Classic Capris flex their muscles in city
Manawatu¯ classic car enthusiasts are celebrating wins at a national Ford Capri show.
It was a near clean sweep for the Manawatu¯ branch in Hastings over Queen’s Birthday Weekend – members picked up the awards for best Capri mark I, best mark III, best interior and best paint job.
Club member and former vicepresident Ken Purcell said they were all chuffed by the results at the New Zealand Ford Capri Car Club’s 2018 AGM show.
The judging was strict. Even a bit of dirt on the underside of the car meant lost points and it was a particularly tough field of more than 30 lovingly restored classic cars this year, he said.
Purcell was proud of his burgundy-coloured 1971 V6 Capri mark I.
It had pedigree. It was the Seabiscuit of the New Zealand Capri circuit.
Purcell bought it 18 months ago from Wayne Stockman, who’d spent seven years gathering parts from all over the world to restore the vehicle to perfect showroom condition, with all the original factory fittings and parts.
Stockman took it to every Capri Club AGM since 2008, where it frequently won awards, including best mark I five years running and again in 2016.
Purcell said the Capri was a classic European muscle car, known to enthusiasts as ‘‘the car you always wanted to have’’.
It was certainly true for Purcell, who’s wanted one since he saw the first Capris roll onto the lot when he worked at Palmerston North’s Selwyn Motors during the 1970s.
Like many of the club’s members, he couldn’t afford one then.
Club member Aubrey Ellen gave a lot of thought to his Capri’s paint job, down to the strip to break up the otherwise solid yellow colour.
He went with the classic Ford Mustang stripe, with a string of horses at the car’s nose, because the Capri was the European version of the Mustang.