I
f you are a British Ford
enthusiast, the turbocharged
Capri III (made only in 1981 and
1982) is probably the least
known of all derivatives. It was only in
production for a short time, it was only ever
built in left-hand-drive form, and it was
officially never sold in the UK. Nor was it well
known in its native Germany, for only 200
were ever built, all of them being sold on the
Continent.
Deep down, Ford always intended the
2.8 Turbo to benefit from the great publicity
which was currently being garnered by the
flamboyant Zakspeed -built ‘silhouette’
race cars of the late 1970s. Although the
aerodynamic add-ons in the Turbo gavean impression of these two cars being
related, in fact they had absolutely nothing
in common except their name. Even so, the
‘halo’ effect of one (the race car) must surely
have helped the other.
The key to this development was
Zakspeed, the much-respected German
tuning concern, which was based at
Niederzissen, for all 200 of the Turbos
manufactured were part fettled there,
by the modification of partly completed
production Capri 2.8i body shells which
had been transported just 50 miles down
the road from Cologne. This modification,
in fact, involved the use of glassfibre outer
wing/wheelarches, which were glued rather
than riveted into place – which sometimescaused some quality problems, especially
on finished cars. They were then returned to
Cologne for completion, on the normal Capri
assembly lines.
It’s important to realise, however,
that these cars were not powered by
turbocharged versions of the 2.8i (in the
end, it would only be the totally unrelated
Tickford Capris which were so equipped)- for the Turbo had a carburetted engine.
Except on the very first cars (which were
3000S types, soon to be made obsolete),
the base car, indeed, was a Capri 2.8
Injection. But the power unit was actually
based on a carburetted version of the
Ford-Cologne 2,792cc V6 engine, complete
with a single downdraught twin-choke
FORDS THAT COULD
HAVE BEEN...
The Capri Turbo was actually built, but only by Ford-Germany and in very limited
numbers. Imagine if it had boasted an RS badge and was sold to the UK market...
Words GRAHAM ROBSONFASTER FORDScompleted by the chunky 6.5in (some
cars even had 7.5in Ford Motorsport-
style four-spokes) alloy wheels and the
235/60-section tyres.
Except for the use of Ford RS-branded
velour seating, and an Escort RS1600i type
of four-spoke steering wheel, that was
about the extent of the conversion which,
crucially, left the braking and suspension
unmodified. The result was a melange,
by no means as elegantly done as the
Ford-UK 2.8 Injection car, and although itNO.16
CAPRI
TURBOWeber unit which was normally being
fitted to the contemporary Granada at this
time. Zakspeed completed the tune-up by
fitting a KKK turbocharger. Even though
the maximum boost provided on this very
limited-production model was only 0.4-bar
(6psi), this was quite enough to push peak
power up from 135bhp (normally aspirated)
to 188bhp (Zakspeed Turbo rated), for
this model retained a high compression
ratio of no less than 9.2:1, which was quite
ambitious (though successful), for an early-
generation turbocharged machine.
This overhead valve engine, in fact, was
so lusty that no less than 150bhp (Capri 2.8i
peak levels) was already being developed at
4,000rpm, at which point the power curve
was still thrusting confidently upwards: peak
revs, in fact, were at 5,500rpm.
No changes were made to the familiar,
beefy, old four-speed gearbox of the
3000GT or original 2.8i types (in fact there
never was a five-speed Capri Turbo, for this
transmission was not available until after the
Capri Turbo had been withdrawn), though a
limited-slip differential was always optionally
available in the (Atlas-type) rear axle.
Because this resulted in a torquey – rather
than a peak-output – turbocharging tune,
the Turbo had easy-to-find, exhilarating-
to-use, stump-pulling performance for
which Ford-Germany claimed a top speed
of 134mph, and 0-62mph/0-100kph
acceleration in 8.0secs. As far as we can see,
there were no independent tests (certainly
not published in the UK), but both these,
surely, were conservative figures – for tests
showed that the 150bhp 2.8 Injection model
was almost as fast.
Aided and encouraged by Ford Design
in Cologne, Zakspeed went all out to make
the Turbo look obvious and sporting, so
it attached a deep front spoiler under
the front bumper, and an even more
flamboyant plastic rear spoiler on the
hatchback. Flared glassfibre wheelarches
were also added. The visual effect wasdid its job (and all 200 cars were sold in the
year in which they were marketed), it never
became an icon in the way that the British
model most certainly did. Except for the
Capri Tickford, however, this was the fastest
of all factory-approved Capris – yet there
was no obvious category in which it could go
motor racing, and we have not traced any
successes in that field.
Do any such cars, as genuinely built by
Zakspeed, exist in the UK? We don’t know,
but if you’ve got one then get in touch!SEPTEMBER 2019 FAS T FOR Dȭѵȭcompleted by the chunky 6.5in (some
cars even had 7.5in Ford Motorsport-
style four-spokes) alloy wheels and the
235/60-section tyres.
Except for the use of Ford RS-branded
velour seating, and an Escort RS1600i type
of four-spoke steering wheel, that was
about the extent of the conversion which,
crucially, left the braking and suspension
unmodified. The result was a melange,
by no means as elegantly done as the
Ford-UK 2.8 Injection car, and although itNO.16
CAPRI
TURBOWeber unit which was normally being
fitted to the contemporary Granada at this
time. Zakspeed completed the tune-up by
fitting a KKK turbocharger. Even though
the maximum boost provided on this very
limited-production model was only 0.4-bar
(6psi), this was quite enough to push peak
power up from 135bhp (normally aspirated)
to 188bhp (Zakspeed Turbo rated), for
this model retained a high compression
ratio of no less than 9.2:1, which was quite
ambitious (though successful), for an early-
generation turbocharged machine.
This overhead valve engine, in fact, was
so lusty that no less than 150bhp (Capri 2.8i
peak levels) was already being developed at
4,000rpm, at which point the power curve
was still thrusting confidently upwards: peak
revs, in fact, were at 5,500rpm.
No changes were made to the familiar,
beefy, old four-speed gearbox of the
3000GT or original 2.8i types (in fact there
never was a five-speed Capri Turbo, for this
transmission was not available until after the
Capri Turbo had been withdrawn), though a
limited-slip differential was always optionally
available in the (Atlas-type) rear axle.
Because this resulted in a torquey – rather
than a peak-output – turbocharging tune,
the Turbo had easy-to-find, exhilarating-
to-use, stump-pulling performance for
which Ford-Germany claimed a top speed
of 134mph, and 0-62mph/0-100kph
acceleration in 8.0secs. As far as we can see,
there were no independent tests (certainly
not published in the UK), but both these,
surely, were conservative figures – for tests
showed that the 150bhp 2.8 Injection model
was almost as fast.
Aided and encouraged by Ford Design
in Cologne, Zakspeed went all out to make
the Turbo look obvious and sporting, so
it attached a deep front spoiler under
the front bumper, and an even more
flamboyant plastic rear spoiler on the
hatchback. Flared glassfibre wheelarches
were also added. The visual effect was
did its job (and all 200 cars were sold in the
year in which they were marketed), it never
became an icon in the way that the British
model most certainly did. Except for the
Capri Tickford, however, this was the fastest
of all factory-approved Capris – yet there
was no obvious category in which it could go
motor racing, and we have not traced any
successes in that field.
Do any such cars, as genuinely built by
Zakspeed, exist in the UK? We don’t know,
but if you’ve got one then get in touch!SEPTEMBER 2019 FAS T FOR Dȭѵȭ