My Capri
My Capri is a 1985 2.8 injection special. It is totally origional and i have owned it for 5 years. I would do approx. 1000 miles / 2000 miles a year in it. As you can imagine the insurance on this type of car would normally be very high but because of my low mileage and the age of the car i can insure it under a Classic Car policy. To do this you must also be a member of a club like Capri Club International etc.
1600 GT
This picture is an advert for the 1600 GT Ford Capri. The heading reads. ----
Now what would a level-headed family man want with a car like this? It then proceeds to tell you - and i quote from the advert.
When you set out to buy apractical family car, and return with a Ford Capri, your bound to come across the occasional Doubting Thomas.
"How do you fit everybody in?" is always a favourite starter.
Speaking for yourself, your wife and kids, 'very comfortably' is about the only answer. Obviously, the Capri isn't going to take aunts,uncles and nephews wholesale. It isn't that sort of family car. So you might just point out that yours isn't that type of family. Another thing that can ruffle the cynics is that certain smack of extravagance about the car. Yet Capri prices start at just £1016*, which is hardly going to cut deep into your family allowance. After a certain amount of thrust and parry concerning the technicalities, inevitably, comes that final cry of exasperation. "Darn it all, it doesn't even look like a family car." What can you do but agree?
The model shown in this advert has a price tag of £1246*. The sports custom pack, radio, and wing mirrors at extra cost.
*All prices include car tax and delivery to your Ford Dealer(excluding N. Ireland). Seat Belts and Number Plate at extra cost.
As you can see from this advert the car was aimed at the family man looking for a sports car and it worked. It wasn't aimed at the Boy Racer Type as it would be now.
2.8 InjectionThis two tone Blue/Sliver 1984 2.8i Capri was owned by Mark Thomas of the Milton Keynes Capri Club. He had been out driving near Leighton Buzzard and spotted a garage in the middle of nowhere and there was this Capri in perfect order inside and out and with a cash sale price of £3400 he quickly purchased it. Mark later sold the car - have you see her? Both he and his wife now drive Capris again.
Custom Capri
This Custom Capri is the work of Jerry Redman. He bought this Capri from a friend after it had been in an accident. Going to work on it as soon as possible he replaced the shell and started the custom work inside and out. You can see the exterior from this picture but the inside was also reworked. The Recaro interior was taken out and a complete custom interior put in. As you can imagine this car gets a lot of attention at shows but it also gets a considerable amount of Television coverage including Top Gear.
3.0ltr E Capri
This is another old Ford Advert - This time for a 3.0ltr E Capri. This advert compares other cars with the Capri as listed below:-
B.M.W. 3.0ltr Coupe - Top Speed - 131 mph - 0-60 mph in 8 secs - Price £5118
Mercedes 350 Coupe - Top Speed - 126 mph - 0-60 mph in 9.3 secs - Price £5601
Aston Martin DBS V8 - Top Speed - 162 mph - 0-60 mph in 6 secs - Price £8749
As you can see the Capri would be a great sprots car for the average man in the street.
JPS Capri
These JPS Capris are very rare. The Capri Club International asked its readers/members to reply to a survey to try to get an idea of how many are left. They got approx. a dozen of which only 5 or 6 agreed to do a photo set. This number included overseas as well and the car you see in the picture is from Germany. The owner replied saying this was the only JPS in original and good order in Germany. ??
Convertible Capri
This Convertible Capri was built from a D.I.Y. Kit (not from Ford - They never produced a conversion kit). The basic idea of the kit was to buy it and get a good body shop to fit it because of the major structure work involved. First the roof came off and this made the car weak. Next heavy duty box angled frames had to be inserted under the inner sills and welded into place. A frame across the rear of the car is also added for support and helps when adding the new shaped rear and boot lid. The rears new shape is made by fitting a pre-moulded panel and new GRP boot lid. Respray and you have a Convertible Capri.
The Minder Capri
This White 2.0ltr S Mk2 Capri reg. SLE 71R was the car used in the Television series MINDER. It had been struggling to pass MOT for a few years now and but for its T.V. status would be on the scrap heap. Instead it has been given a new lease of life with a total restoration. The major work was on the structure and body work. This was undertaken by Capri Care who replaced both inner and outer sills on both sides - 'A' post panel replaced and door shell aligned, all floor pan cracks and holes repaired. This took about one week to complete and then the car could start to be restored to its former glory.
The Police Capri
The Capri in its 2.8 injection mould was used by many people including the police as the great example shows.
3.0ltr S Custom Capri
This is another great example of a Custom Capri . With a few changes the car is transformed but still mantains the Capri look. I have no real information on this car but its a great looker so i added it to the set.
2.0ltr V4 Automatic Capri
This is a 1972 2.0ltr V4 Automatic Capri. It was purchased for £300 in 1990 in a pub car park in Bedfordshire. It was in very poor condition and needed a lot of work (like most Capris these days). Keith Mallows took 3 years to restore this car but as you can see it was well worth it.
MK1 GXl Custom Capri
This Custom Capri belongs to Adrain Griffiths of the Birmingham Branch of Capri Club International. This was one of only two car they entered into the show. As you can see its quite a show piece. It also goes to show what can be done to a Capri. It looks totally different and totally custom but still has that Capri look.
Early Capri Mock-up
This Capri mock-up was based on the Corsair ( a car which evolved from the Cortina ). If you look close enough you can see it still has the Corsair Badge on it. This was one of the first mock-up designs produced in 1965, but it wasn't until January 1969 that the Capri was launched in Europe. The basic design shown in the picture remained the same, but the side panels changed. The rear quarter window panel was replaced with a 'U' shaped side window panel. Quite a few other components remained the as the Corsair i.e. Engine, Transmissions and Rear Axles. Now even though the Capri had no direct European ancestors or heritage (because it was a new design), it did have an distant American cousin in the form of the Ford Mustang. Although there were no great similarities Ford had aimed the car at the same type of market in America five years earlier in April 1964 .
The Perana V8 Capri
This V8 Perana Capri was built by Basil Green from Johannesburg for Frod in 1970. It used the 5ltr V8 (302) engine of the Mustang with an output of 240 bhp. This converted into a top speed of 143.7 mph and a 0 - 60 mph standing start took 7.2 seconds. Between 1970 and 1972 there was a total of 800 cars produced.
A Works Racing Capri
This Works Racing Capri was driven by John Fitzpatrick back in 1973. It was a V6 Cologne-buit Capri with an output of 320 bhp this was 80 bhp more than the 5ltr V8 Perana. John had driven this car all over the world in 1973 and won many races. Most of the battles were fought between Ford and BMW that year and even though the Capri had poor handling and aerodynamics unlike the BMW John still managed to win. A year or so after this came the Energy Crisis and Ford's reduction in racing, so John moved onto Porche.
Turbo Technics Capri
This Turbo Technics Capri conversion increased the standard 2.8 injection from a 160 bhp machine to a 200 bhp machine. Back in 1986 a 2.8i Capri would have cost just under £10,600 and a Turbo Technics conversion would add a further £1720 to the price (price includes the Turbo conversion £1395 and the Brake conversion £325). This would give you the preformance of the Tickford Capri (£17,200) at a much lower price but without the Tickford refinements. Top speed on the Turbo Technics is 141.5 mph and a 0 - 60 mph standing start in 6.8 seconds.
The RS2600 Capri
The Rs2600 Capri was first seen at the Geneva Motorshow on the 12th March 1970 and the first full road production car was on sale by 1971. The car was only made until 1973 and was axed along with the Mk1 Capri. The Mk1 Capri had sold in total 1 million cars of which 3500 were RS2600 Capris.
The cars performance was good but fuel consumption poor.
MAX SPEED - 126 mph at 6300 rpm (it red lined at 5800 rpm)
0 - 60 MPH - Standing Start in 7.3 secs
FUEL CONSUMPTION - Between 17.6 to 23.5 mpg
LAUNCHED IN 1971 WITH A PRICE TAG OF £1600
A Tickford Turbo Capri
The Tickford Turbo Capri was launched in 1983 with aprice tag of £14,985 - a lot of money which is why not to many were sold.
The car only in white with its turbo giving a top speed of 140 mph and a 0 - 60 mph standing start of 6.7 secs was impressive but still to expensive.
Other features included the interior getting a walnut dash , deep pile carpet , full leather seats and electric mirrors and windows.
Outside the car got a full GRP fibreglass body kit - including a blanked out front grill , side skirts , read spoiler . The front and read bumpers were removed and replaced with moulded white ones.
Today this car is very rare with about 50 left . This is reflected in the price tag.
Very Good Condition - £10,000
Good Condition - £7,000 to £10,000
Average Condition - Under £7,000
A Zakspeed Turbo Capri
The Zakspeed Capri was produced in Germany in 1981and It had a price tag of £8890. Like the Tickford its sales were low with about 200 sold. Again like the Tickford it had a Turbo conversion and body kit ( the body kit this time was in the form of the Ford Motorsprot 'X' PACK panels).
MAX SPEED - 133 mph
0 - 62 mph STANDING START - 8.0 secs
FUEL CONSUMPTION - not bad
AT 56 mph - 31.4 mpg
AT 75 mph - 25.3 mpg
Urban - 18.9 mpg
My 2.0 ltr Laser Capri
This was my first Capri , a 2.0ltr Laser which i bought in 1987 secondhand with 9,000 miles on the clock. I sold the car 2 years later (with 21,000 miles on it ) and bought a 1600 Orion Ghia Injection ( bad move ). I now own a Capri again in the form of a 2.8 Injection Special.
A 2.0ltr S Capri
This was just one of the Capris in the MK3 range. This 2.0ltr S was favored by many Capri enthusiasts. Other versions of the MK3 included the limited- edition Calypso , Cameo and Cabaret along with the Laser. Next came the 2.8 injection and finaly the 280 Brooklands (in Green only and 1038 produced).
THE LAST CAPRI WAS PRODUCED ON 19th DECEMBER 1986 AND THIS MADE A TOTAL OF 32,045 MK3 CAPRIS BUILT OVER THE EIGHT YEARS IT WAS IN PRODUCTION.
But the LEGEND LIVES on all over the world.
Thats about it for now. I have added a list of Club meeting places for the United Kingdom and N.Ireland (these meeting are usually held in pubs etc. and are free ) .
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