new Ford Capri 6.0
'The car is totally immaculate and the preparation by Mick and his long-suffering colleagues is nothing short of Grand Prix standards'
June 1973 - Mick proudly displays his new Capri at a publicity launch at Silverstone. The car build was started at Christmas 1972 and was completed by June to replace the hugely successful `Boss`Capri. The two Capris were indeed very similar both on paper and in the flesh. The ingredients were the same, Jaguar gearbox and back axle, Lola suspension and uprights and a Ford V8 up front ( well tucked under the windscreen scuttle ). Special saloon racing had really taken off and Mick was at the forefront of the proposed Super salon series for 1974 , a place for all the new exciting cars that were being developed to race in one series. Mick wanted a new car to keep him ahead of the expection new opposition and the new Capri was built to run with wider wheels and his 6.0 Holman and Moody Ford V8 rated 530 bhp, some 100+ more than the `Boss` unit had to begin with.
No doubt Mick made several smaller improvements across the new car and sure enough on his race debut, at Silverstone July 1st it not only won but set the first sub-one minute saloon lap at 59.6 on the short circuit.
HOT CAR Magazine article - September 1973 edition
The new 6-litre Capri was an immediate success and kept Hill ahead of the pack. It won first time at Silverstone and in the process set the first sub one-minute saloon lap. Between the two Capri`s Hill won the 1973 BRDC Esso Uniflo Championship, 18 races and the Silverstone Driver of the Year award. The new Capri retained only the original roof, floor and pillars as was, as Hill described , a `semi-monocoque spaceframe` using glassfibre panels and Lola suspension. Hill`s dream of bringing all the top modifed saloons into a single , super championship came into effect in 1974 with the formatrion of the Super Saloon Association and the inaurgural Super Saloon series. The timing was perfect in that the British Saloon car championship had just downgraded from similary wide-arched Group 2 cars into sober stock-looking Group 1 cars. The wild creations entering Super Saloons were a huge draw to the enthusiasts over the next 4 seasons. Fittingly Hill won the 1974 Super Saloon series and his class in the BARC Forward Trust Special Saloons with 10 wins during the season. Lap records were set at Thruxton ,Snetterton and Castle Combe , all over 100 mph average.
With the Tricentrol-backing now over 1975 was by contrast a quiet year as Hill`s plans to turn the ex-Mike Wilds F5000 March 74A into Super Saloon was scrapped and he ran it in single seater form. The Capri was sold to Martin Birrane and became known as the `Adlards` Capri. Gerry Marshall took the Super Saloon honours in the new Baby Bertha Vauxhall Chevy.