All about: Ford Capri cars

"Ford Capri: The car you always promise yourself". This was the marketing slogan for the car that most people think of as the original Capri, but the story of this classic began some time before. Whether your taste is for sixties' style or eighties' power, there's a Capri in the range somewhere to suit.

The original Capri

The very first time the revered name appeared was on the Ford Consul Capri two door in 1961. The pillarless coupe took design elements from the period American Fords like the Thunderbird. Performance, however, was distinctly un-American with early engines being only 1340cc and even the GT mustering just a 1.5 litre. Sales were slow and Ford eventually ceased production of this virtually hand assembled car in 1964.

The mark one

The first car which most will recognise as a Capri was the 1969 Mk1. This was a car that took Britain by storm and everyone wanted one. The coupe shape was intended to emulate the Mustang of American pony car fame. Built on the underpinnings of the Cortina, it offered a range of stylish, reliable and affordable cars to a British public who had only conservative saloons to aspire to. Engines came in sizes to suit every pocket from a frugal 1.3 to a dangerously powerful 3.0 litre, 138 horsepower demon that was capable of spinning the rear tyres at very inconvenient moments. The rarest of all these Mk1 cars are the Group 4 RS3100s. These racing specials were highly tuned, with 435 hp, and bore little resemblance to the road cars.

The introduction of the hatchback

The Mk2 came along in 1974, and offered hatchback practicality for the first time. Interiors were now more spacious in order to draw in customers with young families and trim was more plush than the earlier cars. Engine choices were limited to 1.3, 1.6 and 2.0 litre four cylinder units, a 2.3 V6 and the top of the range 3.0 litre in "S" and Ghia trim. The wayward wet handling of the Mk1 had still not been tamed, however.

The last of the line

The Capri Mk3 was the pinnacle of the coupe design. The body was sharper than earlier versions and a four headlamp treatment with black grill modernised the front. Trim options were extended with six levels between L and Ghia. The aspirational model was undoubtedly the 2.8 litre mechanically injected special which replaced the three litre Ghia. The Capri V6 finally received the limited slip diff it had been crying out for and the power could now be exploited to the full. The last Capri was the 280 "Brooklands" with special paint, larger alloys and leather trim. In 1986, we said goodbye to "the car we always promised ourselves".