For sale is my Capri Gunston Perana creation. It is based on the original Gunston race car known as Z181 in Cape Town South Africa from 1970 It is a road going race replica.

The genius behind the Perana marque was Basil Green from Edenvale near Johannesburg.

Basil Green was to Capri what Carroll Shelby was to Mustang. He imagined big and thought outside the box. Sadly Basil died on June 27th 2022.

Green decided to make a Capri drive like it should with a Ford V8 motor. So Basil flew to America and acquired a full GT40 running gear and engine. Back to Edenvale South Africa and into a 3 litre Capri shell with the GT40 motor, the gearbox and front suspension. A legend was born. The Gunston Capri began its journey and earned its fire breathing legendary status on the tracks at Kyalami, Zwartkops and Killarney Cape Town. A measure of it's success was such it got banned after the first season for the crime of being too fast for the other competitors.

I have already built and sold the Capri Gunston replica known as A2 back in 2010. Plenty of video on Youtube about that car.
My creations are meant for driving. On roads. On tracks. Short haul and long European trips. Boxes ticked with my first replica. The Z181 creation featured in RetroFord magazine on 7th July 2022 in the August edition.

In 2016 this current car was imported to UK and got hooked straight away when I heard that V8 fire up.

OK so it's not a GT40 powered car. So what has it got?

• Ford small block 289 block, 302 internals, Holley 570 4 bbl carb, Pertronix igniter2 sparking system. 4 branch Mustang exhaust headers, ceramic coated, custom X pipe exhaust system with extra electric cut out valves for better volume control.....

• The transmission is new Tremec World class T5 with McCloud clutch.

• New single piece propshaft leading to Ford 9 inch LSD axle. 3.50 CWP ratio. 6 point location axle.

• New disc brakes all round - 4 pot Wilwood fronts and Cosworth Sierra rears. Pads are CarboTech XP8s for instant grip.

• Cooling is courtesy of an alluminium radiator 3 x electric thermo controlled fans and twin oil coolers.

• The wheels are brand new from American Racing - Halibrand Cobra styled race replicas 9.5 rears and 8.5 by 15 fronts.

• Tyres are as per original Z181 26x12 rears and 26x10 fronts.

• Glass - all NOS original Triplex as per the original Capri 3.0 - even a heated rear window!

• The wheel arches are hand made all steel and were grafted into the car after I had already painted it once! Why? Because knew it just didn't look like Z181 with Golf GTi MK1 arches and tiny 15 inch 7 J wheels.

• So, many months and many pounds later the car is now an aesthetically pleasing Z181 replica.

• The interior is as near standard Capri 3.0 as I could make it. Soundproofed, carpetted, all new door cards, original dash, clock set plus a few additions like mechanical temperature gauge, accurate fuel gauge gizmo and a few cut out switches.

• The steering was tiresome without assistance so I used a Capri 2.8 X-member, power rack and electric power pump. All plumbed in and makes the car complete.

• Front suspension - Capri 2.8 struts with Bilstein shocks

• Rear Gaz adjustable shocks

As I said earlier it was designed to look the part, sound the part, go the part, but had to be roadable and comfortable. Boxes ticked.

I removed the roll cage. It can easily be fitted with a full 6 point cage if the next owner so desires........

The paint incidentally is faithful to the Gunston Orange, plum and rich pale gold used on the original cars. I sourced the paint whilst in Wynberg South Africa. None of your rattle cans here!

By the time this advert comes to print I hope the car will have done a few shows.

My true litmus test is a trip to France and Old Timer Grand Prix at Nurburgring, but i just returned from a Luxembourg Capri event, covered 1080 miles, incident free and believe it or not my average mpg over that distance was 28-32mpg! I know. I couldn't believe it either. But re-jetting the 570 Brawler and using vac adjustable distributor certainly worked wonders. I also have a brand new Holley 600 to swap in should I need a track day performance machine...

Handling and comfort were of paramount importance. My rules are - Looks, Sound, Handling and Comfort. This Z181 car ticks all the boxes. I have combined the authenticity of a 53 year old car with modern upgrades, mainly Ford OEM parts and a few tweaks.

Could it be raced? I suppose it could with roll cage, stripped interior and some carburation tweaks.

If you are interested in buying this car - please email me then afer that a phone call is required. I shall explain why in the first email.

Thanks for looking. Don't hesitate to ask questions if I've omitted anything.

ps why am I selling the second Perana re-creation? Theres a 68 Shelby Mustang project sitting in my driveway waiting for space in the garage.........