Between 1970 and 1973 a Johannesbury based engineer, Basil Green, was authorised by Ford (South Africa) Product Engineering to produce a modified version of the 3000GT Capri. Green had already produced a tweaked MkII Cortina which was suplied with a V6 engine, so it was a natural pogression for him to produce a modified Capri.

A 302 Mustang V8 (5 litre) was swapped for the Essex V6 and was fitted with a Motorsport camshaft, solid lifters and four-barrel Holley 460 CFM carburettor. This engine was capable of over 280 bhp, but was detuned to around 240 bhp for the production car, with ride height lowered by 50mm and the bodyshell strenghtened to take the huge torque supplied by the Mustang engine. Although the original production run was for 800 "Perena" Capris it is estimated that only 500 actually left the factory. The name Perena was a deliberate missspelling of the fish Pirana.

The Perena was the only Capri officially supplied with a V8 engine, and as such was perfect for racing. The 500 or so cars produced meant that homologation was not a problem, and the Perena was raced in South Africa under the name Z181. Basil Greeen himself won the South African Championship three times, but unfortunatley the Z181 was banned from competing after 1970 as it had won all but one of the races that year !

V8 Perena Specification

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