Blane Evans' 1974 Ford Capri packs a Stroker V8
I’ve been in love with the Mk I Ford Capri since it appeared in the U.S. 50 years ago. My first car was my father’s 1973 Capri. He’d previously owned a ’66 Dodge Charger, but when the oil crisis took hold, he sold it and went the sensible route, opting for the 2.0-liter four and a four-speed. My brother, Skip, didn’t escape the Capri malady, either, and he spent many weekends autocrossing them back in the late 1970s and early ’80s.
I found my 1974 Ford Capri in La Habra, California, more than 20 years ago. I purchased it for $500 and then offered it to Skip. He had it shipped to his home in Overland Park, Kansas, and drove the Capri for a few years. Eventually minor mechanical issues forced him to park it until he could sort them out. Well, as we all know, life gets in the way, and with other priorities, the car sat tucked away in his garage for 18 years.
The upside, of course, is that the storage preserved the Capri from the severe Midwest weather and the rust that surely would have claimed it.
After years of asking Skip what he was going to do with the Capri, in 2013 he finally agreed to give it to me on the condition I would bring it back to life. No problem, Skip. Mk I Capris came equipped with a 100-hp four-cylinder or a 120-hp V-6. Either way, I always thought them underpowered. Having been inspired by South African tuner and race car builder Basil Green and his 302-cid V-8–powered Capri Perana, I decided to convert my Capri into a V-8 monster.
(photo credit: Viktor Benyi - Hagerty)
