1970 Ford Capri Perana

A 2014 Autoweek article had the following to say of this very car.

‘This particular example was purchased from inland South Africa recently, and is said to have received a nut and bolt restoration, including a bare-metal respray, that took place over the course of three years. The car is said to have had very little rust, though a number of body panels were replaced during the restoration, including the lower wings, rear quarter panels and driver's side floor.

The restoration also reportedly saw the replacement of a number of suspension components including the leaf springs, coil-overs, and gas-adjustable shocks.

The interior was also reportedly redone with a period basket-weave pattern on the upholstery.

The Ford 302 V8 is claimed to have been rebuilt, receiving new pistons, rings, rod bolts and bearings, also benefitting from new Edelbrock carburettor fitted to a Boss 302 intake manifold.’

We have no reason to doubt any of that and can state that what we’re looking at today is very much as described 11 years ago – but with some important improvements.

The vendor, who bought the car in 2014, took it to highly respected classic car and restoration specialists Thornley Kelham of Cirencester in 2020.

He gave them a brief to make the car as good as possible to drive.

They duly delivered, at a cost of about £10,000, through the following schedule of work.

•    Suspension upgrade
•    Convert engine to rear sump set-up
•    Fabricate/relocate steering rack mountings 
•    Front brake upgrade 
•    4 wheel alignment
•    Remanufacture/relocate throttle linkages 
•    Replumb fuel system to make safe, replace fuel hoses, mount and set-up fuel pressure regulator and filter
•    Take car on rolling road session for tuning
•     Exhaust upgrade 
•    5 x Yokohama A539 tyres 185/60R13
•    5 x RS 4 spoke wheels 6x13.

The car has also had a new wiring loom fitted and any incorrect bulbs replaced with correct ones.

We have driven the car and can attest to the fact that it drives extremely well – with plenty of power, poise, balance and grip.

It’s really very impressive indeed.
 

The car presents very well from every angle and is a fine-looking example of both the model and the marque.

The shut-lines and panel gaps are crisp, consistent and even, with the doors closing with the kind of satisfyingly precise and weighty thunk you might normally expect of a more exalted offering from Zuffenhausen or Sindelfingen.

The chrome work is shiny, bright and free of any foxing, pitting or tarnishing that we can see.

The RS 4-spoke wheels, which were sourced and fitted new in 2020, are evidently unfamiliar with kerbs or other roadside obstacles.

The Yokohama rubber looks to have many miles of useful service left in it.

The paintwork has retained plenty of shine and lustre and still looks pretty fresh.

There are one or two tiny stone chips on the o/s/r wing, some micro-blistering on the black paint strips either side of the bonnet, a tiny split in the paint and a little surface rust on the boot lid just below the ‘o’ of the Ford badging, and a few light scratches to the chromed trim and on the o/s/r window glass.

There are no red flags anywhere on the bodywork that we can see, and the car appears to have successfully avoided picking up any dinks, dents, creases or other aberrations of consequence. 
 

The interior is every bit as good as its exterior counterpart in terms of quality and condition.

The black vinyl upholstery is in very fine fettle, and the seats are comfortable and supportive, front and back.

The carpets, door cards and headlining are all good, with just a few minor exceptions to that rule.

There’s a tiny split at the top of the passenger door card vinyl and the offside rear trim beneath the window is detaching from the underlying door skin at the top, although five minutes and some decent adhesive should sort that out.

The steering wheel (with its Perana badged boss) and other controls are all good and, as far as we and the vendor are aware, all knobs, switches, dials and levers do what they’re supposed to do without hesitation, deviation or repetition.

There are splits to the vinyl at each end of the instrument binnacle trim and we also noticed a patch of tarnishing on the rear-view mirror.

The yellow-painted boot is in fine condition, and contains a matching spare wheel and tyre, plus the battery.
 

The very full engine bay looks like no other you’d find in a Capri.

The Edelbrock air filter housing and Ford Racing cam covers tell you that this powerplant wasn’t built in Essex and is a serious bit of kit.

Everything is clean, dry, present and correct, from what we can see.

The undersides of the car look entirely untroubled either by use or by the passage of time, and it’s clear that the sunny skies and salt-free roads of South Africa have been very kind to this splendid car.

There are various bills and invoices covering work carried out during the vendor’s curation of the car, plus invoicing and shake-down bills from Joe Macari going further back.

Ford weren’t in the habit of trusting any old tuners, fettlers and tweakers sufficiently to let them stick their names on products wearing the blue oval.

Very few people were ever afforded that honour.

Carroll Shelby was one.

Lotus was another.

Cosworth, too.

And Basil Green was on that extremely short list with them.

None of us here at HQ has seen a Perana in the flesh before, and we confess to being somewhat smitten by it.

It may look like a Ford Capri Mark 1, which is clearly no bad thing, but it sounds and goes like a gnarly, grunty, tyre-shredding 5.0-litre V8 Mustang.

It’s the car Capri owners all over Britain desperately wanted Ford to make.

This one is better still because it’s been optimally set-up by Thornley Kelham.

If you’re thinking of holding out for a better Ford Capri Perana to come along, prepare yourself for a very, very long wait.

We are happy to offer this car for auction with an estimate in the range of £30,000 - £40,000.

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located at Bonhams|Cars Online HQ. Viewings are STRICTLY BY APPOINTMENT and we are open weekdays between 10am - 12pm or 2pm - 4pm. To make a booking, please use the ‘Enquire About This Vehicle’ button on the listing. Feel free to ask any questions, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.