If it occurred to you that the little yellow Capri pictured in our July-issue feature on Judd’s Speed Shop looked eerily similar to Bob Pinnell’s notorious CAPRI8 street-and-strip car from the 1980s and 90s, you were bang on.

First published in the September 2026 issue of Street Machine

The car is one and the same, and its current owner, Sydneysider Daniel Hawes, has done an awesome job preserving the original flavour of the car, all while somewhat modernising it and making it significantly quicker than it was back in Bob’s day.

“It featured in an article on the Street Machine Shootout in the October-November 1988 issue,” says Daniel. “Bob used to run it at Oran Park in that era – the mid-80s up until the 90s. He raced it quite a lot, and it was very competitive and well-known for a street car. I believe it had a 351 Windsor, C4 and an alloy bolt-in rollcage, and when I spoke to Bob before he passed in 2020, he told me it used to run in the low 10s.”

Bottom 10s is very rapid indeed for a genuine, engineered street car of that era, so it’s little wonder the Capri had the notoriety that it did. In fact, when Bob eventually sold the car to a buyer on the NSW Central Coast, he changed the camshaft and inlet manifold at the buyer’s behest to make it a little friendlier on the street.

That being said, the car went largely unused during the subsequent owner’s stewardship, according to Daniel. “It sat in his shed for 17 years,” he says. “Then a friend of mine, Sean Mifsud, purchased the car from him and trailered it back to Sydney. I had a workshop at that stage, and we went through it and replaced all the rubber hoses, serviced the radiator, flushed the fuel tank, gave it a good tidy-up and started using it. Sean drove it around as a street car, but it was a bit rowdy and attracted a bit too much attention for him, so I purchased it from him six months later. That was 2007.”

The Capri was still running the same 351 with Bob-fettled Dart Sr heads, a C4, and a nine-inch rear end with a Detroit Locker centre. Because Bob had toned the car down a bit before sale, it wasn’t quite as fearsome as it was in its heyday, running consistent 11.0@122mph passes when Dan first took it to the track.

“From there, I built a 393ci for the car and mini-tubbed it, and I had to put a better ’cage in it eventually because of the times it was doing. Then a lifter failed and hurt the engine, so I decided to step it up again.”

Dan built a new Windsor for the car himself, in consultation with Tristan Triccas, who modified the Edelbrock heads. The combo is inspired by the engine package in Tricky’s own blue Capri that we’ve seen go proper-fast at Drag Challenge, and runs a Dart block, Callies crank and rods, JE slugs, Bullet solid-roller camshaft and a Dominator carb. Dan switched from the C4 to a Powerglide, and toughened up the rest of the powertrain with a Mark Williams carbonfibre tailshaft, alloy Mark Williams centre and 35-spline axles. 

The engine has never been on a dyno, but Dan’s aim is to run into the eights naturally aspirated, and he’s nearly there with a PB of 9.1@148mph on a relatively lazy 60-foot time. With the car now re-teched and ready to go, Dan’s looking to head to the track again soon and tick that eight-second box, and with the Windsor built with nitrous in mind, he may then plumb up some giggle gas.

Impressively, aside from the engine bay and the bonnet (which was painted when Dan added a reverse-cowl scoop), the paint is still original as per Bob’s original build, and is in great shape despite being around 40 years old! “We just tidied up the bay to make it look pretty again; other than that, it hasn’t been touched,” says Dan. “Whoever painted it did a good job!”

The interior, however, has been given a bit of a birthday, with Simon Judd at Elite Custom Interiors nailing a classy, race-inspired look in the cabin. “I wanted something that was timeless that would maintain a bit of the nostalgia while freshening it up and bringing it in line with more current trends,” says Dan.

It’s beyond cool that such a well-known car is still in such good shape all these decades later, and is still doing what it was built to do by its original creator. 

“I don’t get it out as much as I probably should, but when I do, people of my generation who were around drag racing at Oran Park back in the day often tell me that they remember a little yellow Capri from back then, and are blown away when I tell them this is the same car,” says Dan. “They compliment me on keeping it so tidy and pretty close to being period-correct, and that feels good.”

You’ve got to imagine that Bob would be stoked to see the car still looking reminiscent of years gone by, but going quicker now than ever, and with even lower ETs still to come.