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50 years of Ford Motorsport Cologne - the beginnings 1968 to 1979 - from the Escort to the Capri

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Created on December 17, 2018

Reading time 11min

Written by:

Rainer Braun

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

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Archiv Ford

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Ferdi Kräling

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Klaus D. Lehmann-Gräve

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Privatarchiv

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das ewige Duell Capri vs. BMW CSL, hier am Nürburgring

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Rebmann

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Förster

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Ford Motor Company

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Foto Reinhard

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Archiv

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Daniel Reinhard

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Archiv Ford

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Ferdi Kräling

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Klaus D. Lehmann-Gräve

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Privatarchiv

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das ewige Duell Capri vs. BMW CSL, hier am Nürburgring

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Rebmann

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Förster

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Ford Motor Company

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Foto Reinhard

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Archiv

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Ford Capri (1973) - erfolgreiche Rennen in der Tourenwagenmeisterschaft des Jahre 1973

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Ford Capri RS 2600 (1971) - die ideale Basis für Motorsporterfolge

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Ford Taunus 12M (1966) - Birkhardt/Zertani an der Rallye Monte Carlo 1966

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Der neue Sportchef bei Ford in Köln - Jochen Neerpasch

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Rainer Braun interviewt Jochen Neerpasch bei dessen Dienstantritt bei Ford Köln

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Ford Escort (1968) - Hubert Hahne im Prototyp mit Cosworth FVA Formel 2 Motor mit 1,6 Liter Hubraum

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Ford 20 M RS 2.3 (1968) - Empfang durch Ford-Vorstand für die Tour d'Europe-Sieger im Ford

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Ford Escort TC 1.6 (1969) - Dieter Glemser im Escort auf dem Weg zum Rundstrecken-DM-Titel

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Ford Escort TC 1.6 (1969) - Gerd Schüler im Escort ist der Superstar am Berg

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Ford Taunus 20 M RS (1969) - East African Safari - Rallye-Sieg im Taunus

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Mike Kranefuss wird bei Ford Assistent von Jochen Neerpasch

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Ford Fest 1971 - Neerpasch mit fröhlichen Journalisten in Essen Kräling (1971) -

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Ford Capri 2600 RS (1971) - Schnellste und heisseste Capri-Version bisher - Genfer Autosalon 1971

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Ford Capri RS 2600 (1973) - strärkste Ausführung des Kölner Capris - am Genfer Automobilsalon von 1973

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Ford Capri RS 2600 (1973) - der einmillionste Capri läuft in Saarlouis vom Band

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Ford Capri 2300 GT (1970) - Wolfgang Schirmer - 300km Nürburgring 1970

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Ford Capri (1971) - der 3-Liter-Capri gewinnt die 24 Stunden von Le Castellet

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Ford Capri RS (1971) - Jochen Mass wird im Capri Deutscher Rundstreckenmeister

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Ford Capri (1972) - Capri bei der Tour de France

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Ford Capri (1972) - Hans Heyer auf dem Werks-Capri

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Ford Capri RS (1972) - Dreifachsieg bei den 24 h in Spa 1972

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Ford Capri RS (1972) - Hans-Joachim Stuck feiert im Capri mit 10 Laufsiegen den Titelgewinn in der DRM

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Ford Capri (1971) - Dieter Glemser wird mit Alex Soler-Roid Gesamtsieger bei den 24 Stunden von Francorchamps auf dem Capri RS

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Ford Capri RS (1972) - Marko/Glemser feiern ihren Sieg beim GP der Tourenwagen am Nürburgring

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Schock für Ford - Neerpasch und Braungart wechseln die Fronten und gehen zu BMW (1972) -

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Ford Escort RS Zakspeed (1973) - Dieter Glemser gewinnt im Zakspeed Escort den 2. DRM-Titel für Ford im Jahr 1973

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Ford Escort 1300 GT (1970) - Harald Menzel - Team Zakspeed - 300km Nürburgring 1970

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Gruppenbild mit Chefs - die Mannschaft von Ford Motorsport 1973

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Ford Escort RS 1600 (1973) - Wettbewerbsfahrzeuge als Anziehungspunkt für die Stände, hier eine Zakspeedversion mit 2000ccm, 225 PS, 240 kmh - Internationale Automobilausstellung (IAA) in Frankfurt 1973

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Zakspeed mit Erich Zakowski und Ford Motorsport mit Mike Kranefuss werden Partner

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Ford Escort RS Zakspeed (1974) - erneut gewinnt Glemser im Zakspeed Escort die DRM im Jahr 1974

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Ford Capri (1973) - Hans Heyer auf dem Werks-Capri

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Ford Capri (1974) - Glemser und Hezemans auf dem 3,4-Liter-Capri bei den 1000 km Nürburgring

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Ford Capri (1973) - die Rennfahrzeuge waren in vielen Meisterschaften erfolgreich

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Ford Capri RS (1973) - beinharte Prestige-Duelle zwischen dem Capri RS und den BMW CSL-Coupés

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Ford Capri RS 2600 (1972) - Der hier gezeigte Sieger vom 1000km Rennen von Monza war in Le Mans ebenfalls am Start

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Ford Capri RS (1975) - 1975

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Ford Capri RS (1975) - der Capri RS verabschiedet sich 1975 mit einem letzten Sieg in Hockenheim für immer

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BMW 320 Grp 5 (1977) - Surer vor einem Porsche 934 und einem Ford Escort am Nürburgring

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Ford Escort Zakspeed (1975) - die versammelte Zakspeed-Mannschaft 1975 nach erneutem Gewinn der DRM durch Hans Heyer

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Ford-Meisterfeier 1976 - Zakowski, Heyer, Kranefuss und Vorstand Bob Lutz

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Ford Escort Zakspeed (1976) - das Dauerduell der Zakspeed-Escort RS-Piloten Heyer und Ludwig geht auch 1976 weiter

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Die Erfolgsstory Heyer und Zakspeed geht 1979 ins siebte Jahr

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Ford Capri RS 2600 (1972) - Sieger beim Rennen in Monza 1972

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Summary

The history of the Ford Motorsport Cologne racing department began in 1968 with the arrival of Porsche works driver Jochen Neerpasch, and with it a rollercoaster ride of successes and failures. The early years up to the end of the 1970s were characterized by the Escort and Capri models. In this report, which forms the first of three parts, Rainer Braun, who was close to the action, looks back.

This article contains the following chapters

"RS" for racing
Professionalization
Starting signal and development (1968-1970)
Escort, Taunus and Capri
Fast Capri
The Capri RS years (1971-1973)
Stronger, wider
The end of the Neerpasch era
Farewell to the Capri RS (1974-1977)
From Cologne for all of Europe

Estimated reading time: 11min

Preview (beginning of the article)

When Jochen Neerpasch, the son of a Ford dealer from Krefeld, a professional racing driver who was as serious as he was reserved, was hired by Cologne's top Ford management as head of sport and savior for the motorsport department, which until then did not officially exist, he was still a Porsche works driver. He was due to take up his post by mid-1968 at the latest, but unofficially he was already working a little in secret before then. Until then, there were rather unorganized and semi-official Ford Sport events with the Taunus versions 12 M, 15 M and 17 M in the TS variants. Everything took place almost exclusively in rally sport - Monte Carlo, Tour d'Europe or even the occasional East African Safari. The Cologne saloons were still mostly driven by private teams, often enough at their own expense. There was no official Ford sports boss, but occasionally Emil Brezing, a qualified engineer and sworn motor vehicle expert based in Wiesbaden, was in charge of the sporting events in Cologne as a freelance Ford employee.

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