MK1 3 Litre Capris, How Many Survive ?
Discussion
Fubar, re that 3.0 Litre S Capri, YHK was a Warley , Essex series of registration numbers. I remember seeing quite a few quite a few 3 Litre cars with this number prefix.
Can you get a closer look at that white one ? Be interesting to see if it was an original white car.
In 1981 I used to buy parts for my Z900 from a great pair of guys in Leytonstone who had a small co called Newton Equipment. One day I went in and the younger of the 2 partners ( wish I could remember his name ) said to me " we have something out the back that you are going to love, come and have a look " .
Said thing was a 3 Litre S X Pack car with All the goodies , inc 7 1/2 x 13 RS Alloys, the Arch kit , Triple Webbers , Recaros etc etc . It was either Stratos Silver or Black .
He took me for a long , fast spin in it , fab car, I wanted it , but it was just too dear for me at the time. I believe Newtons closed soon after and I have often wondered what happened to that X Pack Capri .
Can you get a closer look at that white one ? Be interesting to see if it was an original white car.
In 1981 I used to buy parts for my Z900 from a great pair of guys in Leytonstone who had a small co called Newton Equipment. One day I went in and the younger of the 2 partners ( wish I could remember his name ) said to me " we have something out the back that you are going to love, come and have a look " .
Said thing was a 3 Litre S X Pack car with All the goodies , inc 7 1/2 x 13 RS Alloys, the Arch kit , Triple Webbers , Recaros etc etc . It was either Stratos Silver or Black .
He took me for a long , fast spin in it , fab car, I wanted it , but it was just too dear for me at the time. I believe Newtons closed soon after and I have often wondered what happened to that X Pack Capri .
Fubar, if you can get a closer look at her, check the boot area spare wheel well and also the engine bay. If she's been colour changed chances are that these area won't have been done and will be original.
A 3 Litre shell has front suspension Top Plate stiffeners and various other bits.
In the early to mid 80s a really nice White T plate 3 Litre S used to be parked near the top of Bethnal Green Rd, just opposite where i worked , i tried on numerous occasions to buy it , but he wouldnt sell for sensible money and then one day it dissapeared .
I had 3 x 3 Litre S Capris from late 1985 , a Venetian Red T plate one , ( just didn't like that car , partly due to the awfull glass sunroof , the seller never mentioned on the phone ) then in early 86 a Velvet red metallic S plate one, which was a rare colour even then ( lovely car ) and then a Gold ( Oyster ? ) T plate one, which again I couldnt get on with.
My mate had 2 of them , a Green W plate one and then a stunning X plate one in Stratos Silver, which he reckoned was almost the last one built.
They were a very common car back then , but it now apears that the survival rate is shockingly low.
A 3 Litre shell has front suspension Top Plate stiffeners and various other bits.
In the early to mid 80s a really nice White T plate 3 Litre S used to be parked near the top of Bethnal Green Rd, just opposite where i worked , i tried on numerous occasions to buy it , but he wouldnt sell for sensible money and then one day it dissapeared .
I had 3 x 3 Litre S Capris from late 1985 , a Venetian Red T plate one , ( just didn't like that car , partly due to the awfull glass sunroof , the seller never mentioned on the phone ) then in early 86 a Velvet red metallic S plate one, which was a rare colour even then ( lovely car ) and then a Gold ( Oyster ? ) T plate one, which again I couldnt get on with.
My mate had 2 of them , a Green W plate one and then a stunning X plate one in Stratos Silver, which he reckoned was almost the last one built.
They were a very common car back then , but it now apears that the survival rate is shockingly low.
Circa 1986, Priory Avenue Chingford, one of the probably 15 Capris or more Capris that I have owned. This Saphire Blue / with blue Vinle trim example, was a scarce 3000GT facelift auto ( as so many sadly were ) the roof was rotting on it and it was very slow and full of filler ( as they All were by then )
Can't remember who I sold this one to, but I remember i was glad to see the back of it !
Taken again in Chingford, at around the same time ( early 1986 ? ) as the 3000 GT above, this 3000E was one of my favorite cars. Originally an Auto, I think the color was Black Cherry ?? It had started life in Norfolk or Suffolk.
I think I saw it driving through Chingford, stopped the driver and bought it there and then ! Although scruffy ( as most were by then ) but solid, I loved Cosmic alloys and it also had a lovely tan half cloth interior, it drove well but again wasn't quick ( few were ) and it struggled to keep up with a local young spoilt brats C reg blue XR3i Cab. The steel sliding sunroof was broken on it.
I don't know why I sold it ( possibly for my first flat purchase ) but I sold this one and a rough H reg originally Silver but re painted black 3000GT ( and which I had partly dismantled to restore ) to a buyer from the Rochester / Maidstone area, probably via the then great Motoring News or Exchange and Mart. I also threw in a near complete tan 3000E interior which was near perfect ( would be worth a fortune now ) in the deal.
My pal saw it a few months later heading along the A2, but it hasn't been taxed since shortly after I sold it. A lovely car, how I wish I still had it....
No wonder it didn't sell with an description as dull as that. I saw a Red one in Maldon a few times early this year, so guessing it's the same Capri.
But £35,000.....As much as I love 3 Litre Capris, £35,000 buys a 3.0CSL, which is a far faster, better handling, better equipped car......
But £35,000.....As much as I love 3 Litre Capris, £35,000 buys a 3.0CSL, which is a far faster, better handling, better equipped car......
Re the Capri and Yale locks, one day in circa 1972, my then very cool Uncle came over in his lovely White J reg Cortina 1600E, he wanted to do a swap with my Mums Aubergine Capri 3000GT ( VEG 97H where Are you now ? ) my Mum and Dad declined his offer, but my Uncle then proceeded to open the Capris passenger door with his 1600E keys ! We were mortified !!
In Jan 1982 when I bought my first ( and best 3 Litre Capri, EVC 289L ) Yale locks were fitted to it. Thank god they ruddy well were, as one night, I was parked outside The British Queen pub in Buckhurst Hill, when at closing time I went to open the drivers door and realised that it was slightly open!!! Someone had unlocked the door, but the retaining plate for the Yale lock had stopped the thieving scum getting the door open ! Thank god for Yale locks!! I remember lots of cars having them around that time.
In Jan 1982 when I bought my first ( and best 3 Litre Capri, EVC 289L ) Yale locks were fitted to it. Thank god they ruddy well were, as one night, I was parked outside The British Queen pub in Buckhurst Hill, when at closing time I went to open the drivers door and realised that it was slightly open!!! Someone had unlocked the door, but the retaining plate for the Yale lock had stopped the thieving scum getting the door open ! Thank god for Yale locks!! I remember lots of cars having them around that time.
Longnose, any photos and more memories ??
It looks like your 3000E was first registered on July 1st 1971 ( an early 128bhp version with the awful Zodiac gear ratios / poor breathing and if it was a lovely light met blue which was called Saphire blue ) and the tax expired in Jan 1984.
Sadly it's very unlikely it has survived.
The survival rate for these cars is shockingly low, however due to them being terrible rot boxes / The scum bag car thieves easy steal / car of choice and also bought by the type of buyer who once he had pulled enough birds / thrashed the life out of it / couldn't care less about servicing and maintaining it, then it's hardly suprising so few are left !!
In 1982 through to the mid 80s they were still a fairly common sight.
My Mums first one VEG 97H a lovely Aubergine 3000GT, was stolen from Blackhorse Road underground station car park one day whilst my mum and I went up to London. The low life bent the steering wheel down to get the crook lock off.
About a week later my Mum got a call from Hackney nick saying that it had been found, so we somehow got to Hackney police station and after a 10 minute ride in an Austin J4 Black Maria we arrived at a small yard in Balls Pond Rd Islington to collect our Capri.
It looks like your 3000E was first registered on July 1st 1971 ( an early 128bhp version with the awful Zodiac gear ratios / poor breathing and if it was a lovely light met blue which was called Saphire blue ) and the tax expired in Jan 1984.
Sadly it's very unlikely it has survived.
The survival rate for these cars is shockingly low, however due to them being terrible rot boxes / The scum bag car thieves easy steal / car of choice and also bought by the type of buyer who once he had pulled enough birds / thrashed the life out of it / couldn't care less about servicing and maintaining it, then it's hardly suprising so few are left !!
In 1982 through to the mid 80s they were still a fairly common sight.
My Mums first one VEG 97H a lovely Aubergine 3000GT, was stolen from Blackhorse Road underground station car park one day whilst my mum and I went up to London. The low life bent the steering wheel down to get the crook lock off.
About a week later my Mum got a call from Hackney nick saying that it had been found, so we somehow got to Hackney police station and after a 10 minute ride in an Austin J4 Black Maria we arrived at a small yard in Balls Pond Rd Islington to collect our Capri.
Fantastic period photo longnose ! Any more ?
My ageing Capri memory is struggling to recognise the color Green ? Of your old 3 Litre, but it fits well with the light tan interior which was a common ( and a nice option )
My scruffy J reg 3000E ( OPU 534K which I think Ford owned originally I believe ) and which I bought from a pal in June 1982, with front end " lamp post damage " was " Evergreen " a lovely dark Metalic green ( that faded terribly ) and had a white Vinle roof from new and a tan interior.
Your car has the Wipac ? fog and spot lamps which again ? from my poor memory were part of the XLR package. It also has the plain style of Rostyle wheels, but I remember a fair few Capris that had been fitted with the glitzy chrome 1600E Rostyles which were of a different design.
The early 3 Litre Capris had the Zodiac sourced engine, which had a poor design of inlet manifold and a lazy camshaft design and cast exhaust manifolds. They also had poor gear ratios, with a canyon sized gap between second and third. Quoted power was 128bhp and period road test cars would do aprox 113 mph.
However from around Sept 71, the uprated 3 litre arrived, with tubular exhaust manifolds, new camshaft and inlet manifold. Much more responsive, power was now a claimed 138bhp and top speed was about 122mph.
If your number plate was the cars original then it looks as if it was first registered in Buckinghamshire. I think the registration records from Bucks have survived
My ageing Capri memory is struggling to recognise the color Green ? Of your old 3 Litre, but it fits well with the light tan interior which was a common ( and a nice option )
My scruffy J reg 3000E ( OPU 534K which I think Ford owned originally I believe ) and which I bought from a pal in June 1982, with front end " lamp post damage " was " Evergreen " a lovely dark Metalic green ( that faded terribly ) and had a white Vinle roof from new and a tan interior.
Your car has the Wipac ? fog and spot lamps which again ? from my poor memory were part of the XLR package. It also has the plain style of Rostyle wheels, but I remember a fair few Capris that had been fitted with the glitzy chrome 1600E Rostyles which were of a different design.
The early 3 Litre Capris had the Zodiac sourced engine, which had a poor design of inlet manifold and a lazy camshaft design and cast exhaust manifolds. They also had poor gear ratios, with a canyon sized gap between second and third. Quoted power was 128bhp and period road test cars would do aprox 113 mph.
However from around Sept 71, the uprated 3 litre arrived, with tubular exhaust manifolds, new camshaft and inlet manifold. Much more responsive, power was now a claimed 138bhp and top speed was about 122mph.
If your number plate was the cars original then it looks as if it was first registered in Buckinghamshire. I think the registration records from Bucks have survived
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|http://thumbsnap.com/kevJ3em0[/u
This excellent little InterEurope wheel series manual is dated January 1972, it was with my Mums second 3000E, a J reg auto in Tawny, identical to the one on the front cover. Sadly we can't find the reg no or a photo of it at the moment, but she exchanged it for an Onyx green Cortina 2000GXL auto, with Ken Love, a family friend and well known Essex car dealer.
Ken Love, where are you now ?
|http://thumbsnap.com/kevJ3em0[/u This excellent little InterEurope wheel series manual is dated January 1972, it was with my Mums second 3000E, a J reg auto in Tawny, identical to the one on the front cover. Sadly we can't find the reg no or a photo of it at the moment, but she exchanged it for an Onyx green Cortina 2000GXL auto, with Ken Love, a family friend and well known Essex car dealer.
Ken Love, where are you now ?
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