Estimated Price: £50,000 - £60,000

Ford’s early success in the European Touring Car (ETC) Championship with the Capri RS2600 during the 1971 to 1973 seasons was at an end with the BMW 3.0 CSL 'Batmobile' soundly beating the Capri in the latter part of the 1973 season. With the FIA rule changes in mid-1973, allowing for road homologated wings to be used for racing, Ford commenced a program which led to the RS3100 road car, the homologation version of the Capri racer. Ford Advanced Vehicle Operations (AVO) was given the go-ahead in September 1973 to build the cars at Halewood.

With the RS2600 Weslake engine program having achieved the maximum possible output from the German 2.6-litre engine, Ford switched to the 'Essex' 3.0-litre V6 engine with Cosworth given the job of producing a reliable racing engine from the unit. Ford agreed with Cosworth that a bored-out 3.1-litre engine was a good basis for the future racing engine; hence the birth of the Capri ‘RS3100’. Racing versions were increased to as much as 3412cc and when mated to a Cosworth 24v head were capable of a reliable 415bhp!

The new engine installed in the RS3100 was fitted with blue-painted rocker covers (to differentiate it from a standard 3.0-litre unit) and in standard road-tune developed 148bhp at 5,500rpm and 187lb/ft of torque at 3,000rpm achieved by paying particular attention to the engine’s gas flow and hand finishing both the inlet and exhaust ports. Performance figures of 0-60mph in 7.3 seconds and a top speed more than 125mph, were impressive and a close-ratio, four-speed, all-synchromesh gearbox was utilised to harness this new unit.

The new Capri featured a dual-circuit braking system with servo-assisted 9.75” diameter ventilated front wheel disc brakes and 9” diameter by 2.25” wide drums at the rear. The lowered and stiffened, competition-developed suspension provided exceptional handling yet still retains a good level of ride. Special gas/oil filled Bilstein shock absorber units are used at both the front and rear, and relocated track control arms give front wheel negative camber. At the rear, competition-spec single leaf springs (with uprated Bilstein gas dampers, special bump rubbers and spacer blocks) replaced the usual multi-leaf layouts of other models in the Capri range.

The RS3100 shared its distinctive AVO 4-spoke, 6” wide rim alloy sports with the RS2600, fitted with high-speed radial ply tyres, accommodated under specially flared front wheel arches. Other distinctive body features included a four-halogen headlamp system, a refinement of an air dam mounted beneath the front quarter bumpers, and a large rear end spoiler, front quarter bumpers, a full width rear bumper, and rear aeroflow extractor vents finished in black.

The Ford press release, on the 8th of November 1973, included: ‘World Champion driver unveils 125mph Capri!’ Unveiled at the 1973 Scottish Motor Show, the new Capri RS3100 was displayed in a special hall of honour alongside the 1973 Tyrrell Ford which Jackie Stewart (now a consultant at Ford) drove to gain his third World Championship victory.

RS3100 production began in November 1973 at Halewood, with very sketchy details of the model’s planned production run, with racing regulations requiring 1,000 units to be made for homologation. However, with a looming oil crisis and a steep rise in fuel prices, combined with a high showroom price of £2,193.30, plus the imminent arrival of the Mk2 Capri, it meant that projected sales were down. By January 1974, the run had finished with only 250 examples officially completed, all right-hand drive. Of the 250 units produced, 50 units were exported to Australia and 23 were allocated to Ford Area Sales Managers. At its launch, the RS3100 was sold only by Ford Rallye Sport Dealers in Great Britain and claimed to be the ‘fastest Ford produced in Britain’. The production run included: 60 Diamond White, 49 Daytona Yellow, 59 Sebring Red, 25 Modena Green, 20 Stardust Silver, 27 Olympic Blue and 10 Marine Blue.

Despite falling short of the 1,000 units, racing authorities granted Group 2 homologation in January 1974 for the 1974 ETC season.

The car presented here is a 1974 Ford Capri RS3100, chassis #BBECND07368, build #46 of the 250, in the classic Ford racing hue of Diamond White. Our vendor informs us that details of the car’s early history are scant, but it was known to the RS Owners Club up until 1990, when it was painted black and wore Wolfrace wheels. Tax discs confirm it was taxed and, on the road, up until 1990 and it was around this time that it was put into storage and remained off road until it was bought, in 2009, by Mr Paul Wilson of Shepton Mallet. Mr Wilson commissioned a complete nut and bolt restoration of the car, entrusting the process to renowned specialists Restore-A-Ford of London, who fully documented the process with numerous photos, and which form part of the car’s history file. The car was fully completed in 2015 and immediately became part of Mr Wilson’s treasured collection, used minimally and stored to the highest standards. Our vendor, also a Ford aficionado, heard that the car might be for sale in October 2021 and a month later bought it from Mr Wilson. Treating it to some light recommissioning of the brakes and a full service, the car’s first MOT for many years was on the 9th March 2022 with 10 miles on the clock!

It has subsequently been MOT’d and serviced every year during our vendor’s ownership. In keeping with diligent classic car ownership of old, our vendor has kept a book documenting every journey and show he’s attended in it, with the current mileage being still only 3,017.

We understand that there are only about one hundred RS3100s left, and if you are keen to own one, then we feel you might struggle to find a better one than this.