THE FACTS 1986 FORD CAPRI 280 BROOKLANDS

PRICE NEW £11,999 PRICE NOW £15,000 ( good condition); £20,000 (top condition) ENGINE 2,792cc V6 POWER 160bhp TOP SPEED 127mph ACCELERATION 0-60mph in 7.9sec FUEL ECONOMY 21mpg (est)

mine and I mostly loathe driving in London due to the overwhelming congestion. The Capri does me proud, however. The goodwill it draws out of other road users is remarkable – people let you out, give you a smile. Someone even asked if it was for sale.

So, remarkably, I actually enjoyed sitting in traffic – even by the time I got to Scotland Yard’s famous revolving sign at the Met Police’s HQ’S new loca- tion, across the river from the London Eye on the South Bank. This is an appropriate spot to be lazing in a queue, given this car’s links to the Seventies and Eighties telly spectacular The Professionals. This is where the Capri – granted, a 3.0 S model, rather than the 2.8-litre I’m daydreaming in here – could be found squealing heroically around the capital’s streets in support of the crimefighting exploits of CI5 (not a play on MI5, at all…) and its top agents, Bodie and Doyle.

Some would say it’s a cult show, some might not. I guess it depends on what TV vintage you favour, but London and the Capri certainly feel worthy of their cult status as I pass the everimpressive Palace of Westminster and Big Ben, before crawling over Vauxhall Bridge and drawing a halt to my meanderings at Lambeth Palace. Samuel Pepys thithered and thenced past here, back in his day, and described the Archbishop of Canterbury’s rather immodest residence as “a new, old-fashion hall”, referencing the fact that it was totally rebuilt in 1663.

I wonder what he’d make of London now, never mind the brazen Capri.

Certainly, I’ve realised my ambition of driving a Capri; the last one ever built, no less. While few cars could be described as roguish, or could make tortuous city roads fun, this did. And it looked good and sounded good while it went about it.

Then there’s the dishevelled glamour of Southend, which I’ve long wanted to investigate, and – finally – a drive around London with time to soak it in rather than rushing to or from work. And there’s the key. Viewed without the anxiety of impending deadlines and meetings, and from such a fun-filled car, our capital is truly a gracious and splendid new, oldfashioned town.