Lot 617: Ford Cologne Capri RS2600 Competition Coupe

The RS2600 was launched in 1970 to fill the need for a sporting variant of Ford’s ‘car you always promised yourself,’ a European interpretation of the ‘personal car’ concept that had given birth to the phenomenally successful Mustang. With its trademark elliptical rear side window – the creation of Ford stylist Hand Muth – the Capri proved a great success from its launch in January 1969 and almost 1.9 million had been built in several marks by the time production ended in December 1986. Of that total, the RS2600 represented just 3500 units…

Of those 3500 cars, only a very small percentage were track racers. The remarkable time-warp 1973 racing Capri offered here is a real “barn find,” having spent the past quarter-century in a Massachusetts lock-up, to which it was obviously consigned when its racing days were over.

Reputed to have raced in Europe, the Capri carries ‘ROKStock’ and ‘Crane Cams’ decals that point to a Stateside racing career. Even though the RS2600 was never officially imported, several racing RS2600s did find there way to the USA. However, the model enjoyed less success on the track in America than in Europe, where the RS2600 – with the words support that was lacking in the States – had won the European Group 2 racing championship in 1971-72.

Equipped with a roll cage and racing fuel cell rear tank, this car is powered by an American-developed ROKstock (for well-known tuner Richard O. Kiser) Ford unit believed to have a capacity of 3-liters, with a four-barrel Holley down-draft carburetor, rather than the expected Weslake-developed Ford 3-liter unit; a plate on the valve cover reads “Hadec Racing Engines.” It also has a four-speed gearbox rather than the five-speed ZF normally seen on ‘official’ racing RS Capris, suggesting that this remarkably-preserved RS2600 – an ideal mount for vintage racing – was a ‘privateer’ racer whose days of glory on the track remain to be uncovered.