[woodcote]

         

A very exciting new project for 1:24 scale fans is this Mk1 Capri from BRM. Described on the BRM Facebook page as a 'Ford Capri Gr.2' - the CAD drawings look like the 1971 version of the RS2600, with the rear wheel arches not as pronounced as they became in '72 and '73. BRM have a tendency to produce these Group 2 and Mini Saloon cars in two slightly different versions - so playing with those wheel arches would be ideal. I'll come back to that in a moment, but let's look at what this car is all about...




The RS2600 was a joint German-British venture - Ford Europe somehow convincing the FIA that the Capri was actually a saloon car and therefore eligible for the European Touring Car Championship. Initially worked on by Jochen Neerpasch and the Ford Köln works team, the aim was to create an ultra-lightweight Capri with the V6 developed at Weslake and made race-ready at Boreham in Essex. Early iterations for 1969 and 70 looked crude, but showed promise. By 1971, the lightweight RS2600 was successfully homologated. However, there was still plenty of work to do. The 2.8 litre V6 (later increased to 2,933cc) needed more tweaking at Boreham before it delivered a full 285bhp.

       

The BRM car looks like the Capri here, itself restored to represent a 1971 ETCC RS2600. These works Capris were fast, stable and increasingly reliable, picking up wins and the drivers' championship for team leader Dieter Glemser. The Capri - modified with slightly bigger arches to take wider wheels - was utterly dominant in 1972, winning all but one of the races, including a 1-2-3 at the Spa 24-hours. This time, Jochen Mass winning the drivers' title.

       

The rear arches of the 1972 looked like these cars, with more of a boxy look and the small vents - as on the SRC 1:32 scale RS2600. This would also pass for the 1973 model, although the wheel arches came out a smidgeon more. By then, the RS2600 was struggling with rear-end stability - it desperately needed a spoiler on the trunk, but as this was not on the production car, it couldn't be homologated. As the RS2600 got faster, it got lighter at the back, leading John Fitzpatrick to describe the 1973 Capri as "the worst handling racing car I have ever driven..."

       

BRM certainly have plenty of great contemporary and modern historic racing liveries to choose from. The RS2600 was replaced with the RS3100 in 1974 - fitted with a duck-tail spoiler and even bigger and more boxy rear wheel arches. But that's a different beast altogether.

When BRM release more images and information about their Group 2 Capri, I'll post it here. Availability is scheduled for the autumn.

[rallyhub]

Nice report and video of a beautiful car, Andy.
Before production starts, I hope BRM will change the wrong shaped rear side windows in their CAD drawings.

Hub