Languishing at a restorer making no progress with no plan for completion, the owner asked us to retrieve it and 18 months later, we presented him with this fabulous 3000 Mk I.

The story starts when Derek Park bought ‘DP’ as a 21st birthday present for himself and clearly his connections with the local BMC dealership resulted in this Mk I receiving some interesting options which we painstakingly retained.

Mates with fellow Bristolian and famous Healey racing driver John Chatham they could be seen racing around streets and local circuits in the 60’s. DP’s motor was equipped with Ruddspeed upgrades including triple carbs, the rear leaf springs were competition spec 14 leaf, front and rear brakes were Dunlop discs and the cockpit had Halda timing equipment and works hardtop.

At some point the outer bodywork was influenced by AC Cobra styling with wings enlarged to accept Cobra wires and the hump in the bonnet improved air flow to the extra carbs. We went to great lengths to ensure the new aluminium bodywork accurately reflected this period in the cars history.

Cape likes to bring something to the party and our influence extended to adding a replica chronometric rev-counter, Derrington steering wheel, reclining Restall seats and a bespoke interior with unique storage detailing in the boot space.

Perhaps DP1769 is the CapeSport 3000 of its era?