""Subject: RE: BS: British Cars!
From: Ed T - PM
Date: 28 Jan 13 - 09:08 PM

Ford Consul""

How one forgets some of the best times!

The third car in on that page is a Ford Consul Capri of 1961 - 1964 vintage.

In 1973, I bought a Hooper GT Capri second hand and owned it for nearly five years. It was the Ford of Britain GT tweaked by Hooper, who specialised in motor sport

From Wiki:- In February 1963 a GT version (also 116E) was announced. The new GT engine, developed by Cosworth, featured a raised compression ratio to 9:1, a modified head with larger exhaust valves, an aluminium inlet manifold, a four branch exhaust manifold and, most noticeably, a twin-choke Weber carburettor - this being the first use of this make on a British production car. The same engine was announced for use in the Ford Cortina in April 1963.

It had bright orange high gloss bodywork, with a matt black roof, which meant that I was pulled over by most of the traffic cops in Kent on a twice weekly basis. The only visible sign of its unique nature was that the five stars of the 1500GT Ford were replaced by a solid chrome bar in the centre of the grill. It had high lift cams and polished ports and two twin choke Webers, all of which lifted the rather meagre 78 mph top speed to a more respectable 91mph, as well as considerably reducing the 0-60mph time. It also had highly capable 9" disc brakes on the front.

It was written off, while parked, by some (probably drunk) idiot early in 1978, who mistook it for a clear road, then buggered off.

Ah well!

I would have had to get rid of it anyway, as my kids were getting too large for a back seat suitable only for toddlers and legless dwarves.

Don T.