The Mk1 Ford Capri RS

In South Africa, racer and team owner Basil Green took the Ford Capri, a stylish coupe built for ordinary drivers, and gave it the V8 it always seemed to be asking for. He called his creations Peranas, after the fish, and the Capri Perana became the most iconic of them: a compact coupe with a Ford Windsor V8 and a reputation to match.

This 1974 Mk1 Capri is a tribute to that car, built by JH Restorations in partnership with D:Class Automotive, with roughly 5,500 hours into the project. The unibody shell was acid-dipped and stretched about three inches all the way around, then fitted with custom fender flares, an aluminum front chin spoiler, and shaved bumpers, all finished in McLaren Papaya Orange Spark.

Power comes from a Ford Racing 347 V8 crate engine with Borla eight-stack fuel injection, paired with a Tremec five-speed manual and rolling on custom-order American Racing wheels. A Vintage Air Gen 5 A/C system, integrated into a custom dash, keeps the cabin comfortable. It's the kind of tribute that makes sense to an enthusiast who knows the difference between a car that honors a legend and one that's meant to be driven like it.