WALKS DRIVES Coast to capital on a wave of nostalgia SUNDAY DRIVER

*** & Sunday

had longed to experience a classic Ford Capri. A drive from Southend to central London in the final one became a celebration of all three

Southend-on-sea, or Saafend as it’s more fondly known, is one of those places we all think we know. Fish and chips, brightly lit arcade games, brisk walks on the seafront, opportunistic seagulls, terrible one-way systems and overpriced parking. The picture of Britishness. And (apart from the last three, perhaps), what’s not to like about that?

Although, as I pointed the long, Brooklands Green nose of the Ford Capri 280 towards the seafront, I couldn’t help but think that the town planners of 60 years ago have a lot to answer for.

Unimaginative, right-angled concrete makes up much of the town’s main shopping area; so much so that if you don’t look up you can miss the shabby Georgian and Victorian splendour punctuating it. A dome here, some intricate red brick there and then, suddenly, the Thames Estuary comes into view at the same moment you stumble across something like the Kursaal building; a huge yet delicate concoction of stoic red brick and airy, glass-filled ironwork. Even with a Tesco Express sign now seemingly the primary focus, it packs a serious architectural punch.

There could hardly be a more appropriate car for our Sunday drive from seaside to the centre of London, either. This was the last Ford Capri to roll off the line – albeit in Cologne rather than up the road in Dagenham. It brought an end to 17 years of the Capri in 1986, and it feels every inch the bolshie, confident character I imagined it would be. It exudes such swagger, from the fast and angry looks to the meaty-sounding mutter of the 2.8-litre V6.

Winding it down the broad, palmtree-lined seafront that feels almost Mediterranean on a warm autumn day (provided you don’t look inland to the gaudily appealing amusement arcades), this is a car that you have to work hard to get the best from. Big steering inputs, heavy brake pressure, accurate throttle blips for downshifts… It reminds me of the current Ford Mustang, and that’s no small compliment.

A mooch past the impressive pier – still the longest in Britain – with a stop for some photos gives some locals time to compliment the car. “Is that Jamie’s car?” was a question I was asked more than once. And yes, it is the very car that Jamie Oliver drove with impressive gusto in a recent TV series, although it belongs to Ford UK’S heritage department rather than the chef.

The next stage of the journey means heading into the centre of London, into an area where the car became a TV star itself in the Seventies show The Professionals. Leaving the seaside town on the A127, it occurs to me that Southend has everything. It’s only an hour from London, there’s heritage to spare, real architectural delight… it’s even got its own airport.

Judging by the number of upmarket eateries and businesses opening, as well as the subtle poshing-up of some of the town’s buildings, I’m clearly not the only one to think that there’s great potential here. There’s a feel of Brighton before it became a bohemian, hipster-commuter hotspot. I’d give it until the beginning of next decade, if not earlier, before Southend-on-sea stops being the butt of the real-estate jokes and starts becoming an investment hotspot.

I stumbled on one final unexpected gem before leaving the coastal town,the beautiful St Mary’s Church. It lies in

Prittlewell, the settlement that Southend is, in fact, at the south end of. St Mary’s dates back to the seventh century and is a green, quietly beautiful place in stark contrast to the restless sugar-rush of Southend proper. Worth a stop to take it in.

A quick sprint west on the A13, enjoying the surprisingly brisk pace of the Capri, and the noise as it goes from lazy muscle-car rumble to eager sportscar yell as it builds revs. Before you know it, you’re on the flyover at Dagenham with Ford’s British stronghold beneath you. Miles of shipping containers, factories, chimneys and boardrooms, it’s a full and mighty industrial ecosystem joining river to town. The Capri virtually seems to puff up with pride as we pass Ford’s historic factories.

But pass it we do, and on, over a crest in the A13 where suddenly you’re in the foothills of London and staring Canary Wharf right in its shiny, commercial eye. You seem to go from bland dual carriageway and shipping containers to central London in the space of about 500 yards.

I have something of a love-hate relationship with London. As a student of literature and a lover of architecture, I’m infatuated with it; where else could you get a drink in a 17th-century coaching inn while admiring a modernist skyscraper like The Shard? Of course, cars are also an enduring obsession of

Sunday 18 November 2018

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Netflix series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina has prompted a $50 million (£39 million) lawsuit from which religious group? (a) Presbyteria Presbyterians (b) Satan Satanists (c) Mo Mormons

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