Thursday 12th November 2015

Old-school Classics at the NEC: Under The Hammer

Rare RS Capris, Renault 5 Turbos and, er, Henry Cooper's Ferrari are up for grabs in Birmingham this weekend.

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When I was growing up in the 1970s, Ford Capris were driven by people called Steve who wore white socks. [Anyone fitting this description who wants to contact Chris can drop us a line at PH Towers - Ed.] I wouldn't have touched one with a barge pole back in the day, although I do recall sighing in desperation when I once bought a yellow Mk2 with Wolfrace alloys for £200. Good grief, I even got persuaded to write a book on Capris.

Yes, a real RS3100!

How things have changed. Ford's sub-'stang has really come of age, with eyebrow-raising enthusiasm in the marketplace. Of the dozen or so Capris in the classified section, most are priced between £10K and £20K.

It's even more of an eye-opener that, at the Silverstone Auctions NEC Classic Car Show sale this weekend, one Capri is estimated to reach £50K. Admittedly, it's a very special one: one of the rare RS3100s that Ford built in 1973-74 to homologate the Capri for racing. And you have to admit, it does have a lot of funk, what with its black rear wing, searing paintwork and RS decals. Beautifully restored by the looks of things, too.

If you prefer the RS3100's German-built predecessor, the RS2600 that's also up for grabs, I wouldn't blame you - especially at an estimate that's nearly half the price (£26K-£30K). But since this example started life as a 2300GT and was changed to an RS2600 by the Cologne factory in 1970, there are perhaps a few question marks over it...

And another Capri with an interesting history is 'VHK 494S' - which 1970s TV buffs will recognise as one digit away from VHK 495S, the Professionals car. It's a Ford development car - a 1978 Mk2 modified to Mk3 spec and tuned in 1979 by John Miles (ex-Lotus F1 driver and Autocar road tester) to 3.2 litres. And how many cars have featured on page three of the Sun and have their very own Corgi scale model? No idea what this'll go for but you've got to think it would be above £20K.

And for a slightly more modest budget

Iconic Fords
It's not just Capris at the NEC. Some more recent performance Fords show just how much passion there is for RS Fords at the moment.

How about a 1985 Escort RS Turbo with just 5,568 miles from new and a single owner? Totally original and never restored or modified, it's described as in concours condition. It has no reserve, but the sky may be the limit on that one.

Especially as there's an upper estimate of £80K for a 1987 Sierra RS 500 Cosworth with a mere 13,961 miles showing and in excellent condition. If that's too rich for you, the very last Sapphire Cossie 4x4 to leave the production line (1993) is up for a more attainable estimate of £27K-£29K.

Car of the auction?

Racy Renaults
My personal favourite of the auction is a 1981 Renault 5 Turbo 1 - you know, the barking mad mid-engined one with evil handling. They don't make interiors like this any more (shame) but sadly the £60K-£70K estimate is way too rich for me.

Slightly more down-to-earth is a 1984 Renault Turbo 2 with an estimate of £45K-£50K. It's a nicely recommissioned example, by the looks of it, having had around £10,000 spent on it mechanically, although the bodywork isn't in top fettle.

Celeb cars
At every recent auction, it seems, there are ex-celebrity cars. Two stand out at the NEC. First up is boxer Henry Cooper's old Ferrari 365 GT4 2+2. It's an early one (1973) with a manual 'box - and appears to be in fine fettle. There's no reserve - but I expect bidding will be fierce.

Then we have 'SAR 57D', the Lotus Elan S2 that was delivered new to Peter Sellers in 1966. If £50K seems a lot for a slightly tired Elan, it is - but the 'I'm All Right Jack' connection may well see it reach that target.

See all the NEC sale lots here.

[angelicupstarts]

yes to all these cars please !
had a good friend who owned a great v6 capri when we had our first cars . he sold it and had always pined for it since then .. great days .
he called me many years later all excited as his old car had come up for sale ..cheap around £700 .. needed work
he didn't care ..we got car trailer .. drove 80 miles one way to pick it up ...
we jumped in for a test drive , then realised we had become fat bds ...we were very much bigger then our 17 year old selfs .
cars so much smaller and a lot more narrow , we were all but molesting each other every time we changed gear !
so he decided not to get it ..and join the gym instead .

[dc2rr07]

I had a Capri 3.0S back in the eighties and it was great practice for drifting which it seemed to do a lot of, especially in the wet these kids today with all the traction control have it to easy

[unsprung]

Lots of icons, there. Popular culture of a certain time.

One thought: While some things about cars have remained resolutely unchanged, we do expect many more things from cars, today. Nowadays, an aluminium canoe might have more "feature content" than one of those Capris.

"Lessee now... We got a radio. And of course the ash tray. Seats recline a bit. All happy?"

[RRH]

Lot 634 is first on my list