Capri at 50
PC celebrates a motoring icon as it reaches its half-century milestone.
Capri’s age and more realistic status as a grand tourer. Such was the success of the MKIII makeover, the Capri soldiered on defiantly – and with quite some gusto – far into the Eighties. Ford gave us a variety of engine options to suit all pockets – including the popular 1.6 and 2-litre models and the marketing men got busy again, presenting the public with a range of appealing special editions such as ‘Calypso’, ‘Cameo’, ‘Cabaret’, and later the extremely popular ‘Laser’, at a time when the company had decided to phase out the old ‘L’, ‘GL’ and ‘Ghia’ designations that were seen as appealing only to the company car driver.
Ultimate performance came with the unveiling of the expensive Tickford variant, complete with a 205bhp turbocharged V6, Wilton carpets and ludicrous bodykit. But the hot hatch had embedded itself into the national psyche and the old coupé’s time was up. Born to a society whose soundtrack was Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love, the Capri was destined to die seventeen years later to the sounds of Stock, Aitken and Waterman. The times had changed – Ford’s big coupé was just too rock and roll. As we park our two Capris side by side in the afternoon sun, it’s easy to see why millions of blue-oval loving Europeans fell for what began as a little slice of the American dream. Sold in fair numbers around the world, the Capri has predominantly become an icon of UK car culture. With the Mki’s muscle car curves and the MKIII’S handsome, assertive Eighties look, they’re distinctive in the details but both of these cars are one and the same, capturing the essence of how history will remember every generation of the Ford Capri – as a Brit muscle car for the masses.