Am I the only one who doesn’t get it? “The legend is back,” the copy says, but was the Ford Capri really legendary?
While the old name has been revived with the help of Eric Cantona and a poignant video, it’s hard to forget the amusing irony that Bob Lutz, chief executive of Ford’s US rival General Motors, experienced when he saw the “retro-futurism”-themed S197 Mustang in 2004.
“They remade the 1967 fastback Mustang?” he said. “Oh my gosh, I can’t wait to see what they do next…”
But the redesigned Mustang was a total retro affair, unlike the 2020 Mustang Mach-E, a battery-electric SUV that lacks any credible connection to the original “pony car” other than a galloping horse emblem on the front.
Now Ford is doing it again with this reborn Capri. It’s nothing more than a rounded roof for the Explorer, a rebodied Volkswagen ID.5 with four doors and four seats, a battery-electric four-door that Ford is building under licence in Cologne. It’s as sporty as watching football from the sofa and as much to do as a holiday in Torremolinos. To be honest, it’s always been a favourite holiday destination for viewers in the heart of Capri.
If you’re under 35, you won’t remember much about the Capri that was produced between 1969 and 1986. It’ll all be Bodie and Doyle. Professionals They push their Capris through cardboard boxes while their boss, Gordon Jackson, does some gardening Upper floor, lower floor, looking. Or Terry McCann ReminderThe lovable ex-boxer of scheming “entrepreneur” Arthur Daley, who bought a 2.0-litre Capri Mk2 for McCann but drove a Daimler himself.
Aimed to emulate the success of the V8-powered Mustang in the US, the Capri was penned by former aerodynamics apprentice and Chrysler designer Phillip Thomas Clark and was based on a unique floorplan culled from the Escort and Corsair. The tranny was little more than a Cortina, then, but it was far from “The Car You Always Promised Yourself” as Ford’s marketers would have you believe.
It was the second time Ford had used the name of the small rocky island in the Bay of Naples, Italy, the first being the 1962 Classic/Capri 116E. Furthermore, the second Capri was not planned to be called a Capri, although Ford had fought Mitsubishi in vain for the rights to the Colt name (Mustang, Colt, geddit?). The name had also been used behind a Mazda 323 and a US Mustang version, while the 2003 Ford Visos concept car was widely speculated to be a new version of the Capri.
What Thames TV calls “everyone’s Lamborghini” To spread programme, the Capri’s rise to fame was primarily due to its cheapness. In 1969 the base model 1.3-litre cost £890, almost £100 cheaper than that year’s 1.5-litre Austin Maxi family hatchback. Remember, the Maxi was quicker, reached 60mph quicker and handled and handled better.
With its live rear axle and leaf springs, the Capri defined tail-happy driving, where many ended their days hurtling across the landscape. The 138bhp 3000 GT with its Essex V6 engine had a fearsome reputation for being harder to drive in a straight line than around a bend…
Even the last 2.8i Injection models (1981-86) required careful pressure and precision on the accelerator pedal to avoid disappearing stage left, the live rear axle being protected right up until the end.
And my God, how they rusted. I remember trying to change a wheel on a four-year-old Capri and not being able to find a single solid spot to support the jack. The vinyl upholstery quickly showed its age (usually with cigarette burns), and while parts were cheap, you had to buy a lot of them to keep your Capri on the road.
But this was the 1960s. The British public had money in their pockets and young people were being ‘discovered’ as potential sources of profit. Capri was an affordable showpiece and its transatlantic look was in keeping with the times.
Of course it was marketed subtly, but the British public were not stupid, we all knew what a Capri was and what it stood for. This perhaps explains just a few famous Capri drivers: boxing promoter Barry Hearn, Brian Connolly of The Sweet and Cliff Richard. There is a story that John Deacon of Queen wanted to buy one but Freddie Mercury told him it wasn’t rock and roll enough.
There’s a kind of retro chic to the old Capri these days, but you’d have to be a bit of a craftsman to own one. Think of the white Capri that even Harry Styles left to rot in a locker room.
And to suggest that the Capri had no direct rivals is pure revisionist nonsense. In 1969, when the car was launched, Engine The magazine tested the £1,121 9s 6d 1600GT, which it described as “more of a family quad than a 2+2”.
For a car that could do 100 mph it was cheap but it was basic and as always with Ford you had to spend a lot of money on options to increase the spec. Engine I compared it to the £1,034 Triumph Vitesse, the £1,438 Fiat 124 Coupe, the £1,198 Lotus Cortina and the £1,405 BMW 160. I’d take the Cortina every time…
Review 1969 Engine Alongside the Road Test annual and the Capri was the Bertone-designed Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV coupé, a £2,248 piece of high-speed fun, with “superb” roadholding according to testers. With its advanced, all-aluminium twin-cam engine and five-speed gearbox, the GTV was one of the most perfect of two-door coupés. Or the roomy £1,592 Opel Commodore coupé, or the sophisticated £1,661 Lancia Fulvia Coupé Rallye, launched in 1969.
The Capri was an instant success with wealthy young executives adding another one to their roster, and Ford sold more than 1.5 million in just five years, not bad for a niche car. The Mk2 added a hatchback, a bigger interior and more practicality, but by the time of the Mk3 in 1978, the writing was on the wall. Ford’s designers had transformed the image with nothing more than a black floorpan, a set of round headlights and a new bonnet press, but the era of the hot hatch was upon us and the Capri looked like it came from another era; it was a bit tacky.
But what goes around comes around. It was former Ford boss Alan Mulally who said it was a waste to throw away beloved names, and even the company’s rivals have noticed. Traditional carmakers are seizing every opportunity to differentiate themselves from the new wave of Chinese brands. Among others, Alfa Romeo is reviving the Junior name and Opel is planning to bring back the Manta badge.
After the Mustang and Capri, it seems likely that Ford will also be looking at the Fiesta. CEO Jim Farley recently spoke on Hagarty’s podcast about the Fiesta and other things related to building a more premium compact car. It’s funny that the company has been so quiet about reviving the disastrous Edsel name, or the Probe coupé for that matter. “My wife said, ‘Why didn’t you go all out and call it The Penetrator?’” one Ford executive put it this way.
But in all this they forget one thing. The new Capri is far from cheap. The most expensive Explorer is £55,275 and the top-of-the-range VW ID.5 is £55,705, so don’t expect the Capri to be far from the mid-£50,000s. It’s the car you can’t afford, rather than the legendary car you’ve always promised yourself.