One-off Ford Capri ‘Cosworth’ for sale

There’s nothing to make a really interesting project car like a cool engine swap, especially one where the new powertrain comes from the same maker as the donor car. It’s a realisation of what might have been had a manufacturer been more adventurous, the demand existed from customers, or just a little bit of time travelling could have happened. Think, for example, of the Toyota MR2s that get 2ZZ power like the T Sport Celicas, rotary MX-5s, five-cylinder Golfs, and the classic BMWs that were very much never intended to have S85 V10 power. You can’t help but be intrigued. 

Here we have another. The most desirable Ford Capris, now as then, were the V6s, because the four cylinders really weren’t much cop, but there isn’t just any old four-pot under the bonnet of this 1977 Mk2 2.0 S – because it’s been YB swapped. Yep, the Cosworth turbo that went on to such fame after Capri production had ended – the Sierra Cossie launched in 1986, the same year the last Brooklands was made – has now found its way into the car you always promised yourself. And if that isn’t worth a story on PH, nothing is. 

While there have been plenty of Capri projects over the years, most centred around some kind of V8; this is the first Cossie Capri we’ve seen. It’s a build that’s said to have taken a decade to complete, the car only having covered a thousand miles in that time. Must be quite the wrench to now have to let it go, though what an opportunity for the next owner – the asking price is little more than half what the build is said to have cost. If our intel on YBs is correct, the blue cam cover means it’s an Escort Cosworth lump that’s now in the front; while running standard boost, there are of course all manner of options for more power should the next owner want. Hardly like anybody needs to worry about originality any longer. The Capri is very far from just an engine-swapped shell, either – this is a full transformation, complete with Tremec gearbox, custom exhaust, Wilwood brakes and AP Racing brakes. It’s going to be a blast. 

Neither is this ‘Cossie’ a car purely about the mechanicals, at the expense of any other appeal. Because look at it – just to see the engine bay is to want this Capri. The ad suggests that the best car was sought back when the idea was coming together, and this Signal Orange Capri certainly looks that. The fact that there’s little mention of body restoration in the tens of thousands spent implies this really was as good as it looks to start with. The RS wheels and the new Recaros are neat finishing touches.

Even without the ad, it’d be clear a lot of money and time has been invested into getting this YB-engined Capri to where it sits today. That being said, it’s nice to know that plenty of respected names have been involved; the next owner is buying a completed (very cool) conversion, not a rolling project that somebody has lost interest in. Evidently this isn’t one for the purists, but those who want to have fun in a Ford Capri – surely the primary aim – will be in dreamland. The fact that it’s a Mk2 makes the swap seem all the smarter; the version that so few pay interest to is now unavoidably brilliant. 

The asking price is £34,995, which is obviously top dollar for a Capri – if not the most that could be spent. And because it’s so far removed from standard spec, it may not be the easiest old fast Ford to sell again. The flipside, of course, is that it’s for sale at a huge amount less than it cost to build, looks fantastic, and promises the kind of driving fun no stock model could ever offer. Which sounds very good indeed. And imagine being able to tell people you have a Cossie Capri…