John and Harry, the owners...

JOHN’S ORIGINAL

There can’t be many a Mk1 Capri still in the hands of its original owner. John Davies sold his Anglia and paid £689 for this 1600XL in the summer of 1969, taking delivery in October of that year. At the time he was an RAF Corporal based in Germany, so he

had the car shipped from Harwich to Bremerhaven. ‘I couldn’t afford a GT or any of Ford’s optional extras at the time so I had those spot lamps fitted elsewhere.’

When he and the car returned to the UK two years later, it was registered as a ’71 car. ‘That was fine with me at that time, as I liked the idea of people thinking I had a brand-new

car!’

Following many years commuting from Farnborough to his job at Heathrow, John eventually moved back to his native Pembrokeshire. ‘I’ve covered about 160,000 miles over the past five decades, including towing a caravan around much of Europe. It’s still on the original engine and I’ve never removed the pre-delivery plastic covers from the back seats!’

HARRY’S BROOKLANDS

Harry Pelentrides is a car man through and through and has a collection to prove it. In the fleet is an Escort RS2000, a Fiesta Supersport, Golf GTI MKI and a Porsche 996 Turbo. He’s keen to point out that he buys cars to enjoy, not to make money on – hence he uses all of them regularly on anything from local journeys to full-fat European road trips.

Harry’s Capri is a oneprevious-owner gem, which required a fair bit of refurbishment work as it was in ‘near-barn find’ condition. ‘Totally worth it though’ he points out. ‘The Capri always was beautiful but in Brooklands form, it just feels like all the best Capri bits came together in one car.’ Harry grew up around Capris and the

Practical Classics shoot in Wales appears to have cemented his love for the car. ‘On these roads, in this weather and in this car, life doesn’t get any better, does it? After all, who doesn’t love a Capri?’