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Debuting at the 1981 Geneva Motor Show, the Capri 2.8 Injection was the creation of Ford’s Special Vehicle Engineering group (SVE) based in Dunton, Essex. They adopted the Cologne 2.8 litre V6 with Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection engine, developing 158BHP, the car featured lowered suspension, thicker anti-roll bars, gas-filled shock absorbers, ventilated front discs and wide-rim alloy wheels fitted with Goodyear’s 205/60VR NCT tyres.
In 1984 the 2.8 Injection Special was introduced, external changes included: seven spoke RS design alloys, colour coded front grille and revised decals. Internally, the supportive Recaro seats were trimmed in half leather with ‘Strobe’ fabric inserts.
Mechanically, a limited slip differential was fitted and the 5 speed gearbox introduced on 1983 models fitted.
This particular Capri was built at Ford’s Cologne plant in Germany in October 1984. Its first owner, as stated on the original sales invoice purchased the car from Perry’s Ford in Benfleet, Essex on 20th December 1984. The owner decided to have the car stored until first registering August 1st 1985, taking advantage of the new ‘C’ registration letter.
A respected Ford supervisor at the Dagenham plant, it was the car he’d always promised himself, a Capri and the 2.8 Injection Special he eventually chose was finished in Lacquer Red, the official launch colour for that model. He cherished it and used it sparingly – by July 1988 the car had only covered 1875 miles according to his personal service record, which he completed fastidiously between 1988 and 2009.
After sadly passing away in 2009 the car was kept safely garaged by the family, and a change of keeper was recorded with DVLA in June 2010 to that effect.
The family eventually made the decision to part with the beloved Capri in the summer of 2011, and placed a small ad in the internal Ford employee magazine to that effect. The ad caught the eye of a British Ford director on international service assignment in Detroit, so he asked one of his knowledgeable UK-based colleagues to take a look at the car with a view to purchasing it for him. Subsequently, without hesitation the car was bought remotely and on July 8th 2011 the Capri moved to its new owner’s home in the UK. His wife, who was still resident in the UK, became its new keeper.
The Capri still wears its original paint and interior, and any modest enhancements under the skin have been carried out to enhance the vehicle – including 4-pot front brake callipers and a stainless steel exhaust. A truly honest survivor and something of a well-kept secret. It has had two doting family ownerships – both in Essex, and both with Ford employee provenance. Unlike countless others, it has never attended rallies or been paraded at car shows, and always been kept under cover – largely out of sight.
That the original owner cared for the car so diligently is obvious, both in its condition and the records he kept. That the current owner will miss owning the car is true, but he genuinely believes it is time for it to be appreciated, get more use and ‘be driven the way it needs to be driven’ by a like-minded collector looking for a beautifully presented and highly original example of the breed.
