Ford Capri

Pop up headlamps.

I’m in.

My favourite car from 38 years ago https://imgur.com/gallery/VwmCXLk

I never had a Capri but 3 Mk1 Mexico
This one in Sebring Red

since my teenage years I’ve lusted after a 3 litre Ford Capri. I really need your help in being talked out of this

They are shitboxes. By modern standards, they are slow and uncomfortable. Yes, you will look cool to children, but to the rest of the world, you will look like this:

I like them, seen a few go through the auctions. Look at glenmarch for sold prices, as said fast Ford’s get top money.

Their performance by modern standards is poor, even the 2.8 or brooklands would struggle to match an entry level hatch, guessing there though.

Be careful buying your fantasy car, I did it once and shattered my dream. That big old pillar headlight merc saloon i lusted after turned out to be a barge doing 10 to the gallon.

There’s a capri club on fb I follow, some real enthusiasts.

This is tough as the naysayers are right…but..one of the overriding reasons is I got a lift home from one of the teachers when I was in 6th form. He had a black 3.0 and I will never forget the sound as he floored it after Skew Bridges. That’s why it has to be a 3. Luckily the current pandemic prevents me getting one and is holding up the house sale.

My Dad had a DS Safari for years and I was lusting over old photos of that as well ffs.

I’ve had 2 Capri’s, a bright banana yellow 1.6 which was really shit and then a really nice metallic green 2.0s which was modded to about 150bhp which was pretty good in the early 90’s.
Engine and general mechanics they are really easy to work on but they are serious rust buckets the worst place to sort is under the rear seats right across the whole floor the seam goes.

For a hot looking car they were freezing cold inside, the heater took for ages to warm up the cavernous interior, get yourself a nice sheepskin coat to keep warm if you get one. Oh, and don’t forget some crochet backed driving gloves to keep your hands warm as well……….

Just drive one for a day, that’ll cure any need for one.

Great to look at, but like most classics, fine for a Sunday but murder to drive compared to anything remotely modern.

I love em. Had a 1976 Mk2 2L Ghia White with black vinyl roof.

http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/cars-fordcapri-280.asp

£500 for a long weekend, get it out of your system :)

I learned to drive in my dad’s White 2.0 Laser Capri…Massive bonnet with that quite nonsensical power bulge on it, seats on the floor, my dad shouting at me from the passenger seat…Ah, happy days, it was a simpler time back then…Mind you it was ridiculously tall geared, if you could pull away in 2nd, you could top out at 80 with just one gear change.

Imagine the strain on the forearms now with no power steering assist
Pulling out the choke
Never driven one myself but can’t imagine they handled well, probably floated like a MK3 Corrina

And let’s not forget the interior – especially the top spec cars….

I’m awake now so this was my last one,

2.9 Cosworth BOB from a Granada. Emerald ECU and handmade exhaust. Cosworth front brakes from a Sierra, rear disc conversion, adjustable Gaz suspension. The standard rear axle moves side to side as well as up and down so it had the triangulation kit which holds it still.

It had the diff from a 1.6 and with the low weight and big sticky rear tyres it would never spin the wheels in the dry. It used to feel so fast in a straight line and the noise was glorious.

Unfortunately under full power the power steering would die and you had to slow down until it came back. Turning the wheel on a hydraulic rack with no assistance is almost impossible. The wipers only worked when it wasn’t raining, leading to some pretty hairy motorway driving. When driven ‘enthusiastically’ you had to tread very lightly as it would understeer into everything and oversteer out. The Recaro seats had the padding of a park bench. Somehow, it only went on an AA truck once.

I absolutely loved it at the time but it cost me £4500 fully built and I sold it 2 years later for the same. I wish I still had it for cruising around on sunny days but there’s no way on Earth I’d spend the current asking prices to get back in once. There’s too many far superior options.

Don’t get hung up on a 3.0. Those leaky carbs might burn down your investment and the 4 speed box is like wiggling a mop in a bucket. The 2.8i is much better but still only has the power of an old diesel Golf.

JFDI.

I used to see a mk2 with a Rover V8 fitted quite often on the A69 on my way to work. Also, when I was little my mam’s partner had a red mk2 and his friend had a really cool silver mk1- slot mags, louvre on the back window and everything.

I may have just done a romance explosion!

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1152575

RWD – yep, Ford – yep, Capri – nope but it’s better

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1289409

Yeah, I think that Escort would be a much better thing to drive than a Capri with a huge lump of a V6 in the front.

MkI Escort probably holds no nostalgia value to the OP though. For me it would be a late 70’s Capri or MkII Escort RS2000 (with the mesh headrests!).

But unless the OP has money to pee up the wall I’d not be spending £30 – £40k on a car that you could barely use for fear of devaluing it.

I would take this Datsun over any Ford though. Much better car than the Capri.

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1262694

@thols2 You’re probably right, but you don’t buy a Capri because you want a good car; you buy one because you want a Capri. By modern standards they are woefully underpowered (but wasn’t everything back then in comparison) and handle like they are allergic to going forwards, but they look the business and are a right laugh to drive.

I had a 1.3 as my second car and a 2.0 Ghia with a twin-choke Weber and pancake filter some years later – what a noise that made. If I had the money, I’d get one. Or maybe a Manta 1.8 Berlinetta – again :)

MkI Escort probably holds no nostalgia value to the OP though.

Surely this is all that really matters. Buying a classic/vintage unless it is some sort of investment weirdness is almost all about the nostalgia generated and the desirability to you. For me capris have nothing but negative connotations (based around the only person I knew as a kid having one being a proper piece of work – with my adult 2021 eyes definitely a domestic abuser and I suspect a sexual predator to boot) and I oddly feel a bit sick when I see one – when I see one I see the crimes of that man, not the car. But that is just me. But very fond memories of being snuggled up in the back of a Reliant Scimitar driving across the moor in the driving rain though that I’d happily recreate..

Premier Icon
5lab
Free Member

http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/cars-fordcapri-280.asp

£500 for a long weekend, get it out of your system 🙂

This has 100% solved the problem. Cheers exactly what I needed and the money saved can be spunked on a guitar I won’t be able to play very well instead.

You’re probably right, but you don’t buy a Capri because you want a good car

Exactly.

Or maybe a Manta 1.8 Berlinetta – again

Opel Manta you say? Had one of those as well…

This one had a 2.0 16v XE liberated from a Cavalier. Throttle bodies, megasquirt ignition and a 5 speed box.

It probably had less power than the Capri at around 200bhp but it felt savagely fast and it used to shoot big flames. It looks like a muscle car but it’s about the size and weight of an MX5. The handling was far superior to the Capri with a much better rear suspension design. It was much more fun to throw around.

Sadly I owned this at a bad time and had to sell but it’s the one car I wish I still had more than any other. It was amazing and I never got to fully enjoy it. So much that last year I almost bought another from a specialist and committed to a big build including a VXR engine. The person I sold it to left it on his driveway to rot and it hasn’t moved since.

This thread has got me thinking. I’ve got the Fiesta for another 2 and a bit years then I might sniff around the classic market before I commit to a replacement.

Had a 2 lt white one vinyl roof and the fancy gear box, like sitting in a wheelbarrow when yu got in, so low and dodgy seats, huge long bonnet.

Reasonably fast but sliddy in the wet, beware of rusting internals o the headlights and dodgy electrics, mine melted some cables to the lights, a bottle of water put that out.

@sharkattack That is nice, much nicer than the type I was thinking of! :D (it’s not mine, but mine was exactly the same). And, yes, it handled far better than the Capris. But then, so did jelly.

much nicer than the type I was thinking of! 😀 (it’s not mine, but mine was exactly the same). And, yes, it handled far better than the Capris. But then, so did jelly.

@brakestoomuch that’s what springs to my mind if someone says Opel Manta. Love the shape of that style.

It’s a shame that Manta’s have all but vanished. They rusted far worse than Ford’s which doesn’t help and most of the 1.8 hatchbacks were broken for the gearboxes and big wing sumps to build cars like mine.

There’s at least 3 Capri’s in Sheffield which I see regularly but I can’t remember the last time I saw a Manta outside of a classic car show.

A few years ago I really wanted to buy a Monaro with a tired body or a bit of accident damage and then save up to reshell it into a Manta coupe because I know someone who had a rolling shell lying around. Then I’d have an LS2 powered 400 replica! Pure daydream content.

Well, It’s hardly a rational purchase is it!

If your heart wants a Capri then it wants a Capri so suggesting any number of better, faster, more usable, etc etc cars for the same money won’t help.

I’ve never owned one, but my entire extended family seemed to own at least 2 at some point, usually more. It was the only thing my Father and Maternal Grandfather had in common. I don’t know how they drive, other than ‘badly’ I imagine, but I know how the seats feel, how they smell, how they sound, I’m sure a short ride in the back of one now (assuming at 41 year old adult would actually fit, I was probably younger than 10 last time) would leave me a blubbering mess these days as pretty much everyone in my life that had one is now dead. I still don’t know what that little knob on the dash to the right of the radio does, I was never allowed to touch it, my Grandad said it made the wings come out.

I still don’t know what that little knob on the dash to the right of the radio does, I was never allowed to touch it, my Grandad said it made the wings come out.

If I remember correctly it’s a twisty knob to adjust the brightness of the dials. From blacked out to dull in my experience. Mine had white LED’s in.

You could maybe put on a bid for this
https://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/ford/capri/aetv48352555

£500 for a long weekend, get it out of your system 🙂

You have no idea just how close I am to hyperventilating right now.

My one and only reservation is “after all this time, what if it turns out to be utter shit?” They say that it’s not always wise to meet your heroes.

Parents had a bright yellow 1.6 from 1976.lasted 7 years and literally dissolved. My mum kept a hammer in the glove box to hit the solenoid to start it. The passenger door didn’t open so you climbed across the front. In the last year you could only use it during daylight on dry days as the electrics were so unreliable you never quite new what would happen when you flicked a switch or pressed a button. No lights, no wipers. The petrol tank fell off due to rust and I remember seeing the sparks on the road as my mum kept driving with it bouncing off the ground under us. Other than those issues it ran fine and we all loved it. Still feel happy when I see one drive past.

Rihearn how did it get a mot? Maybe an easy going tester who accepted some afternoon cakes or had the hots for your mum when she was picking it up

My mum kept a hammer in the glove box to hit the solenoid to start it.

This made me lol! I did exactly the same thing with my 1.6 Laser. First I had to learn what a starter motor was and eventually I learned how to replace one but in between, I carried a hammer.

I learned everything I know about cars from fixing that thing. Haven’t used any of it since.

Very enjoyable thread, thanks. Had a 1983 rust free metallic green 1.6 Capri as a student and into first job. Was an absolute hoot, and actually pretty reliable all things considered. However, my mate’s Astra actually went round roundabouts without drama, unlike the Capri.

Occasionally look at them on Autotrader, but I just don’t have the time to spend on it, or the garage to store it (full of bikes)

I had a fad on a 2.8i capri when a workmate was selling his for £400, took it for a test drive and it was dog shit :D I went back to my RS escorts :D :D

Watching this pretty much got it out of my system.

Just spotted the Dolomite in that vid. The wife and I owned one for a while. Buying one of them would get the green flag

One thing to add about the Capri, it had a massive engine bay

And with that came a massive bonnet. Which flew up on my uncles when he was driving at speed down the A1. I was in the passenger seat at the time. Thankfully it had brown veleur seats.