Context
Group A regulations were introduced by the FIA for the 1982 season. At that time, Ford was no longer competitive with its Ford Capri 3.0 and many were thinking that a switch from the group 1B regulation to the new group A one wouldn’t suit the Capri. The Belgians Alain Semoulin and his engine tuner Eric Ollevier were probably the only ones to make the Capri a contender in group A.
From a marketing point of view, Ford was not keen to continue with the Capri and despite some research around the 2.8, they rapidly put their efforts on the new Ford Sierra. But there was still some time to wait until the Merkur XR4Ti and then the RS Cosworth and RS500 variants were ready to rule the touring car world. The Ford Mustang ‘fox body’ was seen by some private teams as a potential interim solution but they knew from the start that it would not fit in the Ford marketing strategy.
In Germany, the famous Zakspeed Team built two cars but despite some appearances with star drivers Klaus Ludwig and Klaus Niedzwiedz, they were never competitive. One of the Zakspeed Mustang was bought by Australian Dick Johnson and this would lead to further and probably more successful development of the car Down Under. Two other German teams - Seikel Motorsport and ABR Ringshausen - built one car each, with the latter being rather successful. Manfred Trint won 3 heats and 1 race meeting to finish 6th in the 1984 DPM (Deutsche Produktionswagen-Meisterschaft) championship that would later become the famous DTM. The car was then raced by Roland Asch who finished 4th in the 1985 DPM championship despite not winning a single race.
In the UK, Vince Woodman commissioned CC Racing to develop the Ford Mustang to group A regulations. Neil Brown was later involved and took over the engine build from Jack Roush.
CC Racing with Dave Cook and Neil Brown were famous for building all the Gordon Spice Capris at that time. Vince Woodman had successfully run a CC Capri over the last couple of years, so the connection was obvious. With his Equipe Esso Ford Capri 3.0, he was one of the most competitive drivers in the BSCC championship and a regular contender at the Spa 24 Hours.
Vince Woodman posing next to his new Mustang (1983)
© unknown
The car was finished in late 1982 and was tested at Donington in April 1983. Vince Woodman wanted to enter the European Touring Car Championship round at Donington in May, but he had to abort his tentative as the car was experiencing problems.
Vince Woodman testing the Mustang (1983)
© unknown
30-31st July 1983 – Spa 24 Hours, FIA European Touring Car Championship (round 10)
The car finally debuted in the ETCC during the summer of that same year. The Spa 24 Hours meeting was already the 10th round of the championship and Vince Woodman struck a deal with Belgians brothers, Jean-Michel and Philippe Martin for their home race. They brought the Belga Team sponsorship with them and were dreaming of a third victory after their consecutive wins in 1979 and 1980 with the Gordon Spice Racing Ford Capri’s.
The meeting started very badly after the original Jack Roush engine blew a head gasket in the first practice session. After fitting a Neil Brown unit, the Mustang had a clutch failure. Fortunately, it was repaired a few minutes before the end of the first qualifying session and the CC Racing-built machine set the 14th fastest time (2’49’’62).
Jean-Michel Martin started the race with a conservative pace but was in 13th position after 1 hour – only 1 minute behind the leading car. Martin consolidated a healthy 16th place before handing over to Woodman, who unfortunately hit trouble after relatively little time in the car. A spinning backmarker forced him to clout a kerb, with sufficient force to bend a track rod, while the car’s eventual retirement was bought about when a wheel fell off, putting it off the road for good – shortly before midnight.
© Manfred Giet
11th September 1983 – RAC Tourist Trophy Silverstone, FIA European Touring Car Championship (round 11)
After the Spa 24 Hours, Vince Woodman entered the car at the next round of the ETCC with his regular teammate, Jonathan Buncombe and backing from ESSO.
Quicker than most people dared to expect, the Mustang made its British race début. With relatively little development behind it, it’s now proving to have great potential, and Woodman enthused about it in every department. Offering around 310bhp, its new Neil Brown built V8 ran sweetly throughout testing and qualifying, while the handling was so well balanced that both drivers positively favoured the wet conditions.
In the race, the Mustang started well and was 6th after 20 laps. Unfortunately, it all went wrong after their first ‘slick’ stop. A front wheel simply refused to budge so the team had to remove the wheel, hub and strut (and replace same) before the Ford could be sent back into the fray.
The Mustang was not to last in any case. Sounding flatter and flatter, it finally expired just before the end of the race, but many laps down.
25th September 1983 – EG Trophy Zolder, FIA European Touring Car Championship (round 12)
For the last round of the championship - the EG Trophy at Zolder – the car was back under Belga Team livery with Jean-Michel and Philippe Martin paired with Vince Woodman.
Surprisingly, between the private testing session and the race meeting, the Mustang had its round headlights replaced by standard rectangular ones.
Woodman and his Belgian friends were 7th on the grid but once again, the car didn’t make it to the finish despite a promising start.
21st November 1983 - Thruxton City Formula 3 Meeting
After Zolder, the car then raced at Thruxton on November 12th in a non-championship saloon race at the City Formula 3 meeting. Fitted with a new Neil Brown engine now developing 350 bhp, Vince Woodman equalled Steve Soper’s lap record with the Rover Vitesse on the BSCC round ran in May that year.
Vince Woodman and CC Racing were hoping that the MSA regulation authorities would change to up the big class capacity in the BSCC to allow them to run but it never came… Unfortunately, that would mark the end of the story for CC Racing as the car was then sold to the German Autoveri Motorsport team in Berlin.
Who knows what CC Racing could have achieved with some more backing from Ford or a change in the BSCC big class capacity?
29th April 1984 – Donington 500, FIA European Touring Car Championship (round 3)
Early 1984, the Mustang was sold to AutoVeri Motorsport. AutoVeri was a Ford dealer in Berlin, Germany. In 1982, they had entered their Ford Capri in 3 rounds of the ETCC (Silverstone TT, Spa 24 Hours and Brno) for Bodo Jähn.
After having run a Ford Escort RS1600i and the Capri in 1983, they were happy to test their new Mustang to kick off the 1984 season.
The car was entered at Donington for the third round of the ETCC, with Bodo Jähn and Gordon Spice. This proved to be a false start as the car didn’t qualify.
Gordon Spice during the training sessions at Donington.
© unknown
28-29th July 1984 – Spa 24 Hours, FIA European Touring Car Championship (round 9)
After the terrific DNS at Donington, AutoVeri Motorport entered the car at the 3rd round of the DTM championship in Avus. Bodo Jähn finished 18th.
During the summer, the car was entered at the Spa 24 Hours (9th round of the ETCC) under the ‘IRS Euromotor Racing Luxembourg’ banner. The car attracted some interesting media coverage as Paul Belmondo - son of the famous French actor - was paired with Romain Feilter and Jean-Jacques Feider.
Qualified 26th on the grid after an engine change, Feider crashed after 3 hours denying Paul Belmondo making any stint during the race…
Paul Belmondo, son of the famous French actor.
© unknown
© M. Giet
1985 Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft
In May 1985, the car was sold to Reinhold Gröpper who raced it – mainly in DTM - for 3 years. It’s worth noting that the car was entered for the German round of the ETCC in 1985, at the Nurburgring. Gröpper and teammates Blomberg and Hahne (not Armin!) qualified the car 19th but had to retire.
1986 Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft
1987 Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft
1988/1988 Dutch Touring Car Championship
In 1988, Bert Moritz entered the Mustang in the Dutch Touring Car Championship – still wearing the Gröpper livery of its DTM career.
Its last season in 1989 proved rather successfully with Patrick Moritz claiming victory on the very last race on the old Zandvoort track.
Contemporary history
In 2015, Moritz Racing put the car for sale - as a restoration project. UK historic racing car specialist Simon Hadfield bought the car on behalf of his client Mike Humphreys.
He commissioned a complete and thorough rebuild/ restoration by renowned outfit Simon Hadfield Motorsport in the UK. Much care was taken to preserve the originality of the car, even down to acquiring and restoring the original carburettor, the cost of the rebuild alone has been in excess of £200,000.
The Mustang was finished just in time before the 2017 Goodwood Members Meeting for the group A touring car demo.
Goodwood Members Meeting 2017
In 2019, Gipimotor bought the car. It was exhibited at Zoute Grand Prix Concours d’Élégance and then raced at Monza Historic where it proved very fast. Christophe Van Riet qualified 7th and 2nd in Group A class.
Zoute Grand Prix - Concours d’Élégance 2019
Monza Historic 2019