Ford factory special

Hello all. Ive been enjoying this forum for a while now and think maybe it would be nice to contribute.I have owned classic fords since about 1966 and includes mk 1 cortina gt, zephyr mk 2, escort twincam, and 3 capri v6s etc. I currently have a 1972 v6 ford factory special originally sold by stilwell ford. It is one of only 11 made by ford. Does anyone here know anything about them ?

In november 1972 ford imported 12 sets of mechanicals (engine, gearbox and dif)and associated components and assembled 11 sets in what i think were the last eleven mk. 1 capris built in australia. the last set of components were kept as spares. these parts are basicaly d port engine, close ratio gearbox and 3.09 diff. and uprated suspension. Seven of these cars were kept by ford and given to various managers to use. The other 4 were sold to bib stilwells who marketed them as fully imported capris. They look much the same as any other 72 capri except for a yellow and black sticker denoting 165hp and special components and a BSS ford badge on the bootlid.

I have all the docomeents to verify the above statements, I even have a copy of the ad that Stillwells put in the melbourne age for their 4 cars. The colours were red pepper, lime glaze, yellow fire, and wild plum. I also have the engine and body numbers for all eleven cars so if you think you have one I would be happy to verify it for you. It would be nice if their are still afew left.

Thanks for your comments guys. Remember, Bib Stillwell only put the BSS badge on 4 cars, the other 7 were kept for a time by Ford and then sold on. Okay heres my story. I remember reading the advert in the melbourne age in early 1973 for these cars but wasnt able to buy one new at the time. Three years later I again saw one advertised in the age, this time with about 17000mls on the clock. So I bought it off the original owner who passed on to me all the papers from ford that proved its authenticity. Having owned one v6 previously I was impressed with its extra performance. Three years later I then sold the car to my nephew.He had it for about another three years and sold the car in Queensland. I for some reason kept the original owners maual outlining date of puchase, engine and body numbers etc. Anyway we then lost track of the car. Fast forward to 2005 and I saw it it advertised in the trading post. After verifying from my owners book the still matching numbers (body,engine and build plate) and recognising it anyway I bought it (again) so now its sitting in my shed awaiting a full rebuild. Its complete, very straight, and the drivetrain seems strong. (215lbs. cranking pressure) So there you have it. In november 2006 it will be 30 years since I bought this car the first time and I am hoping to have it back on the road by then. Also, the person I just bought the car off owned it for 10 years and only did 8000 miles in it. So there is about 12 years of its history I dont know about. I also have back in my posession all the papers outlining the uprated components.

Not sure where my earlier post in this thread dissappeared to anyway I know something of these cars.
The Wild Plum one was painted Candy Apple red and written off in the early 1990's. A friend of mine bought it and still has the entire roof as it had the factory sunroof
The Lime Glaze one last surfaced in Ballarat a few years ago now with a V8 in it...
There is a Jewel Green one in our club, just restored, very nice
All 3 had factory sunroofs. My understanding was there were about 65 made with the 165 hp high output engine, and the cars were loaded up with options to clear the last of the Capris, (ie radio driving lights, factory roof, Rostyles)

I would love to see all the info you have (a copy would be really handy), I have access to the Ford Technical Bulletin regarding these cars.

Quick qustion Caprispecial, does yours have the internal shift box? Do you know if any of these cars had the internal shift box (ie
Type 5 instead of Type F). COuld we talk at some stage of these cars (and Capris in general) Cheers John 0409 091 252

In fact, here is a photo of the Jewel Green "Special"

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d10/whooligan/mikemurray.jpg

Here are pics re original adv in melbourne age, uprated stickers. To gtv6 capri john expect an email soon. regards, ron.

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Here are some pics of the rust damage to the a pillars and ive got to admit it scared me for awhile till my son jon convinced me we could fix it. I think we will buy new lower sections and cut and shut the rest. what do you think?

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