Ford Capri Mk I

After years of being uncool, and ‘Essex Girl’, the Capri is now enjoying a new life as it hits 40… as a classy classic coupe. And rightly so!

Stylish cars with a cult following and decent performance tend to be out of reach for many, but there are exceptions and the Ford Capri is one of them. Built to emulate the success of Ford’s Mustang in the US, the Capri was the Blue Oval’s pony car for Europe, although it was sold in North America too, until 1977. Of course it never sold in the same sort of quantities as the Mustang, but with a wide range of engines on offer plus a multitude of trim levels too, there was a ‘British Mustang’ for every budget. With the last car having been built 35 years ago, there isn’t as much choice as there once was, so you can’t afford to be too choosy about specifi cation. However, whether you want four cylinders or six, there are some cracking Mk1 Capris available; here’s how to buy a good one.

History

The idea of the Capri (which remember was originally launched as a sleeker version of the 1961 Classic saloon) was mooted not long after the Mustang was launched and mock ups were already being built in March 1966. The final design was launched in February 1969, with a choice of 1300, 1300GT, 1600, 1600GT and, soon after, a V4 2000GT, editions. It’s common chat to say that the Capri was really a Cortina in drag and while it shared an enormous amount of parts, the actual fl oor pan was modifi ed with altered suspension pick up points to allow the low coupe look.

In common with the Mustang what really set the Capri apart from future rivals (there really wasn’t any at launch) was the tremendous mix of options and accessories. Three dedicated option packs were available; X, L and R ( X for exterior, L for Luxury and R for Rally - see!) which could be had singularly or in groups. Gaining the X factor cost £32 back then and spelt reclining seats, bucket style rear seat, dipping rear view mirror and reversing lights. The £15 L pack comprised such fripperies such as bumper overriders and those naff dummy side air scoops 99 per cent of all Capris wore (I did know of bloke who owned a base 3-litre Capri lacking any of the option packs-ed). Most folks teamed up the XL packs; the R option was mainly for GT versions as it meant sports wheels, matt black bonnet treatment plus Wipac driving lamps.

When the Capri was launched the company tantalisingly showed off a version fi tted with a detuned Formula 2 16V racing engine (which was later fi tted in the Escort to produce the RS1600) but it never went into production. Instead the fi rst performance Capri was the 2000GT using the wheezy Corsair 2000E engine, which tuned to 92bhp isn’t half a bad as car as it is still painted out to be.

By March 1970 the real hero arrived, Zodiac powered! The iconic V6 range was further topped by a plush and potent 3000E version and the arrival of this slingshot did the sports car market a lot of harm as the Ford left even TR6s choking on its exhaust fumes.

In September 1971 a raft of improvements surfaced with higher outputs for the 1300/1600- engined ranges. The fi rst Capri special edition was launched too; a 2000GT with Vista Orange paint plus extra trim – 1200 were built. The following month Crayford launched its Capri convertible, badged Caprice, around 30 of which were built. Or more importance was the uprating of the old Zodiac V6 engine with a racier camshaft and porting to liberate an added 10bhp and give this family-friendly Ford almost 120mph top speed, which was sensational stuff back then. Another brace of special edition GTs were made in the late spring of ’72. These featured special paint fi nishes, extra trim and a bonnet bulge, as well as indicators in the bumper and wing, rear opening windows and either black-with-red-stripe or emerald- green-with-gold-stripe paint schemes.

The following month the 3000E was dropped, then in September 1972 the Capri was facelifted, with 151 changes that included fairly major suspension tweaks, a standard bonnet bulge on all models, bumper-mounted indicators, larger front lamps with bumper-mounted indicators
and rear lamps incorporating a reversing lamp. There was also a new dash, better seats and the 1600 Kent engine was replaced by the 1600 Pinto unit. In GT form it developed almost 90bhp and was almost as quick as the V4 2000 model which remained in production; in place of the 3000E was the GXL featuring a four headlamp treatment. In August 1973 the millionth Capri was built (an RS2600), then four months later the fi rst-generation Capri was replaced by the secondgeneration model. at the same time, the RS3100 was introduced, using the 3000GT bodyshell; 248 were offi cially completed.

Driving

The Capri isn’t all mouth and no trousers because it’s as good to drive as it is to look at. The steering is uncorrupted thanks to rear-wheel drive, while the gearchange is excellent (at least on non V6-powered cars that is) – if there’s a fl y in the ointment it’s that the brakes could be stronger Germanand more progressive – especially on the GT cars where they are soon spent after hard use. The chassis is also hardly the last word in technology, which could be seen as a good thing or a bad one depending on your point of view; most owners reckon it just adds to the Capri’s classic character, although those used to a modern may feel decidedly uneasy in crosswinds with the dreaded Capri steering shake under braking! As long as you avoid the truly weedy non GT 1300s you’ll fi nd there’s enough power to have some fun – especially if the roads are slippery and the tyres are past their best. Test fi gures back then had the base 1300 hitting 60mph in about 18 seconds and maxing at around 85. The GT is much livelier with a 0-60 in under 15 seconds, which is roughly on par with a standard 1600; the 1600GT did in around 13 seconds and good ones almost touched the ton. Pinto power was a touch livelier with the 1600GT being timed at a very brisk 11.1 seconds
and around 103 top whack, not that much slower than the V4 in fact.

Of course the six-cylinder cars are the real joy with a sub nice second sprint to 60 and all that lusty torque, but it’s easy to tune the four-cylinder engines too, so if you fi nd a really superb four-pot example, don’t be dismissive about it – or a nice V4 for that matter (very rare). Of course being a Ford the Capri is super user-friendly and fairly family-sized, even if the boot is tiny. Creature comforts are minimal these days but so what? In terms of economy, gentle driving should see around 30mpg on the four pots – perhaps 25mpg for the V4 ands around 18-23mpg for the V6 – easily the former if you can’t resist its still impressive pace. What did they say about Capris at the time? Well Motor said the car was excellent value for money while enthusiast mag Hot Car said the 1600GT was an honest attempt to relieve the boredom of family motoring. Let’s talk about two rarities now which were

hardly that; the RS2600 and the RS3100! The former was a Europe-only model as the UK had the 3.0. But the German car is a lot smoother and as sift plus had fuel injection as standard. The RS3100 was a motorsport special where the engine was slightly upped in capacity so it could fall in a different racing category. Based on a 3000GT power was increased only by around 10bhp to 148bhp and the car boasted a ‘whale tail’ rear spoiler for added stability, especially on the tracks.

Prices

The smaller the engine, the less desirable the car, but as so few Mk1 Capris of any type are available, it’s a case of buying what you can fi nd. Although the engine fi tted is important, it’s essential to buy on condition, and restoration projects should be complete as missing parts can be hard to source. Projects start at £500-£1500 (the higher price being for larger-engined cars) with usable examples costing £1500-£2500. A really nice Capri will set you back between £3500 and £6500 but exceptional cars will get more – you’ll be looking at over £15,000 for a mint RS2600/3100.

Improvements

The key thing here is not to think about converting a four-cylinder car into a six-cylinder one; just buy the six-pot car from the outset because you’ll need to swap so many parts that it just isn’t worthwhile or even practical these days. It’s a different matter when it comes to tuning though; porting and polishing, extra carbs and spicier cams are all worthwhile, as long as you don’t overdo things. A Kenlowe fan is worthwhile on any Capri, to reduce the risk of overheating. More importantly though, the V-confi guration engines have fi bre timing gear, which can disintegrate, leading to the engine being wrecked. Steel timing gear can be fi tted instead, at around £60 for the parts. It makes sense to do the work when the engine is being fettled anyway. Fitting later brakes from the 2.8i is a good ploy on all models.

20 things that you didn't know about Capris.....

1. Archetypcal cowboy hero JOHN ‘DUKE’ WAYNE co-starred alongside Capri in the 1975 feature film, Brannigan, playing a transplanted Chicago cop. The Capri had to jump across a half open Tower Bridge!

2 Capri name was used in three totally different Ford model lines and seven Ford-owned Lincoln Mercury brands. The Ford trio was: UK, Consul Capri of January 1962-July 1964 sales. Hottest of the American infl uenced UK Consul Capris was the 1963 GT. The 1969-1986 European Capri is the type featured here and the 1989-94 Australian Ford Capri with Mazda hardware was sold as the Mercury Capri in the USA.

3. Aside from famous appearances in UK TV series, The Professionals [X-Pack registered COO 251T] and Minder [Capri II], the Capri [a yellow 3000E] also appeared in the John Alderton/Hannah Gordon sitcom of the 70s, My Wife Next Door

4. Then manufactured in the UK [Halewood] and Germany [Cologne], the European Capri debuted January 1969, the last day of the Brussels Motor Show. It would not go on sale across Europe until February 5, 1969.

5. The Capri’s motorsport debut and fi rst major win came at the ITV World of Sport televised February 8th Croft rallycross. Driver was Roger Clark in the Ferguson 4x4 V6 mutant. Altogether 17 all-wheel drive Capris were prototype built. Five [one with automatic transmission] appeared in TV rallycross for drivers like Rod Chapman, John Taylor Stan Clark and Barry Lee.

6. Only the Capri II was offi cially badged with a mark number—‘Capri 1’ and ‘Capri 3’ areenthusiast nicknames to ease recognition.

7. There were three offi cially factory—recognized turbocharged Capris. The 1981 Zakspeed Turbo to celebrate German Championship success; Tickford’s hand-built aristocrat and the Turbo Technics 200 hp retrofi t.

8. Capri ceased production for left-hand drive markets in November 1984. Production for RHD UK fi nished 19th December 1986 at an offi cial 1,888,647 units. A recount at Ford UK in 1989 upped the fi nal fi gure to 1,900,557 covering those shipped in KD [Knocked Down] formats.

9. Sales of 1038 fi nal Capri 280 Specials [nicknamed Brooklands after their paint coding] offi cially ceased in spring 1987. Some were retained, unused, by dealers and collectors as investments.

10. Over half a million Capris were sold in North America, although the USA did not receive the third edition as US production ceased in August 1977. Still thriving to serve the US, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, Capri Club North America was found in 1997 and holds a very well supported annual Capri Swarm.

11. Famous names to race Capris—including the 1972 celebrity event at Brands Hatch Ford Sport Day in 3000Es—included: [Sir] Frank Williams, Colin Chapman, double world champion Graham Hill, triple World Champ Jackie Stewart and World Champions Niki Lauda and Emerson Fittipaldi. Celebrity winners were Stewart’s Tyrrell teammate Francois Cevert and multiple saloon car champ, Frank Gardner.

12. Unique Ford Capris for the road. Edsel Ford had a full USA emission compliant modifi ed RS2600 at 1972-75 College. Motorsport and PR legend Walter ‘Wally’ Hayes had a unique RHD drive RS2600 with carburated motor that is immortalized in the Minichamps 1/18th scale model.

13. That long Capri bonnet was made for a V8, but never a factory option. In South Africa Basil Green Motors made the closest thing, an homologation run double race championshipwinning Perana V8. Many UK tuners attacked Capri V8, including legendary Superspeed of Ilford, Essex with a Boss Mustang powertrain, but most used lighter Rover V8.

14. Gordon Spice was most successful UK Capri race driver, winning six consecutive BTCC class titles and 26 races outright. Accessory king Spice never won overall Championship- -too many other rival Capris to beat…

15. The millionth Capri [a German RS2600] was made in 1973. That was just four years, six months and fi ve days after its 1969 debut.

16. The RS badge was applied only to a pair of factory-produced Capris: the Germanand built RS2600 and the 1973-74 Halewoodconstructed RS3100. The German RS of 1970-74 was made by the thousand [4000+], but the genuine RS3100 was Ferrari-rare with 248 recorded.

17. UK manufacture of Capri ceased October 1976. After more than 330,000 made in Britain, all production switched to Cologne.

18. Most powerful and expensive Capris were the German turbocharged Zakspeed racers. Unlike the V6 road cars, these were 1.4, and 1.7 litre four-pots with 380 to more than 600bhp during 1978-82.

19. Most powerful and expensive factor yapproved street Capri was the Tickford turbocharged 2.8i V6 at 205 hp and priced from £14,985 to £17,220 when the last of 85 were sold in 1987. Design was credited to Simon Saunders, now famous for the sensational Ariel Atom.

20. The fi rst Capri project was coded Colt—son of Mustang, geddit? — and cost Ford £20 million from conception to debut. Capri II was coded Diana and the fi nal edition, Carla.