The FIA Group 5 category of racing underwent several variations. From 1976–1982, it was based on highly modified production cars. Rules required that the roof, doors, and hood line of the original had to be maintained, but the rest were fairly open. The Zakspeed Capri Turbo made its racing debut at the Hockenheim circuit, and proved fast, but failed to finish. Its maiden victory came later in the year at Nürburgring.
Tamiya first released the 1/24 scale 1978 Ford Zakspeed Capri Turbo plastic model kit in 1979, the fourteenth release in their 1/24 sports car series. It has been reissued only twice since then, but this is the first re-release with the original markings. There are less than 70 parts in this kit, so it builds quickly, and the nearly 50-year-old tooling has held up remarkably well. Yes, you’ll have to clean up some mold seams, but they’re not bad.
The body is molded in black, and I could probably have polished it if not for the white-molded rear wing parts. The Cartograf decals are spectacular, and the kit includes a set of dry-transfer lettering for the tires. Typical fold-out style instructions have been updated to include Tamiya TS and LP lacquers in the color chart.
The first and most tedious step is painting the main chassis. Most of the underside detail is molded in, but with careful detail painting, it looks quite good. The front wheels are posable and mount with poly caps and metal rivets. Don’t forget the small spacer on the rear axle that replaces the original gear from when the kit was motorized. The kit included wheel fans; I added them to one side and left them off the other. (I’m still not sure which way I like better.)
The simplified interior has only the seat, dashboard, basic roll bar, and a few other parts. You’re not going to see a lot anyway because the interior gets painted black. You can provide a bit of color with the driver figure if you wish.
As mentioned, the main body shell comes molded in black, and the rear wing parts, rear fender louvers, and a couple other exterior bits are molded in white. After priming, painting, and polishing out the few imperfections, it was on to the decals.
The instructions have you put on decals 1–22 (the main stripey bits) in numerical order. I didn’t, starting instead with the door panels since there is a crease at the lower edge I used as the baseline. Then I aligned the rear and front fender decals from there. The fit was spot on perfect for all! The only ones that required setting solutions were the three that cover the front air dam. I used Tamiya Mark Setter Strong, which took some time to work its magic. Be patient. Solvaset worked on a couple stubborn spots, but its aggressive, so use caution. You’d don’t want to melt your markings.
I’ve built the Tamiya 1/24 scale 1978 Ford Zakspeed Capri Turbo plastic model kit before, so I knew it would be a quick and pleasant experience. I’m glad Tamiya decided to reissue it in the original livery, as I missed out the first time, and I hope it continues this trend with some of its other early kits. If you want to go all out, some modelers have kitbashed this with Monogram’s excellent IMSA Mustang GTX kit to make a fully detailed version. Either way, it will make a great-looking addition to your collection. I recommend it for just about any skill level.