THIS ONE’S MINE ROGER KELSEY

The Capri is a national treasure and there’s often nostalgia at play when a purchase is made. Roger is no exception: “This isn’t my first Capri. After leaving school in 1966, I did an engineering apprenticeship with Ford Motor Company at their training school in Harold Hill, Essex. In 1972, now earning an eyewatering £2500 a year, I decided to splash out and, via Ford Motor Credit, spent the princely sum of £1050 on an ex-management Daytona Yellow Capri 1600GT XLR with 4037 miles on the clock. In 1976, having married and started a family, I reluctantly sold it and bought a more practical family car. In February 2020, I came across KML590K while browsing classic cars for sale. It reminded me so much of my first Capri almost 50 years before that I had to have it, even though it cost me more than ten times the price of my first Capri.”

“I’ve had the interior tidied up with a few seat repairs, some repairs to the instrument panel and parcel shelf, fitted inertia reel seat belts and an electric screen wash plus some tidying up under the bonnet. Other than that, most of what you see today is the result of all the hard work of the previous owner.”

It’s proved to be a reliable classic, with Roger experiencing no real issues. He’s fitted a new water pump and dynamo and had the car tuned on a rolling road to make the most of that diminutive powerplant.