Have You Ever Heard Of – The Ford Capri Comanche?

As far as versions, trim levels and options go, the Ford Capri pretty much covers all bases and is up there as being one of the most prolific models in terms of sheer breadth of choice. It’s a handsome, usable coupé that caters to all tastes and budgets that’s been round the block a few times, too. Between the three generations available over the car’s 18 year production run – from boggo 1.3-litre four-cylinders with less creature comforts than Wim Hof’s bathroom, to burly V6-equipped muscle cars and everything in between – the Capri is all things to all people. It’s a large part of what makes it so popular as the classic of choice for many enthusiasts today, a whole 56 years since the very first model rolled out of the factory at Halewood.

Some versions are more powerful than others, some are prettier, while others are more scarce – whether that be down to build quantity or simply being lost to the sands of time (as well as the lampposts of Essex), but it’s that subject of scarcity that brings us to today’s featured car. Now we imagine some of you reading are probably thinking that the V8-powered Perana that those lucky devils down in South Africa were privy to is the rarest, but we see you Basil Green and we raise you: the “Comanche”.

The what now? Exactly. We’re not ashamed to admit that this was a new one to a lot of us here at Car & Classic, too, and we do this for a living! Any Capri floats our collective boat though and so when this Comanche Capri popped up for sale via our auctions platform we just had to take a closer look and dive into its rather interesting story.

We do feel as though we need to manage expectations from the off though and start out by saying that the Comanche isn’t actually a sanctioned Ford Capri model, rather a conversion carried out by notable tuner Jeff Uren, but that’s not to say it isn’t a truly rare and special car, or that Mr Uren didn’t absolutely know his onions when it came to fettling Fords, as we’ll find out.

To tell the story of the Comanche then, we have to tell the story of its creator. No stranger to speed and power, well-respected engineer and racing driver Uren would spend a large part of his younger years racing various Fords professionally, including notably winning the 1959 British Saloon Car Championship in his Zephyr, beating the Ford works cars in the process, a feat that would prompt the company to immediately offer him a job. As it turns out the man had a certain degree of pre-eminence when it came to fast Fords. He could build them, he could tune them and he could win races driving them.

And it was this experience that he brought to the table in ’62 when he joined forces with fellow driver John Willment to manage Willment’s racing team, a task he successfully carried out for the next few years, culminating in numerous wins in the likes of a Mk1 Cortina 1500 GT and various Galaxies and GT40s, among other models. Willment would later retire from racing, however and it was at this time that Uren set up his own company, Race Proved Performance and Racing Equipment Ltd. in 1967.

With so much Ford knowledge under his belt it was only natural that Uren, at the helm of his new endeavour, would begin building racing conversions of the company’s most popular models, as well as road-going versions for the street, the first of which would be the ‘Savage’ Cortina, which was ostensibly a Cortina with a beefed up Essex V6 under the bonnet alongside myriad other performance upgrades. Thanks to Uren’s experience, skill and attention to detail the Savage was incredibly popular, and so bolstered by the car buying public’s confidence in his work, this Blue Oval whisperer would crack on and it wouldn’t be long until he turned his attention to the Ford Capri.

The format would essentially remain the same as the Savage Cortina, with Uren dropping a tuned 3.0-litre Essex V6 into a Mk I Capri to create the Comanche, and that’s exactly what we have available here for your bidding pleasure. Featuring a full balance, high compression pistons, a modified cylinder head, re-bored carb, oil cooler, Kenlow fan and new inlet and exhaust manifolds this Comanche Capri is spewing out over 190bhp and 240lb ft of torque, significantly more than the standard Mk I GT XLR upon which it is based.

The brakes are pretty much untouched save for some decent modern pads and the gearbox remains the standard four-speed manual as fitted to the original GT XLR but the suspension has been beefed up to match the car’s enhanced performance credentials. The original front struts have been replaced by uprated Race Proven units with adjustable dampers, alongside stiffer, lower springs and improved anti-tramp bushes to ensure the car handles as well as it goes.

With only two previous owners this low mileage, TV star Comanche is wholly original save for a replacement wing and the slotted wheels upon which it now sits in place of the Rostyles that came with the car. It has had a same colour respray and engine rebuild in the past but all the work was carried out to a high standard whilst maintaining the car’s factory credentials.

This Comanche then represents an incredible opportunity to own one of the rarest Capri’s around. Not only that but it remains in excellent, usable and original condition throughout. A Mk I Capri is already a highly desirable classic but this example, breathed upon expertly by Jeff Uren, is on another level entirely. We hadn’t seen one until now and we likely won’t again for that matter. You can keep your Mk III 280 Brooklands thank you very much, we’ll take a Comanche any day of the week. A true stand out car that’s just a winning bid away…