Capri Swarm 2011

Photos: Ruth Morgan, Chris White, and David Valone

Thanks, everybody for a GREAT Capri Swarm in 2011! That was fun! We had a solid turn-out of fantastic people and fantastic cars despite the tough economy.

We had two outstanding HOT summer days and one overcast COOL summer day. Some scattered sprinkles on Sunday, about a 30 minute rain delay on the Autocross. The cost was reduced to $5 for the autocross. Bargain! And we had 8 CCNA entries swerving through the cones, might be a record turn-out for the Autocross!

On the NMRA Ford Expo Friday and Saturday, while the heat may have scared off some Mustangers, the CCNA had a GREAT showing of 15 Capris. The NMRA was kind enough to offer us the CENTER field site in the middle of the Concours Show, and still accomodate the drag racing Capris and CCNA Blitz Hospitality Truck right next to the CCNA Show Car area! It was perfect. And we were closer to the grandstands, the midway, and other amenities at National Trails. Plus nice level ground, electrical service, and lush grass.

There were several long distance Swarmers: Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, New York, Tennessee, Canada, Massachusetts, Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, etc etc. They arrived by plane, by Capri, and by other means as necessary. Estimated attendance was around 200 through the CCNA hospitality tent over the weekend. And exactly 40 at the Banquet on Saturday, one of our largest groups.

Andy White was razor sharp in the Drag Racing Department. So sharp, that in spite of the 97F heat and high humidity, he dialed in within 1/10th of 1 second of his 9.96 1/4 mile ET! He was very very consistently banging off 10.06's and 10.08's with his alky 347cid Super Capri "Liza Jane". Unfortunately, he doubted the car would run as well in the hottest part of the afternoon, and dialed the computer launch forward .02 seconds, and, yup, he broke out (red-lighted) by .02 seconds. Had he left it alone, he would have cut a 0.00 PERFECT reaction time. Ugh. But very impressive work indeed, no matter what.

Mike and Marcia Peissner put on a dandy tech seminar mid-Saturday, filling us in on the incredible CAT Capri they drove out from San Diego. It is simply too much to convey how cool of a project this car is: V8, Lambo doors, sequential lamps front and rear, modern A/C, cruise control, power windows, custom interior underway, Grp2 flares, NASCAR steels, AOD overdrive, and the list just goes on and on and on.

Rand Thompson's presentation about "The Capri and Oval Track Racing" was an absolute gem of a multi-media production, with slides, interview transcripts, historical context, recommended reading list, and personal remembrances. This will go down as the new gold standard for future Swarm Banquet speakers! We were held in rapt attention for 45 minutes, and even the non-racers enjoyed all the southern charm of the Baby Grand National Series and the eastern US panache of Stock Car racers on the short track. Rand dug in and unearthed new material that will be hosted on the CCNA website for historical preservation.

Zakspeed Racing was inducted this year into the Ford Capri Hall Of Fame, after discussion, voting, and acclamation by the entire Banquet audience, in a special departure this year from the Board's usual procedures. Zakspeed, of course, carried on after Ford Europe wound down its in-house roadracing teams. And, it was Zakspeed (and the Capri!) which donated the very DNA (engines and chassis) which re-started Ford Racing in 1981 here in America under the leadership of our first FCHOF inductee, Michael Kranefuss.

CCNA thanks the following folks for their contributions to the success of this year's Capri Swarm: