"RS" stands for "Rallye Sport" in English, or "RennSport", which is German for Motor Sport. 2600 refers to the approximate displacement of the engine.
Since Group 2 rules did not require that it be sold anywhere outside Germany, the car was designed expressly for the European market, and it was not designed to meet US regulations. No RS-2600s were ever brought to the US officially, but we know that a few made it here anyway.
RS-2600s are different from other Capris both visually and mechanically.
Other differences from "Federal" Capris include
Two-tone paint schemes were typical on RS-2600s. All of them that we've seen have had them, but we haven't seen them all. Typically, the darker color is used on the hood, A-pillar, around the door and quarter-glass around the tail lights, and on the rocker panels. (lower doors, etc)
RS-2600s differed from other Capris in one other area as well: cost! In the early 70s, 2300GTs cost about 9980 DM, whereas RS-2600s cost about 15,800 DM.
The RS-2600 evolved somewhat during its 1971-1974 production run.
The Capri RS-2600 project was approved in November 1969. Work quickly began on two prototypes. It was during the construction of these two cars that Ford found they needed flared front fenders. A third was completed just barely in time for the Geneva auto show on March 12, 1970. Even then, it only had a mock-up of the intended fuel injection system.
The first versions were the lightweight "Plastikbombe" cars. These were used to homologate the Capri at only 900 kg. (1984.5 lbs) These cars also got the 69mm stroke crankshaft approved. "Plastikbombe" was a refence to their fiberglass hood, doors and trunk lid, (made by BBS) and plexiglas windows. The "Plastikbombe" cars could also be identified by their Minilite wheels, and their lack of a heater, bumpers, and carpeting. Some of these early lightweights had triple Solex carburetors, others had fuel injection. The lowered suspension meant that the car was VERY low to the ground. Evidently, they were using racing springs! Production of these cars started in March 1970 at Niehl. By April 17, 1970, all 50 were complete. The FIA approved the RS-2600 for racing sometime around August 1970.
Apparently, quality control was a real problem with these cars. Fit was often questionable. The plexiglass windows rattled in their mountings.
The Facelift tail lights included backup lights, and so eliminated the need for the separate rectangular backup lights in the rear valence panel.
The RS-2600's bumpers were now painted black, and a full-width bumper replaced the quarter bumpers in the rear. The dished steering wheel was replaced with a flatter 3-spoke steering wheel. Apparently, fragments of an original dished RS-2600 steering wheel severely damaged a crash test dummy.....
There were some paint changes as well. RS-2600s now wore a stripe around the hood bulge. and another one surrounding the chrome strip on the rear panel. The word "INJECTION" was painted on the trunk. The circular RS badge on the trunk near the "Capri" script was replaced with a painted "RS".
In August of 1973, the millionth Capri was built at Cologne. It was an RS-2600.
RS-2600 production ended in December 1973, when all Mk I production in Germanny ended. We've seen a few different production figures, but the number 3532 seems to be most frequently mentioned.
| Year | Number Built |
|---|---|
| 1970 | 53 |
| 1971 | 752 |
| 1972 | 1360 |
| 1973 | 1188 |
| 1974 | 178 |
| 1975 | 1 |
The RS-2600 engine evolved a bit over time. All of them used the 2600 block, and the 69mm crankshaft. All of them used the 2300GT camshaft and a modified 2300 oil pan. However, we've seen some evidence of a few changes.
The fuel injection system was fairly constant, however, as noted elsewhere, some of the early "Plastikbombe" cars had Solex carburettors. The fuel injection system did evolve slightly over time. We couldn't find figures on what was added when, but at some point, a cold-start injector was added. Also, there were changes to the fuel pump: a "three dimensional" cam was able to use engine speed, manifold vacuum, and throttle to determine how much fuel to deliver & when. This made the later RSs somewhat smoother.
The compression ratio seemed to vary a bit. The earlier models have 10.5:1 compression. Sometime around 1972, they changed to 10.0:1.
| Date | Compression | Power | Torque |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970-1971 | 10.5:1 | 150 @ 5800 @ | 165 @ 3500 |
| 1972-1973 | 10.0:1 | 150 @ 5600 @ | 159 @ 3500 |
As noted above, the RS-2600 has Kugelfischer mechanical fuel injection. It's quite an interesting setup.Fuel is pumped out of the tank with a low-pressure electric fuel pump. On the front of the engine, there is a belt-driven high-pressure fuel pump. This pump increases the fuel pressure to about 400 PSI. It sends the fuel out sequentially to six fuel lines, one to each injector.
We're pretty sure that this system was originally intended for an inline 6 cylinder engine. The high pressure pump's output lines are labeled for each cylinder, and they are numbered incorrectly for a Cologne V-6. The RS-2600 manual has a chart which shows the mapping for the correct cylinders on a Cologne V-6. However, we noticed that the pump's numbers are exactly correct for a Mercedes-Benz 3-liter inline 6.......
| Pump injection order: (element No.) | 1 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 4 | |
| Engine Firing order: (cylinders No.) | 1 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 6 |
Kugelfisher went out of business ages ago, however, we are pretty sure that replacement parts are available. The injectors are the same ones that were later used on the BMW 2002 Tii. If we can figure out which other engines used the high pressure pump, we can probably find parts for it too. [1] Walton, pg 69