For Sale: Ford Capri RS2600 Works Cologne

By Marcel Hundscheid /  Images & history via Gipimotor

This beautiful 1971 Ford Capri RS2600 Works Cologne was raced in 1971 and 1972 and won, amongs others, the 1971 Spa 24 Hours. It’s up for sale at Gipimotor.

Fifty-one years after the birth of this unique car, the Capri can be called a legend, without a doubt. Ford gave their new icon its international public premiere at the Brussels Motor Show in January 1969. Later that month it was presented to the international press in Bonn. Originally the Capri should have been called ‘Colt’ although this name was already occupied by Mitsubishi.

Five model and engine variants were available for market launch up to the 1700 format in V4, above that in V6 (Capri 1300, Capri 1500, Capri 1700 GT, Capri 2000 and Capri 2300 GT). The engines offered a performance range from 50 to 108 hp and, depending on the version, they allowed the Capri 1300 to accelerate to 100 km/h in anywhere from 22.7 seconds to 10.8 seconds with the Capri 2300 GT used. The maximum speed reached from 133 to 178 km/h.

The Capri had a extraordinary motorsport career, starting with the road model RS 2600 back in 1970. Ford participated in the European Touring Car Championship from 1971 as well as the German Circuit Championship. German Dieter Glemser won the European title as his fellow countryman Jochen Mass won the German championship with eight wins in eight races.

This 2600RS claimed seven overall victories and a class win in the ten races it contested across 1971 and 1972.

Among these was a win in the 1971 Spa 24 Hours, piloted by Dieter Glemser and Alex Soler-Roig, followed up by third in the 1972 race. ’71 saw it win the Salzburgring ETC, Paul Ricard 24 Hours and Madrid 4 Hours followed by the Zandvoort Trophy, Paul Ricard 12 Hours, Madrid 4 Hours, Barcelona 2 Hours and a class win in the Nürburgring 1000 km in ’72.

The car was sold to Alex Roig in 1972, and he owned all the way to 1992. It’s now cared for by Gipimotor in Belgium, a company owned by renowned historic racer Christophe van Riet and composed of experts in the maintenance and restoration of historic cars.

More images and details about this stunning car can be found at the Gipimotor website here.

Images & history via Gipimotor