CCNA Capri Swarm 2000 took place over Labor Day weekend (Sept 1-3) at National trails Raceway, near Columbus, Ohio. As in years past, The Swarm, was held in conjunction with the Ford Expo. We had a total of ten Mk 1 and Mk 2 Capris, two Merkurs XR4tis and a Merkur Scorpio for the show.
CCNA members took home lots of trophies, with Glen Faessler taking overall small car (Stock class "F") honors in Ford Expo car show for the second year in a row!
Several CCNA drivers won their classes at the autocross, including Glen Faessler, John Volbers, Norm Murdock, and Larry Wells.
Mike Rahamut didn't get very far. He was having trouble by the time he reached David Wells' house in New Jersey, but they decided to press on. Mike's '74 2800 was running badly, but got as far as western NJ (almost to the Pennsy Turnpike) before he decided to stop for parts/assistance. Dave & Mike plugged the carb holes for the decel valve a bit more elegantly, (the previous plugs looked suspicious, and they suspected a vacuum leak.) but still no luck. After that, Mike told Dave to go on alone. Later, after replacing the points, he got thing going again, but only got a bit past Harrisburg, PA before the car gave out again. Only days later did the problem reveal itself: a bad condenser. Dave W. arrived in at the Lennox Inn (where most of the Swarm participants were staying....) about 10:00 that night. David Valone and David Schultz had arrived earlier from Virginia, but had already gone to sleep.
Early in the morning, Norm, Dave Valone and Dave Schultz left for National trails to set up the Team Blitz truck. Dave Wells arrived at the track later that morning, only to find David Valone and his partner in crime, Dave Schultz, looking for a ride to the parts store. Dave V. wanted cooler spark plugs. Three Daves in one Capri! Two parts stores later, the Daves returned to the track. We watched a few drag races, including a couple of runs by Pete Snyder's Cortina wagon, with a Formula Ford engine! Norm's V8 rough-rider turned in a 14.9 quarter mile time, besting a 351 Cougar Eliminator.
We decided to have the Team Blitz Customer Appreciation dinner at the local "Fridays". (Thanks Norm!!!) liquid refreshment followed. Larry Wells arrived late on Friday. More liquid refreshment was required to keep the Swarmers happy while keeping Larry company as he ate dinner.
The main day of the event. We had a total of 10 Capris (not much by European standards, but pretty good for North America....)
Norm held a tech session on Saturday afternoon on Capri springs. As one might expect, Team Blitz springs were prominently featured.
Later in the afternoon, Mike Rahamut finally made it, but in a rented Mitsubishi! (hey, how did the Ford club organizers let him in the gate in THAT thing???) Mike's '74 2800 was still stuck in Pennsylvania with a bad condenser....
David Valone was the only Capri owner brave enough to put his Capri on the portable dyno that was at National trails. The colder plugs hadn't solved his problem, and his engine still was running on 5 of its 6 cylinders. He thought the diagnostics might help. Even in its diminished condition, he got 135 HP at the rear wheels.
Dave Wells spotted a number of interesting "Fox" Capri dragsters. One of the most interesting 1984-1986 Capri GS with a supercharged 3.8 liter V-6 engine out of a Thunderbird SuperCoupe.
We ran the gimmick rally to get back to the Lennox Inn. Several teams were tied for the most right answers, (none of the competitors found the brand of Ice Cream served at King Kone....) but Bart Manhard and Mike Robertson had the correct mileage as well, and they were declared the winners. Back at the Lenox, we told stories at the bar for a while, then went to the banquet.
Ira gave a nice slide show titled "A Tale of Two Capris" on the differences between a street Capri 2000 and a trans Am 2.5 Capri 2000. (just a few......). We also gave out the awards at the banquet.
We went to Columbus Motor Speedway, a circular 1/3 mile NASCAR track, instead of National trails. We met up with the folks at United Ford Owners (UFO) who had marked out a tight autocross course with cones. We had so many drivers, we doubled their entry field! Larry Wells gave the novices a lecture on autocrossing.
After Larry's lecture and track walk, we took a parade lap of the course to get a better feel for the track.
The UFO folks had brought a variety of Fords and other vehicles. Believe it or not, somebody even drove a lincoln Town Car!! (he got a decent time, too!) One of the UFO guys had a Ford Pinto with a turbocharged 2.3 liter "lima" in it.
Glen Faessler didn't want to race his award-winning '77 Capri, so he drove his modern Mustang instead. Ira Schoen didn't want to race his '73 Capri either, so he drove Norm's V-8. Several other people took turns with the V-8 as well.
Anyhow, after the day's racing was done, we handed out awards, cleaned up the track, and headed back to National trails to clean up the swarm site there, and pack up Norm's truck. After that, we went for ICE CREAM! (at the Dairy Queen, not King Kone.....)
Thanks to the organizers of this year's mega-successful Capri Swarm, on behalf of all of us in attendance. Of special note:
Larry has FINALLY named his '71 2000: Col. Mustard. (credit to David Valone for thinking of it.....)
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