HERITAGE: Capri 3.0S
Original classic Fords: When Sean Horsey bought this 1979 Capri 3.0S it had previously been restored, yet still required a bit of work doing to it — now it’s an outstanding example.
Signal Orange Mk3 is a show stunner.
Sometimes researching a feature for Classic Ford raises more questions than answers. That was initially the case with this 1979 Capri 3.0S that owner, Sean Horsey bought at an auction in 2018. “I’d wanted a Capri for a while, especially a 3-litre,” explains Sean, “and this one caught my eye because of the colour and the electric sunroof. I’ve owned a number of Capris since the mid-1980s, usually 2.8 and 3-litre cars. I love classic Fords; I’ve got an RS Turbo and a Sapphire Cosworth, but also a Capri 3-litre GXL because I always come back to Capris.
We all wanted to be Bodie from The Professionals didn’t we?”
“The first thing I noticed about this 3.0S was the paint wasn’t great — about a seven out of 10. It had clearly been resprayed but since I run a car sales and restoration business, 1st Choice Car and Body Repairs Ltd (01367 700500, www.1stchoicebodyworks.net) I knew I could fix it. We’ve restored and sold a number of Capris, but this Capri wasn’t going to be sold on though, I was keeping it as part of my personal collection.
“I gave it to my painter, Ryan Chapman who’s done lots of high-end restorations. I have a very talented classic car restoration team. They took the Capri back to bare metal then primered the shell and used four coats of direct gloss Signal Orange, flatted it back with 2000-grit Wet & Dry paper then polished with 3M Fast Cut Compound. It was then finished with Farecla G10 then High Profile Wax.
“The car had the wrong interior when I bought it, the seats were striped cloth that I believe came from a Laser. I got the correct one
from Colin White, a colleague from whom I’d previously bought a Capri 280. He has an Aladdin’s cave of Capri bits. That interior was complete including door cards. We took the engine out for a check but it was in decent condition so we just replaced all the gaskets.”
Previous repairs
The genuine 3.0S manual was first registered on April 23, 1979 and had four previous owners up to 1984. The sixth owner was John Hill, Chairman of Capri Club (01386860860/www.capriclub.co.uk) so he was the next person I spoke to. “I believe the club bought the car sometime in 2017,” explains John. “It looked smart enough from the outside,” continues John, “a little rusty but presentable, it certainly ran. Although previously restored we bought it as a Capri Club project car and featured it in several how-to articles in early 2018.”
Looking at those features we learn the car came to John with new front wings and a genuine Ford front valance. It’s also obvious John found a few repairs done for previous MoTs. Repairs that were, as John put it: ‘solid but just offended the eye. Hiding under the carpet no-one is ever going to inspect the repairs but I knew they were there. What they had done was add steel without cutting out the corrosion. The stress cracks around the seat mounts had simply been welded and were cracking again.’
John cut out those previous repairs then took sections from a second floor and welded them in. The rear valance had patches at the ends that John subsequently corrected. ‘The front of the leaf spring area had been
“WE ALL WANTED TO BE BODIE FROM THE PROFESSIONALS, DIDN’T WE?”