Cargolex
ABFM 2015: Ford Capri RS3100
One of the rarest Mk1 Ford Capris, and one that is greatly coveted, is the RS3100 - a homologation special available late 1973 - just months before the advent of the MkII Capri.
The Capri, Ford's scaled-down European Mustang, had been popular since it's introduction in 1969 and like the Mustang, it was available in flavors from mild to wild. Eventually, this led to special models intended to homologate the car for European Touring Car racing.
Early competition Capris focused on the 2300 variant, but within a year Ford had begun building the RS2600. Very early RS2600s were modified quite a bit from stock vehicles - with extensive use of replacement fiberglass panels and other weight saving materials. At the heart of the car was a modified version of the 2.6 liter "Cologne" V6, with a long throw crank. There were also extensive modifications to the suspension and, to make customers feel more like they were piloting a race car, the interior.
The RS2600 did well in competition and this translated to good sales. In 1972 Jochen Mass won the European Touring Car Championship in an RS2600; Hans Stuck won the German TCC; Claude Bourgoignie the Belgian TCC - among other big wins. That same year, however, Capri racing engineer Martin Braungart and Ford team manager Jochen Neerpasch departed for BMW, where they engineered the 3.0CSL "Batmobile" with the express intention of beating the Fords.
The next step for Ford was to respond for the 1974 season with the RS3100.
While the RS2600 had been engineered by Ford of Germany and built in true mass production numbers there, the RS3100 would be a low-volume car built in Halewood in the U.K. and be available in right hand drive.
Much of the the RS2600's engineering was carried over to the RS3100, but the new car received an over-bored version of the 3-liter "Essex" engine - the actual capacity being 3091 cc. Competition Capris ran Cosworth engines, but the increase in displacement in the production version allowed Ford to match BMW on power.
Just 250 RS3100s were built, the minimum number for homologation. They existed only to help Ford win races.
At that time, with the restyled MkII Capri essentially finalized, there wasn't much point to emphasizing the RS3100 in marketing - and the small production run made the cars expensive. Ford still made an effort to make the cars special, however, with the big spoiler, custom interior, and gold accent striping. These gold accents were standard no matter the color - Daytona Yellow, Diamond White, Marine Blue, Modena Green, Olympic Blue, Sebring Red, or Stardust Silver.
The RS3100 proved hard enough to sell, relative to regular 3.0 Capri GTs, that a big chunk of the production was shipped to Australia during the summer of 1974, some months after production had stopped.
This RS3100 was imported from the UK in the early 2010s and accompanies the owner's other car - the RS3100's old rival, the BMW CSL.
©2015 A. Kwanten
ABFM 2015: Ford Capri RS3100
One of the rarest Mk1 Ford Capris, and one that is greatly coveted, is the RS3100 - a homologation special available late 1973 - just months before the advent of the MkII Capri.
The Capri, Ford's scaled-down European Mustang, had been popular since it's introduction in 1969 and like the Mustang, it was available in flavors from mild to wild. Eventually, this led to special models intended to homologate the car for European Touring Car racing.
Early competition Capris focused on the 2300 variant, but within a year Ford had begun building the RS2600. Very early RS2600s were modified quite a bit from stock vehicles - with extensive use of replacement fiberglass panels and other weight saving materials. At the heart of the car was a modified version of the 2.6 liter "Cologne" V6, with a long throw crank. There were also extensive modifications to the suspension and, to make customers feel more like they were piloting a race car, the interior.
The RS2600 did well in competition and this translated to good sales. In 1972 Jochen Mass won the European Touring Car Championship in an RS2600; Hans Stuck won the German TCC; Claude Bourgoignie the Belgian TCC - among other big wins. That same year, however, Capri racing engineer Martin Braungart and Ford team manager Jochen Neerpasch departed for BMW, where they engineered the 3.0CSL "Batmobile" with the express intention of beating the Fords.
The next step for Ford was to respond for the 1974 season with the RS3100.
While the RS2600 had been engineered by Ford of Germany and built in true mass production numbers there, the RS3100 would be a low-volume car built in Halewood in the U.K. and be available in right hand drive.
Much of the the RS2600's engineering was carried over to the RS3100, but the new car received an over-bored version of the 3-liter "Essex" engine - the actual capacity being 3091 cc. Competition Capris ran Cosworth engines, but the increase in displacement in the production version allowed Ford to match BMW on power.
Just 250 RS3100s were built, the minimum number for homologation. They existed only to help Ford win races.
At that time, with the restyled MkII Capri essentially finalized, there wasn't much point to emphasizing the RS3100 in marketing - and the small production run made the cars expensive. Ford still made an effort to make the cars special, however, with the big spoiler, custom interior, and gold accent striping. These gold accents were standard no matter the color - Daytona Yellow, Diamond White, Marine Blue, Modena Green, Olympic Blue, Sebring Red, or Stardust Silver.
The RS3100 proved hard enough to sell, relative to regular 3.0 Capri GTs, that a big chunk of the production was shipped to Australia during the summer of 1974, some months after production had stopped.
This RS3100 was imported from the UK in the early 2010s and accompanies the owner's other car - the RS3100's old rival, the BMW CSL.
©2015 A. Kwanten