Ford Capri: The Car You Always Promised Yourself
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There are few cars that captured the imagination of an entire generation quite like the Ford Capri. It promised glamour and excitement without demanding a fortune. For millions of British drivers in the 1970s and 80s, it was the car at the top of the poster on the bedroom wall.
Ford marketed it as "the car you always promised yourself," and the slogan stuck because it was simply true. The Capri made everyday people feel like racing drivers. That is a rare and wonderful thing.
Origins and History
The Capri arrived in January 1969, conceived as a European answer to the wildly successful Ford Mustang. Ford's European operations wanted their own pony car, something affordable, sporty-looking and aimed squarely at young buyers who aspired to something more exciting than a saloon.
Built at Ford's Halewood plant in Merseyside and later at Cologne in Germany, the Capri was a genuine pan-European effort. It shared its platform and many mechanical components with the Ford Cortina, which kept costs sensible and reliability solid. Three generations followed across a production run that lasted until 1986, by which point over 1.9 million had been built.
The final Capri rolled off the line at Cologne on 19 December 1986. Ford never replaced it. Nothing quite has since.
The Design
The styling was the Capri's masterstroke. Long bonnet, short boot, fastback roofline, sweeping flanks. It looked far more expensive than it was, borrowing the proportions of Italian grand tourers and translating them into something a Ford dealer in Coventry could sell to a bricklayer from Basildon.
The first generation cars had a certain angular freshness to them. The Mk2 of 1974 softened the lines, added a hatchback tailgate and gained a wider stance. By the time the Mk3 arrived in 1978, the design had matured into something genuinely handsome, with flush door handles, colour-coded trim and a cleaner, more contemporary look that aged well into the 1980s.
In any era, a good Capri turns heads. The proportions simply work. It is the kind of shape that automotive designers spend careers trying to achieve.
Performance and Driving
Ford offered the Capri with a bewildering variety of engines across its life, from a modest 1.3-litre four-cylinder up to the thunderous 3.0-litre Essex V6. The entry-level cars were polite and economical. The top-of-the-range models were a completely different animal.
The 3.0 V6 produced around 138bhp and was good for 0-60mph in under nine seconds, which was genuinely quick for a road car in the early 1970s. It sounded magnificent too, that V6 burble settling into a purposeful growl under hard acceleration. The gearbox was slick and the handling, while not without its moments of tail-out drama, rewarded commitment and smoothness.
The ultimate road-going Capri was the 2.8 Injection Special of 1984, fitted with the Cologne V6 fuel-injected engine and Wolfrace alloys. It was sharper, faster and considerably more sophisticated than anything that had carried the Capri badge before. Top speed was around 130mph. It remains the benchmark against which all other Capris are measured.
Racing Pedigree
The Capri's motorsport story is a glorious one. Ford's competitions department transformed the road car into a formidable racing machine, most famously in the European Touring Car Championship. Works Capris, prepared by Broadspeed and later by Ford's own team in Cologne, dominated circuits across Europe throughout the 1970s.
The RS2600 and RS3100 homologation specials were built specifically to go racing, featuring wider bodywork, uprated suspension and engines that bore only a passing resemblance to the units in showroom cars. Drivers including Jochen Mass, Dieter Glemser and Jody Scheckter all wheeled Capris around circuits to memorable effect.
In Britain, the Capri was a fixture of the British Saloon Car Championship for years. Its combination of decent power, reasonable weight and aggressive looks made it an natural fit for circuit work. The racing heritage only adds to the road car's appeal today.
Buying a Ford Capri Today
Good Capris have been appreciating steadily for a decade, and the best examples now command serious money. A concours-condition 2.8i or 3.0 V6 can fetch upwards of 30,000 pounds. Honest drivers in solid condition sit between 8,000 and 18,000 pounds depending on specification. Project cars can still be found for under 5,000 pounds, though budget generously for the work ahead.
Rust is the enemy. Check the sills, floor pans, inner wings and the area around the rear wheelarches very carefully indeed. These areas were poorly protected from the factory and a Capri that looks presentable on the surface can hide significant corrosion underneath. A proper inspection is essential before any purchase.
Mechanically the Capri is generally straightforward and well supported. The Ford V6 engines are robust and parts availability remains excellent, with a strong club network in the UK. The Ford Capri Owners Club and various specialists hold vast stocks of new old-stock and reproduction parts. Buying a solid shell and working outward from there is a much wiser approach than saving money on purchase price only to discover a rotten structure beneath.
Shop Ford Capri Art at KK Automotive Art
KK Automotive Art does not yet have a Ford Capri design in our collection. We are working on bringing this iconic car to our range, watch this space. In the meantime, explore our classic car phone cases, classic car mugs and limited edition prints.
Explore more British classics in our classic cars blog.