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- January 2012 - February Issue of Colt now on its way to members
The latest edition of the Club's quarterly magazine is now on its way to
members. The cover shot shows Neil Wakeling driving his superb Blue
Mink 3000GT XLR around the Goodwood circuit during the September 2011
Revival meeting. Amongst the other articles is how to prevent your
pre-facelift light switch from melting - a useful item for all owners!
If you're not already a member then why not consider joining - you'll find
out how on the Contact Us / Join page.
- November 2011 - The Classic Motor Show at the NEC Birmingham
A very hectic, very tiring four days - including Thursday set-up -
concluded successfully.
This show just seems to get bigger and better. Even in our current
doom and gloom economic conditions, more people attend year on year. I
believe the final numbers were around 48,000 over the three show days and
the Club certainly saw its fair share of Mk1 owners. Recruitment was
up on last year and far exceeded expectations.
In total five members cars were on display. Three on the Club stand -
George Done's Ermine White 3000E; Doug Woodward's Sunset Red 1600XL; and
Mike Ellis's Diamond White 3000GXL. On the Lancaster Insurance
sponsored Practical Classic, "Classic Car of the Year 2011" stand we had
Vince Judge's immaculate Sapphire Blue 3000GXL and the Mansfield & Notts run
CCI stand sported Dave & Margaret Hancy's lovely Sebring Red 3000GXL.
As always, the cars were hugely popular with the public but also attracted
fellow owners - many of whom joined and purchased one of the Club's 2012
calendars.
My thanks to all who assisted on the stand but in particular to the team who
covered the entire weekend - Doreen, Dave, Doug, George and Mike.
A great weekend for the Club - good to see so many members and a warm
welcome to all the new ones who joined up.
- November 2011 - Just a week to go to the NEC Classic Motor Show
The Club are all set the 2011 finale to the show season, the Classic
Motor Show at the NEC Birmingham.
The Club stand is located in Hall 4 adjacent to the CCI and opposite the
Ford Granada Mk1 & Mk2 Drivers' Guild. On display will be a very early
3000E, a Sunset Red 1600XL and a very late ("N" reg) 3000GXL. Once
again, none of the cars have previously been displayed at the NEC. In
addition the Club hope to have a Leeway pedal car on show and there will be
the opportunity to see some presentations converted to modern DVD format.
We also have a member who has won through to the Top Five of the Lancaster
Insurance sponsored, "Classic Car of the Year 2011" competition run by
Practical Classics and Classic Car Weekly magazines. His superb
Sapphire Blue 3000GXL should also be on show in one of the halls.
Club members can get a discount on tickets by purchasing in advance and
quoting the Club code on the back of the latest magazine - it's not too
late!
We look forward to meeting up with many existing Club members and,
hopefully, to recruiting a few new ones.
- November 2011 - November Issue of Colt now with members
The latest edition of the Club's quarterly magazine should now be in the
hands of members. This time around its a very yellow issue.
Including stories of a member's 3000E - purchased over thirty years after
his sister posed with the car for its launch; the restoration of a rare
pre-facelift Broadspeed Bullit; a one owner vehicle now travelling the
isolated roads of the West coast of Scotland; and the Club's last major
national outdoor show - the Old Ford Rally at Gaydon.
- September 2011 - Concorde Classic Car Show in Southampton
The first Sunday in September saw our Southwest based members make their
final scheduled outdoor show season appearance at the Concorde Club's
Classic Car Show in Southampton. Four Club members populated the stand
along with a couple of other invited classic Fords. Despite an early
shower, they had a good day at a lovely venue and a very well organised
event. This is a popular show with restricted space and the Club has
already pre-booked for next year. On show on the day were Dave's
1300L, Frank's 2000GT (making it's debut at a show with the Club), John's
3000GXL and Les's 3000E.
- August 2011 - Knebworth Classic Car Show at Knebworth House, near
Stevenage, Hertfordshire
Bank Holiday Monday saw the Southeast group attend their final outdoor
show of the season, at Knebworth House. The day did stay dry for
Doreen, Keith, Kevin and Martin but with very little sunshine and a
strongish wind, it fell very much end of summer. Although the show was
well attended by exhibitors and visitors alike, there were few Capris
around. Indeed, apart from the four on the Club stand only one other
Mk1 made a brief appearance and a solitary Mk3 was on display.
- August 2011 - Cheshire Classic Car Show at Capesthorne Hall,
Macclesfield, Cheshire
Our intrepid Northwest group ventured out to the Cheshire Classic Car
and Motorcycle Show at Capesthorne Hall, Macclesfield on Bank Holiday
Sunday. Unfortunately the weather could at best be described as
"changeable". Not withstanding, George, Glyn, Nick and Wayne put on an
attractive display of the Mk1 range for the public who braved the
conditions. However, when they - like a number of other exhibitors -
decided on an early departure as another storm cloud approach they learned a
valuable lesson for the future. Don't drive past the show arena if you
want to avoid your exit being broadcast over the tannoy!
- August 2011 - Classic, Vintage and Sportscar Show at Tatton Park,
Cheshire
For the second time this summer the newly formed Northwest group
attended a show in the picturesque location of Tatton Park, near Knutsford
in Cheshire. A two day event, only three stalwarts were able to attend
on Saturday and they had to dodge a few rain clouds. On Sunday though
Glyn, George and Paul were joined by Mark, Nick, Pete, Rob and new member
Wayne to provide a very impressive display of eight colourful Mk1s.
Next door to our Club stand was a display from the Cheshire Capri Club who
had a couple of Mk1s in their ranks.
- August 2011 - Woburn Rally and CCI event at Badgers Hill
The Club had a small stand at what was billed as "The Last Woburn Rally"
at Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire and members in attendance at the CCI event
at Badgers Hill near Evesham on Sunday 14th August.
It turns out that it may well not be the last rally at Woburn as the
organiser who is "retiring" is to be replaced. It would be a shame to
lose such a pleasant venue from the outdoor show circuit.
Although plenty of Capris attended the CCI event, there were only a handful
of Mk1s on show.
- July 2011 - August issue of Colt now on its way to members
Club members will shortly be receiving their copy of the latest issue of
Colt, the Club's quarterly magazine. This issue features a report on
the Club's first ever National Day, at Castle Combe; the story of a member's car's
restoration on a tight budget; the creation of a high powered high speed
customised Capri; how to identify the right wiper linkage for your car; and more. The
full colour 20 page magazine has plenty to keep owners and enthusiasts
entertained.
- July 2011 - Old Ford Rally at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon,
Warwickshire
A glorious sunny and warm Sunday provided the prefect conditions for the
2011 Old Ford Rally. With the Ford marque celebrating 100 years
production in the UK, there were examples of many of the models produced
during that time, on display. The Club stand had ten examples of our
own favourites - all but two being 3 litre and above. Vince's
beautiful Sapphire Blue 3000 GXL represented the Club and marque in the
parade. A "newcomer" to a Club show stand was Paul's recently acquired
Daytona Yellow 3000E.
Twenty-five Ford clubs displayed vehicles along with many more private
exhibitors. Also on show were a few special examples from Ford's own
collection. Of most interest to Mk1 owners was the dark green four
wheel drive car.
- July 2011 - Classics at the Castle at Sherbourne Castle, Dorset
Despite the threat of appalling weather, our intrepid members in the
Southwest braved an appearance at the "Classics at the Castle" show at
Sherbourne Castle in Dorset. In the event, despite a few showers on
the way and during the day they were blessed with some sunshine and a
reasonably warm Sunday at this popular seasonal event. Well done to
Brian, Dave, Melvyn and Terry. Good to see WPR on the Club stand for
the first - but hopefully not last - time.
- June 2011 - 27th Lancashire Classic Car & Bike Show at Hoghton Tower,
Nr Preston, Lancs
Another "first" for the Club as the now very active Northwest branch
attended Hoghton Tower on Sunday 26th June. Four cars represented our
Club with a fifth sadly suffering a minor electrical fire on the way to the
event. Hopefully the problem is minor and Pete and his 1600GT will
soon be back on the road - great though to see him still joining the lads
after a quick switch to his everyday car. George, Glyn, Ian and Mark
provided a superb display for the paying public on a gloriously hot and
sunny Sunday.
- June 2011 - Knebworth Fathers' Day Classic Show at Knebworth House,
Herts
A week after our successful National Day and a few of the old faces were
joined by another Club member at the Fathers Day show at Knebworth in the
southeast region. A windy day but at least the rain only put in a
brief appearance mid afternoon. Six Club cars were joined by a
somewhat modified "guest". If this heavily modified silver and black
pre-facelift - which sported a V8 under the bonnet - is your cup of tea then
it is for sale at around £14,500.
The more standard addition to the stand was Martin Baker's Daytona Yellow
3000GT pre-facelift which has undergone some restoration work over the
winter.
- June 2011 - Our Club National Day at Castle Combe Race Circuit,
Wiltshire
The date, Saturday 11th June 2011, the venue, Castle Combe Race Circuit
in Wiltshire, the event, the Club's first ever National Day. We were
blessed with glorious sunshine all day and mustered 28 Mk1s - a Club record
at any event. It might so easily have been different though.
Those of us who made a weekend of it and travelled to the venue on Friday
afternoon experienced some very mixed weather conditions with heavy rain
showers, flash floods and even a hail storm! We awoke Saturday morning
though to a glorious summers day and members began arriving at 8.00am.
By a little before ten there were 28 cars assembled on the show stand.
By 10.45 all but one - a "before" example brought along to show people what
our marque looks like when found in a barn rather than in the near concours
condition so many owners have their vehicles in today - made their way to
the holding area ready to take to the track. At 11am we were led onto
the circuit by a pace car and, after completing the best part of a lap,
formed up on the starting grid for a group photograph. That done we
were off on three laps at a healthy 40-60mph. Sadly one car broke down
and had to be towed off the track but there were no other mishaps.
At around 2.15pm the Club's AGM was followed by the awards ceremony.
The top award, the "Members Favourite", went to Len Peirce with his Sebring
Red RS3100 (TJB460M). The "Chairman's Choice" was Steve Woodward's
Silver Fox 3000E (LYA988K). "Most Unusual" was selected on the basis
of original colour and went to Mike Owen's Light Orchid 1600GT XLR
(VPW992H). "Oldest Mk1" went to the youngest Club member at the show,
Josh Smith with his January 1969 made white 1600GT XL (RHO271G).
Finally the "Longest Travelled" award went to Pete Fisher in his white
1600GT XLR (ARU685K) who had journeyed 205 miles each way.
With the awards concluded and after much car chat, members began their
journeys home from around 4pm. A few stopped over until Sunday but
were greeted with continuous heavy rain all day - a remarkable turn about
from show day.
The final two images are included courtesy of Jim Gaisford the track
photographer and are copyright reserved.
If anyone would like a shot of their car on the circuit then please contact
Jim at john.gaisford@btinternet.com
or contact the Club and we'll put you in contact.
- June 2011 - Tatton Park Classic Car Show, Knutsford, Cheshire
Hot on the heels of their show debut, our Northwest members appeared at
the prestigious Tatton Park show over the weekend of Saturday and Sunday 4th
and 5th June. Clubs' are required to provide a display on both days -
which can be a big commitment - but Glyn, George, Ian and Mark rose to the
challenge, attending both days whilst Jon and Nick joined them for the
Sunday display. The scorching sunshine on Saturday drew huge crowds to
this popular show (as can be seen from the pictures). Despite some
light rain on the Sunday, once again, the crowds were in attendance.
George was pleased to receive an award for his early white 3000E. Once
again Mk1 Capris proved popular with the public and provided a very
colourful display - especially with a pink crooked cottage in the
background!
- June 2011 - Hatfield Classic Car Show, Hatfield, Herts
Three "local" members joined up with Mk2 and Mk3 owners to put on an
impressive display of "Capris through the ages" at the Hatfield Classic Car
Show on Sunday 5th June. Not a huge event - about 200 or 300 vehicles
- it is run by the local classic car club in the playing fields of the
Birchwood Sports Centre.
- May 2011 - Capesthorne Hall near Macclesfield, Cheshire - First
outing for the Northwest Region
As the Club continues to grow, we finally have enough members with on
the road cars to start attending events in the Northwest. So, George,
Ian, Mark and Rob, ably led by Club Chairman Glyn ventured out to the
picturesque setting of Capethorne Hall in East Cheshire - about five miles
from Macclesfield, on Sunday 29th May. Thanks to George's daughter
Vicky, for actually getting them organised with tickets etc. As you
can see from the pictures, their display of five Mk1s was both colourful and
striking. Hopefully this will be the first of many outings and perhaps
a few more will join them. A wonderful display though - flying the
Club's colours for the first time in the Northwest.
- May 2011 - Wonderland Show at Southwell Racecourse, Notts
No Club stand at this years show, organised by the Mansfield &
Nottingham Branch of the CCI, but along with two or three members, there
were a few Mk1s on show. Perhaps the most striking was the replica
race car with its turbo charged engine. Great registration too (Essex
3 litre). Its chassis plate indicated that it started life in November
1972 as a Daytona Yellow 3 litre with parchment cloth interior - something
of a change down the years!
- May 2011 - CCI National at Badgers Hill, Evesham
Despite the overnight rain in many parts of the country, most
visitors/exhibitors to the Capri Club International "National" Day managed
to get to the venue without getting too wet and sunshine even managed to
shine on those present for much of the time. As is normally the case
these days, there weren't too many Mk1s on display. The Old Spice car
is, I believe, to be raffled off. On close inspection it looks like it
needs quite a bit of restoration work.
- May 2011 - Beds Classic Car Show at Woburn Abbey, Beds
A complete contrast to 12 months ago. The weather was warm and
sunny and, of course after the long dry spell, dry and firm under foot and
wheel in the picturesque parkland surrounding Woburn Abbey. We had a
small display of three Club cars but these were augmented by four private
exhibitors dotted around the show field. Indeed we had the remarkable
of seven Mk1s on display with not a Mk2 or Mk3 anywhere to be seen!
I had not seen any of the private exhibits before and only knew of the
existence of one of them previously so it was quite a day. One, as you
can see from the photos, was another of the "OOO" clan whilst FEG has it
appears belonged to its present owner since 1973 - recently having undergone
an extensive restoration programme to bring it back to its former glory.
- April 2011 - Classic Ford Day at Whitewebbs Museum, Enfield
A the warm summerlike weather continued over the Easter holiday, the
Whitewebbs Motor Museum in Enfield hosted its traditional starter event of
the season, its Classic Ford Day. Around 50 classic Fords were on
display including four Club members in their Mk1s. Eddie's Daytona
Yellow 1600 GT XLR was sporting a new Webasto sunroof - so he's obviously
expecting a warm dry summer. Good to see Clare and Ian with there
black special order 3000 GXL - this car had previously been off the road for
well over ten years so great to see it back. It's always a pleasure to
see Dave's V8 Perana - and to hear it thundering down the road on his
departure! In addition there was a replica race car on display - hope
they didn't get into trouble with the front plate missing.
- April 2011 - Capripower Lancaster Photo Shoot at East Kirkby,
Lincolnshire
It's official, winter's over! The boys and girls of the Capripower
internet forum got the outdoor show season off to a great start in glorious
warm sunshine at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre in East Kirkby.
Special praise and thanks are owed to Francis and Clare Ellingworth and
their family for all the hard work they put in. Without their pre
event organisation backed up by running the gate admissions, sorting out the
cars in front of the Lancaster and running the raffle where the lucky
winners get a guided tour onboard, this great event wouldn't ever get off
the ground.
Half a dozen or so Mk1s were amongst the record 70 odd Capris in attendance
on Saturday 16th April.
Great to see an early (May 69) 1600L model in rare light blue with light
blue vinyl interior still intact. Even more unusual to see a diesel
powered Mk1. Wonder what it does to the gallon in these times of high
fuel prices. Apologies to Stuart for not getting a shot of his Amber Gold
1600GT XLR but the rest are pictured here including the three Club members
present. We thought red, white and blue was rather patriotic given the
Lancaster backdrop and the royal wedding in a couple of weeks.
- March 2011 - The Capri Mk1 Owners' Club National Day approaches fast
Christmas has come and gone, the winter is over - thank goodness - and
owners are getting ready for the warm weekends and a chance to get out and
drive their cars.
In 2011, the Capri Mk1 Owners' Club will be staging its first ever National
Day. The venue is the Castle Combe Race Circuit set in picturesque
Cotswolds but just a few minutes drive from the M4 and Chippenham in
Wiltshire.
Part of the Classic & Sportscar Action Day which has featured on the
circuit's calendar for a number of years, all Capri owners and clubs are
invited to come and enjoy the day out.
Highlight for Mk1 club members will be a special parade around the circuit
with a stop off and photoshoot on the starting grid.
All visitors will be able to enjoy the opportunity to cruise on track as the
circuit runs a lunchtime session - behind a pace car of course. With
the track photographer on hand to capture proud owners driving their
vehicles on a "real" race circuit.
Here are some shots of Club members on the standard lunchtime parade in 2010
- remember this year we'll have our very own special session.
And why not stay for the weekend?
A trip to the nearby Atwell-Wilson Motor Museum at Calne is planned for
Sunday.
Contact the Club for more details.
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