1:18 Ford Capri 3.0 – Soto/Honeger/Libert – 24H Spa 1980

Description

About the Car

The Ford Capri designed by Philip T. Clark and built by Ford Motor Company from 1968 to 1986 was a fastback coupe.  It was to the European comparable of the Ford Mustang.  The car sold almost 1.9 million over its lifetime and had a wide variety of engines.  The Ford Capri 3.0 was first sold in March 1978.  The 3.0 had improved aerodynamics over the 2.0 which improved the performance and economy.  The car was used in the TV series “The Professionals” in the early 1980’s.

The 24 Hours of Spa was first held in 1924 as an endurance race at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium.  One year after the inaugural 24 Hours of Le Mans, Jules de Their and Henri Langlois Van Ophem created the Spa 24 Hours. The race was run on a 15 km (9.3 mile) circuit on public roads, now it is a 7.004 km (4.352 mile) circuit.  It is currently held as an event under the Blancpain Endurance Series.

Ernesto Soto was born in Venezuelan in 1943 and passed in 1995.  He entered 46 races and won 2.

Pierre Honegger, born in Switzerland, but makes his home in the United States.  He was born in 1944 and lives in Princeton, NJ.  He entered 32 races.

Jean-Paul Libert is of Belgian nationality, born in 1955 and lives in Kigali, Rwanda.  He has entered 34 races.

About the Brand

The Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker that has its headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan.  It was founded by Henry Ford in 1903.  Ford developed the moving assembly line to manufacture and manage the industrial workforce using elaborate engineered manufactured sequences.  Ford is the second-largest US-based automaker and the fifth largest in the world.

About the Manufacturer

Minichamps was founded in 1990 as a die-cast car producer in Aachen, Germany under the name of Paul’s Model Art GmbH.   The original company was the Danhausen, a trade company that made 1:43 scale models and sold them over the counter and mail order.  From 1971 to 1993 the company published the famous Danhausen World Model Car Book.  Danhausen was owned by the grandsons of Emma Danhausen – Hans Peter and Paul Gunter Lang.  There was a dispute between the brothers in the late 1980’s.  That is when Paul formed the Paul’s Model Art.  Diecast models were made more for the adult clientele and holding their value was a big question that needed to be answered.  Minichamps’ excellent quality has been noticed by Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Porsche, Volkswagen, Opel, and BMW.