1971 : Ford Capri 5.0 'Boss'
Mick Hill stands by his new race car for the 1971 season. This very special of saloons built by Hill and fellow P.O. Engineers Trev Henshaw and Dave Steeples set new standards in special saloon racing. Winning 31 races outright in 1971 ,more than any other club race driver that season plus 2 more wins in Teddy Savory's hands the car proved very fast ,very reliable and proved Hill to be quality race driver too
'The workmanship is excellent : this is not just a gutted Capri with a big V8 heaved under the bonnet. It's a sophisticated, all independent, 430 horsepower car designed to win club races.' - Simon Taylor in Autosport
Origin
LOLA T70 Mk.3b-Chevy 5.0 ( 4991cc ) Chassis SL76-144
This particular Group 4 sports car first appeared in March 1969 for Team Elite and driver Trevor Taylor and did a fairly full season of racing in variuos sports car events during the season. Painted a bluey turquoise it had a run of failures until winning the Tourist Trophy race outright at Oulton Park in May and later raced in some European events. The car reappeared in early 1970 in Argentina now listed under Sid Taylor's team ,he had already had success with previous Lola T70s. Then in April at a wet BOAC 1000kms at Brands Hatch the car was wrecked at the start...
Autosport wrote ' the Sid Taylor Lola ,which Barrie Smith had to start with dry weather tyres on the back because of last-minute tyre panics in the paddock aquaplaned along the top straight onto the grass and took flight. For amoment it looked as though the Lola would entre the press box ( and leave the world withouit any reports of the race !) ,but the Armco barrier collected it and it rolled over, scattering itself in all directions and landing back on its wheels in the road. Smith was unhurt...'
Simon Taylor ( the Journalist ) took up the story in July 1971 'the idea came driving to work one morning,when Mick passed a garage with a crashed Capri parked outside. It had hit a lampost and the whole front up to the windscreen was completely wrecked."It occured to me that I could do something with that..."Then Mick stumbled across one of Sid Taylor's garage clear-outs ; remember the Lola that Sid entered in the 1970 BOAC ? Barrie Smith tried to drive into the press box..."It was just a heap of bits - but they were nice bits: big ventilated disc brakes with four-pot calipers, wheels and tires, uprights, wishbones, steering and even things like gauges and a steering wheel. We agreed a price and I took it all away. It was a good way to start".
Chassis history on Racing Sports Cars
'I didn't want just another Escort - I wanted something different.' - Mick Hill
Having sold the Janglia to make room and get some money in for the build Mick needed an engine to complete all the parts needed for the job. He bought a 430 bhp 5-litre Ford V8 with Gurney heads that had been built up as the spare unit for the Peter Sadler Ford GT40 which Sadler had raced during 1968/69 including Le Mans.
Mick with fellow Post Office Engineers Dave Steeples and Mick Henshaw built the car up over the winter of 1970/71 for its debut that March. The quality of their design and workmanship was reflected and rewarded with 31 outright wins during its first season ,more than any other club race driver.
'The car weighs a scant 16 1/2 cwt ( 838 kgs ) ...which makes for a power-to-weight ratio of over 500bhp per ton.' - Simon Taylor in Autosport
This photo taken in 1972 shows very well the spaceframed front with the one-peice bonnet clam removed. The Ford V8 is also well moved back within the wheelbase.