Tickford Ford Capri: Spotted
Not an Aston Martin built by Ford, but the other way around - and that's not the only surprising thing about the Tickford Capri...
You may not have heard of Tickford, and even if you have the odds are you won't be aware of its near 200-year history of coachbuilding. Founded in the 1820s by Joseph Salmons and known at the time as Salmons & Sons, the firm was based at Tickford Street in Newport Pagnell. Over the decades it enjoyed notable success, and by the 1930s its customers included Daimler, Rover, Triumph and MG.
By the time war broke out, Salmons & Sons employed over 450 people producing 30 car bodies a week - it wasn't until the company was acquired in 1943 that the name was officially changed to Tickford Ltd. In 1955 it caught the eye of David Brown - himself predisposed to Tickford's work - who purchased the company as part of Aston Martin Lagonda. It then remained dormant, however, until 1981 when Aston decided to create a specialist engineering subsidiary under the banner of Aston Martin Tickford - which is where the story of our Spotted really begins.
The Tickford Capri arrived at the very end of the iconic Ford's production - in fact, the final Capri ever registered was a Tickford. An initial build run of 250 cars was later revised down to just 100, with only 85 being produced. These figures alone go some way to telling the story of the Tickford Capri, but don't rush to judgement just yet, there's more to it than meets the eye.
The Tickford made use of the standard Capri's 2.8i Cologne V6 engine, which here developed 205hp thanks to the addition of an IHI turbo - chosen over a Garrett for improved low-speed torque - and Garrett intercooler. This delivered a 0-60 sprint of 6.7 seconds and a top speed of 137mph.
It wasn't merely a case of slapping on massive turbo and heading to the pub, though. The decision was made to mount the blower at the front of the engine to improve its performance, which meant removing the V6 entirely during the upgrade. If that wasn't enough, the front end had to be redesigned to accommodate the new setup.
All in all Tickford ploughed around 200 man hours into every car, six of which were devoted solely to altering the profile of the bonnet to sit correctly with the new Vantage-style solid front grille. Early cars had a ZF differential fitted, although later examples of the 2.8i Capri came with an LSD as standard so were deemed not to require the upgrade. The brakes and chassis were both enhanced, too - and an additional rubber seal was even added to the front window frames to reduce what Tickford deemed to be unacceptable levels of wind noise above 100mph.
Initially, Tickford Capris were in fact built by Aston Martin proper, before production shifted to a dedicated facility and then petered out all together, largely due to the emergence of the faster and cheaper Sierra Cosworth. It certainly wasn't the end for Tickford, though, which went on to work with Ford on its road-going Sierra Cosworth RS500, as well as the homologation version of the RS200, and the creation of both the MG Maestro Turbo and the Jaguar XJS.
The seemingly immaculate, 63,000-mile example we have for sale here is listed for a fiver shy of £50k. Seven years ago you could have had a lower mileage example for just £20,000 but, in today's fast Ford market, the only way is up for anything fast and rare, and it doesn't get much faster and rarer than the Tickford Capri.
SPECIFICATION - FORD TICKFORD CAPRI
Engine: 2,792cc, turbocharged V6
Transmission: 5-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 208@5,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 260@3,500rpm
MPG: 22.8 (Motorsport magazine test figure)
CO2: N/A
First registered: 1985
Recorded mileage: 63,000
Price new: £14,985
Yours for: £49,995
See the full ad here.
Source: http://www.a400mod.com
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