboard is now re-installed and on the exterior
the clips are in place for the side trims. The dummy vents are on now
too.
Part Sixteen to follow.....
- July 2008 - Barleylands, Billericay Show (Sunday 13th July)
After four weeks without a "club" show and following a decidedly dodgy
week of British summer weather, how great it was to get out and about again
at the Barleylands complex on the edge of Billericay in Essex. We
can't claim to have had brilliant sunshine all day but we did have some and
more importantly it stayed dry all day. What a turnout for the club
too. I had, as little as a week before, only expected to see three
Capris - along with Simon's Mk3 Cortina. In the event, we had to fit
in seven Mk1s plus the Tina. The display certainly attracted a lot of
attention from the Essex public - not surprising I guess since we were only
a few miles from Ford's Dunton Centre. It made for an interesting
period comparison with the Mk3 Cortina alongside the Mk1 Capris - and Simon
certainly has a superb example. Shame he doesn't like it being compared to
the "Life on Mars" car - purists will realise the differences. Gene
Hunt was nowhere to be seen otherwise we could put him right too!
- June 2008 - Restoration Project - Part Fourteen
The time has finally come to reinstall the engine and gear box.
This is a difficult job with the weight of the combined lump, the
manoeuvring needed and the obvious desire not the mark that beautiful new
engine bay paintwork. To achieve the latter large quantities of old
bedding were spread out around the entire engine bay. All went well
and the next task was to renovate the radiator and the infill plate.
Part Fifteen will follow soon.........
- June 2008 - Capri Club Nederland International Meeting Pictures
Back at the start of June one of our Club members ventured over the
Channel to the Capri Club Nederland International Meeting at Beekes Bergen
in Holland. Located only around an hours drive from either Rotterdam
or the Hook of Holland, this is an event you might want to consider taking
in next year. All his capri pictures from the event can be found in
the Picture Galleries area under the pages Holland 2008 and
Holland 2008 Pt2.
- June 2008 - First 40 Year Celebration Event Announced
Castle Combe have released a press statement in conjunction with the
Capri Mk1 Owners' Club which reads:
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday 13th June*
2009 - Celebrate 40 Years of the Ford Capri
Working in conjunction with Capri Mk1 Owners' Club, Castle Combe Circuit's
2009 Retro & Sportscar Action Day will feature 40 years of the Capri.
With a build up period of 12 months, the Club and the circuit in conjunction
with other partners will work to make this a very special event in this
iconic car's history.
Possibly the most famous of all Capri's, the Broadspeed/Cologne car of Vince
Woodman has been invited and Vince himself will be the guest of honour.
Invitations will be going out to other famous Capri owners to put on a
special lunchtime display.
Many other attractions will be planned.
Further details of this exciting new event and milestone will be announced
in due course.
ISSUED BY CASTLE COMBE CIRCUIT 14th JUNE
2008
*Date subject to confirmation.
So folks, you read it here first - contact us at the Club if you are
interested in attending this event and make sure you keep a space free in
your diary so as you can join us in the celebration of the Capri's 40th
year...
- June 2008 - Fathers' Day Classic at Knebworth (Sunday 15th June)
Continuing a busy weekend for the club, the weather held in the
southeast too for members to enjoy a day out at Knebworth. As with
Saturday, six Mk1s were on display attracting admiring looks from the
public. The club invited the Capri Mk2 Register and Herts branch of
the CCI to join them to give the public the full array of capris to feast
their envious eyes on.
Keith, Gary, Peter and Eddie joined Doreen and myself with their Mk1s whilst
Geoff travelled up to sample our southeast hospitality and to enjoy a dry
but sometimes cool day out at this historic venue.
- June 2008 - Castle Combe Retro &
Sportscar Action Day (Saturday 14th June)
With the BBC Weather doom-and-gloom forecasters predicting rain I was hoping
for a good day for our first outdoor event in the South West. We have
already had one show cancelled this year due to flooding but the day at
Castle Combe racetrack turned out to be gloriously sunny. We had six cars on
display; my 1300XL, Doug's 1600XL and 1600GTXLR, Kevin's RS3100, Simon's
3000GT and Brian's 3000GXL. Three of the cars took place in the lunchtime
parade and provided an impressive sight touring around the track. I was
interviewed by the Castle Combe roving reporter which was quite an
embarrassing experience but it did give me chance to talk even more about
our favourite car to a wider audience...
More pictures are available at
our sister site just click.
- June 2008 - The Restoration Project - Part Thirteen
It's always the fiddly bits that take the time. New brake pipes
have to be specially made and shaped for the car. Perhaps the toughest
of the trim jobs to get right is the headlining. Today's models come with
preformed panelling that just slots in. In the capri's day though it
was made of fabric and suspended from a series of hangers that span across
the inside of the roof of the car. It was "finished" by being glued to
the sides of the car. To get the tension right and to ensure no
ripples or snags can be a testing task.
Part Fourteen next up.....
- June 2008 - Luton Festival of Transport, Stockwood Park, Luton
(Sunday 8th June)
Whilst one club member is off in Holland visiting a capri show we were
fortunate enough to be joined by a visitor from Holland for the Luton
Festival of Transport. What a special visitor too, a 1972 facelift
RS2600 - quite rare on these shores. For a change the British weather
was glorious and our display which also included five Mk2s and four Mk3s
(thanks to the Capri Mk2 Register and the Herts Branch of the CCI) provided
a major attraction for show visitors.
Followers of the Restoration Project, don't worry, more will follow soon.
Hopefully we'll also have some pictures from Holland for you. In the
meantime here's the club stand at Luton and some close-ups of that glorious
RS2600.
- May 2008 - The Restoration Project - Part Twelve
A few weeks ago the loom was tidied up and re-installed in the engine
bay. Now the time has come to work on connecting things up inside the
passenger cabin and to re-install the dashboard. One of the reasons
the car was taken off the road in the first place was that there had been a
problem with the wiper motor. With this unit thoroughly overhauled it
has to be the first item put back inside the passenger compartment.
The car will also have a period radio and associated mast. Like
everything else, in order for the car to be as near perfect as possible,
these have to either be overhauled and cleaned or new period parts sourced.
At the business end of the loom new headlight and indicators are being
fitted to the front of the car. Inside, a slight imperfection on the
dashboard fascia means that a brand new old stock part will be used.
Just look at those E-spec. black padded vinyl inserts.
Part Thirteen to follow......
- May 2008 - The Restoration Project - Part Eleven
As well as ensuring that all the bodywork and ancillaries look "as new",
the engine needed a touch of tender loving care on its outside and a
thorough checking over internally to make sure that it works as well as the
finished car will look i.e. great.
Part Twelve coming soon......
- May 2008 - CCI National, Badgers Hill, Worcs (Sunday 11th May)
The glorious early summer weather attracted a multitude of capris out to
the Capri Club International's National meeting. Amongst the cars on
show were a host of Mk1s. Click here
to link to a gallery of the Mk1s on show.
- May 2008 - Bedfordshire Classic Car Show, Old Warden near Biggleswade
(Sunday 4th May)
As the Mayday Bank Holiday weekend arrived, the new club made its first
appearance at a classic car outdoor event at Old Warden in Bedfordshire.
The five examples on display created a lot of interest amongst the visitors
as they were the only Mk1s present. The day remained relatively dry
and warm - a change from the norm for this event. Members enjoyed the
display of "classic" aircraft flying from the Shuttleworth Collection
adjoining the show field. A great start for the outdoor show season -
fingers crossed for more dry sunny weather to come.
- May 2008 - Popham Airfield Show Cancelled
Just in (2nd May) is news that the Popham Airfield Show has been cancelled
due to the venue being waterlogged.
- April 2008 - The Restoration Project - Part Ten
With virtually everything prepared for re-installation, the time has come to
actually start put the car back together again. One of the first items that
has to be installed is the wiring loom. Now it's a matter of hoping that
those sketches drawn up at the time of removal are understandable - months
later - as Michael starts to put the loom back in place. Even his dog
doesn't seem to be too interested in the mass of "spaghetti" on the floor!
The genuine Ford Workshop Manual helps but you need your wits about you to
perform this part of a restoration.
Part Eleven coming up ........
- April 2008 - The Restoration Project - Part Nine
Work carries on apace now as the long but rewarding task of "renewing"
the suspension, mechanical parts and ancillaries continues. In case
you're wondering why a bright yellow primer is being used, this has been
found to be one of the best products on the market and is in fact a combined
filler and primer. So all those pitted cast parts will look as good as
new when the top coats go on.
Part Ten to follow........
- April 2008 - The Restoration Project - Part Eight
With the paint dry, it's back home with the car and now down to
preparing all the ancillaries. The mechanical parts too are to be
treated to an external re-spray. First up are the back axle and brake
drums. Compare the pictures here with those for the pre-restored axle
in Part 4 - quite a transformation.
Part Nine to follow soon.......
- April 2008 - The Restoration Project - Part Seven
After many hours of hard graft the stripped body shell is clear of all
its old paintwork and the process of respraying can commence. From now
on it's a matter of reaping the rewards of all that preparation work as the
car is rebuilt - hopefully ending up with, if not the best then, one of the
best examples of its type in existence.
Part Eight to follow.....
April 2008 - Techno Classica Show, Essen, Germany
The last weekend in March saw the showpiece indoor event in Europe for
the classic car enthusiast, the Techno-Classica Show held in Essen, Germany.
Those of you who have been to the Classic Motor Show at the NEC might
be surprised to know that it's not the biggest event of its kind in Europe -
the Techno-Classica is. In show hall area it seems to cover
approaching twice the area of the NEC event and as the pictures below show
it lacks nothing in terms of style and variety. Indeed the German
motor industry seems to have an opinion somewhat different to its UK
counterparts with the manufacturers footing the cost of the stands.
This has the knock-on effect of the feel of the show being much more
polished and professional. The down side is that the car companies
also, to a great extent, man the stands and so it can be difficult getting
the information and advice - so readily available at the NEC - on your
particular model and marque. Perhaps the "perfect" indoor show would
fall somewhere between the two events.
As you can see, the Capri Mk1 was represented at the show with three superb
examples. Next year, with the fortieth anniversary of our marque,
promises to be an even better show for capri enthusiasts so if you're
wondering whether to take a long weekend in Germany next spring have a look
at the rest of the pictures to help you decide whether it might be your sort
of thing. The picture of the hall plan indicates the scale of the show
- all the halls are given over to the event.
- March 2008 - Introducing the new Capri Mk1 Owners' Club
Two years after the launch of this website to represent the Capri Mk1
Register in the south of England the time has come to move on. To
achieve this a new club has been launched - the Capri Mk1 Owners' Club - and
this website becomes the focal point for the new club. You'll notice a
few changes - not least the new titling - but don't worry, all the features
that have made this website your favourite for the Ford Capri Mk1 will
remain and, hopefully, grow and develop. The Restoration story will be
continuing and next week we hope to bring you news (and photos) of the
Techno Classica Show in Essen, Germany.
For the time being, we'll be remaining at our old domain name but, in time,
we'll move to a more appropriate location. Don't worry though, we'll
give you plenty of warning of our move and will also provide links when the
time comes.
- March 2008 - Vince Woodman testing at Castle Combe
As promised, here are some shots of Vince Woodman in his Broadspeed
Capri Mk1 testing at Castle Combe on 20th March. The car had an
"unsuccessful" trip to the same venue last year when it was damaged by
another out of control car.
- March 2008 - The Restoration Project - Part Six
The long and hard process of stripping the car of its old paint
continues. All the old paintwork had to come off. An
imperfections had to be sorted out so that the re-spray would, right from
the base metal of the car, be perfect. All is in the preparation and,
when you are attempting to create perhaps the best "standard" Mk1 Capri to
be still in existence then you have to ensure that ALL the preparation is
done and done correctly.
Part Seven to follow......
- March 2008 - Race Retro 2008 at Stoneleigh
This week saw the annual show for the race car enthusiasts, the Race
Retro Show at Stoneleigh, Warwickshire. Not normally an event to spot
Mk1 Capris, this year though an absolute beauty was wowing the crowds.
Back in October 2007 Retro Ford magazine did a large feature on a restored
Broadspeed racer owned and driven by race legend Vince Woodman. To
ensure maximum attention for their stand the magazine invited Vince to
display his car and he duly obliged. The car is due to run at Castle
Combe in the near future when hopefully we'll have some shots of it on the
move for you.
- March 2008 - The Restoration Project - Part Five
As mentioned in Part Four, the intention was to strip the car down to
the bare shell and components and then acid dip them to remove everything
down to the bare pure metal. Unfortunately - or perhaps fortunately -
a test of the process on the bootlid proved to be a disaster. The acid
not only removed paint and surface rust but also the filler material between
the framework and the outer skin. It also, through this, caused the
skin to ripple. Michael had a new spare bootlid so the experiment,
whilst costly, wasn't catastrophic. With the quick and easy method
ruled out, it was back to basic hard graft to remove the old paint,
imperfections and surface rust, rubbing it down! The pictures here
show the car part way through the process. They also show just how
good even the underside of the car was.
Part Six to come soon.......
- March 2008 - The Restoration Project - Part Four
With the intention being to have the body acid stripped before
respraying, the dismantling continued. The removal of the engine and
ancillaries was straightforward and the front and rear suspension came out
remarkably easily. You will note from the pictures that the rear cart
springs appear to be either heavily corroded or very well coated in mud and
road debris. In reality neither was the case. Rather, they had been
wrapped in a kind of oil skin coating which had largely prevented rusting.
The shock absorbers had been replaced not long before the car had been
stored and so were also in very good condition.
Part Five to follow soon.......
- February 2008 - The Restoration Project - Part Three
Having determined that the car ran okay and that all the electrics
worked it was time to start stripping the car out. As the pictures
below show, the interior of the bodyshell was in near perfect condition.
Just a few very minor pieces of surface rust were found and it was also
clear that the body had never been welded or repaired and that all the
panels were original. Once full stripped the intention was to have it
acid dipped to remove all the old paintwork in preparation for a full
respray. However, testing of this process on a bootlid forced Michael
to change his plans.
Part Four to follow soon.......
- February 2008 - Bristol Classic Car Show at the Royal Bath & West
Showground Sat 16th & Sun 17th February
The club's southwest presence continues to grow as four cars proudly
represented the marque at this the most prestigious indoor show in the
region. A late call from the organisers meant that Geoff - our area events
organiser - had to hastily add two vehicles to fill space left vacant by
autojumblers. Sadly the "stand" was divided by a pedestrian gangway
but nonetheless the exhibits caught the eye. Pre-facelift and facelift
vehicles were equally represented as was every engine size. From an
award winning blue RS3100, through a sebring red 2000GT, on to a recently
restored red 1600XL to Geoff's own ermine white 1300XL example. The
1600XL created a lot of interest with its father-son ownership and the
intriguing tale of its restoration, including the "find" of a beer can
embedded in the wing/sill area to patch it up! Hopefully the show
organisers will reward local members efforts and afford the club a large
more practically sized stand for next years event which will also see the
Mk1 celebrating 40 years.
- February 2008 - The Restoration Project - Part Two
With the winter of 2007/08 approaching, after a further three years in
dry storage, Michael finally had the time available to start the restoration
of EYF. Giving the car a wash down revealed a vehicle fit to show as
it stood. Whilst there were a few minor areas of surface rust and the
engine bay and ancillaries showed the evidence of a quarter of a century's
lack of attention, in general the car cleaned up well. Would it start
though? The oil was drained with flushing oil and fresh oil add, the
points change, the plugs removed and cleaned. Over the years the fuel
lines had become blocked but these were blown clean and some new fuel put in
the tank. Despite a new battery nothing happened at the turn of the key.
A dead condenser was diagnoses and with a new one fitted the engine cranked
and sprang to life. Whilst the engine ran smoothly and without smoke,
the strange sight of it running but without the fan going round was spotted.
This time a dead waterpump and seized alternator were to blame. With
the faults rectified, the car was taken for a drive around to test for other
mechanical defects. It ran well with gearbox, propshaft and back axle
displaying no adverse effects. Indeed not only did all the electrics
work but the wipers functioned too - despite being the cause of the car's
removal from the road in the first place. Later it would be found to
be substantially burned out inside though and a replacement will be fitted.
Part Three - To follow soon......
- February 2008 - The Restoration Project - Part One
If it's ever interested you to see and understand the work that goes
into creating a truly concours classic car then this on-going story is one
you'll want to read.
If you've ever wanted to possess your own concours Capri Mk1 3000E then once
again, this is an item for you since, at the end of the story the car
featured will be available for you to buy - the restoration is happening
now! The current owner anticipates that the vehicle will be complete
by the beginning of the summer, so you could be enjoying the outdoor classic
show season in your very own stunning classic!
So, on with the story. Current owner Michael saw a Capri 3000E
advertised in our club magazine, Capri Style, back in 2004. The
car, on its third owner, had been dry stored in a garage for over 25 years.
Michael made the trip from his Northwest home to Buckinghamshire unsure what
he'd find. When he got there the car itself was covered in a tarpaulin
and had then been pilled high with the usual collection of "junk" we all
choose to house in our garages. Once cleared and with the tarp removed
he couldn't believe the car that was revealed. Despite the length
period of storage, apart from a liberal coating of dust and some mould, the
vehicle itself was in remarkably good condition. It had been taken off
the road because........ the windscreen wipers had stopped working!
The owner had started the complicated and time consuming process of removing
the dashboard to get at the wiper motor and mechanism but had simply given
up.
First registered in March 1971 the car has aubergine paint work and a black
vinyl interior. It had covered a little over 50,000 miles when it was
taken off the road - an incredibly low mileage for a vehicle now nearing 37
years old. Michael decided to buy the car and to restore it to
concours condition as it was perhaps the best example he'd come across in
his many years as a Mk1 enthusiast. He did the deal with the owner and
then arranged to collect the car and trailer it back to the Northwest.
Remarkably, the car still had the old style logbook which listed the
previous owners along with the dates it has changed hands.
Part Two - To follow next week.
- December 2007 - A post Christmas visit to the Haynes Motor Museum
Here's a place you may be interested in if you're looking for somewhere
to visit during the winter to satiate your appetite for classic cars, the
Haynes Motor Museum just off the A303 at Sparkford - between Yeovil and
Wincanton - in Somerset. It's open from 10am to 4.30pm in the winter
and entry is £7.50 per adult. Yours truly visited just after Christmas
and discovered that the museum houses a facelift 2000GT example of the Capri
Mk1.
It'll take you a good two to three hours to look at all the exhibits which
are well maintained and presented.
Not expecting to find a capri sadly I didn't have my camera with me. I'm
indebted to Kevin McDonnell for allowing me to display this photo he took on
a previous occasion.
- November 2007 - Autumn and a storage suggestion
Summer now seems a long way off with autumn now well set and winter just
around the corner. Many of you - like me - will be fair weather users
of your precious Mk1 and so if it isn't already, soon your car will be going
into "hibernation". The trouble is that even in the best of garages,
the vehicle will not necessarily be in perfect storage conditions. The
ambient air tends to be quite damp and lack of use of the vehicle will mean
the danger of mechanical parts seizing up and the trim suffering damp and
mould. A number of products exist on the market to "encapsulate" your
car - perhaps the most well known being the Carcoon - however the one I use,
and can recommend, is the Permabag.
This fully encloses the car in an air tight bag and by the use of drying
canisters reduces the moisture within the bag to a level at which you should
not suffer from corrosion, damp and mould. I have three cars stored in
these bags and have used them since the late 1990s. I can thoroughly
recommend them and, although expensive to buy at around £350, provided you
take care of them they should last forever. The drying canisters,
which absorb the moisture in the air in the bag, are regenerated by baking
in an oven but are more than capable of doing their job over the six month
storage period (say October to April) without being disturbed. The
beauty of this system is that you do not need any power to use it - a
godsend if your car is in a lock-up or barn. Come the warmer weather
of spring, you simply unzip the bag, put the battery back in and start up -
the car will be ready to use.
Here are some pictures of one of my cars going into storage for the winter.
Note that the bag comes with a meter to display the temperature and relative
humidity within the bag. A guide is provided showing the permitted
level of humidity at different temperatures in order for the system to work.
Provided you do not unzip the bag then the system is full capable of working
over a complete autumn and winter without problems.
- October 2007 - Local Capri Spotting - and the CCI Octofest (Sat 13th
& Sun 14th October)
It's not often that you see a Mk1 Capri these days and its even rarer
for those of us who are fanatics to see one we haven't spotted before.
Imagine my joy at seeing this example in Hitchin. Unfortunately the
owner wasn't in sight but if he reads this then hopefully he'll drop us a
line and tell us about his car.
The following day was the Capri Club International's Octofest. Despite
the fact that it was a warm dry Sunday not too many Mk1s ventured out to
this event which was primarily a spares day. As so often, there were
very few Mk1 parts to be had but the show did attract the following cars
which aren't seen out too often.
The final yellow car features in a programme called "Wreck Rescue" which
goes out on Discovery Real Time in October.
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