Ford Capri 1.3

...Yourself” was part of the Ford advertising campaign for the Ford Capri when it was first released back in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. It was designed to appeal to the hearts (and loins) of a motoring public at the time when the best affordable cars the motoring public were being offered in the UK were awful dogs of automobiles like the Austin 1100, Hillman Avenger, and Morris Marina. Indeed, my one and only Ford Capri replaced a bloody dreadful ...
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~ ~ The Ford Capri was produced at the old Ford Halewood factory in Liverpool, and also over in Germany, and when it was first unveiled to the public at the Brussels Motor Show in January, 1969 it caused a major sensation in the motoring press. Based on Ford’s already very successful American car, the Ford Mustang, it was a breathe of fresh air in a stale and boring motoring market place, and the demand for the car was instantaneous. Best ... more

~ ~ The title of this review “The Car You Always Promised Yourself” was part of the Ford advertising campaign for the Ford Capri when it was first released back in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. It was designed to appeal to the hearts (and loins) of a motoring public at the time when the best affordable cars the motoring public were being offered in the UK were awful dogs of automobiles like the Austin 1100, Hillman Avenger, and Morris Marina. Indeed, my one and only Ford Capri replaced a bloody dreadful Austin 1100, which was about as much fun to drive as a three-wheeled bicycle!

~ ~ The Ford Capri was produced at the old Ford Halewood factory in Liverpool, and also over in Germany, and when it was first unveiled to the public at the Brussels Motor Show in January, 1969 it caused a major sensation in the motoring press. Based on Ford’s already very successful American car, the Ford Mustang, it was a breathe of fresh air in a stale and boring motoring market place, and the demand for the car was instantaneous. Best of all it was affordable, with prices ranging from £890 for the base 1300 model, up to a £1,000 for the 1600GT.

~ ~ So just what was it about the Capri that made it such an instantaneous hit with motorists all over Europe, to such an extent that even today, nearly 20 years after the last Capri rolled off the production lines over in Germany, it still remains a much sought after “classic”? Well, the main ingredient of the Capri’s success had to be its design. Whatever about the performance, handling, comfort levels, etc, the Capri simply looked the part with its dramatic sports car appearance. Riding along the highway in a Capri it was easy to imagine yourself as a real “jack the lad”, and the car drew admiring glances wherever you went. For this reason it was the choice of successive generations of “boy racers”, and even in the design conscious 21st Century its design still holds up well against many modern alternatives. Who will ever forget “Del Boy’s” famous “pratmobile”, the Capri Ghia in the smash hit comedy “Only Fools And Horses”, or Body and Doyle dashing around the place in their souped-up Capri in the famous 70’s crime series “The Professionals”. (Both series are currently showing on UK Gold, the satellite channel)

~ ~ I must admit that I made a mistake when I purchased my 1300XLR model Capri back in early 1973. Of all the different models of Capri, (and the choice was huge) the 1298cc model was without a doubt the worst car, inheriting an engine from the staid and boring Ford Escort that quite literally couldn’t pull its way out of a wet paper bag! It produced only 55bhp from its four cylinder engine, took about 20 seconds to reach 60mph, and had a top speed of only 89mph. You might well LOOK like a boy racer in the 1300 Capri, but believe me it was very hard to act out the part, as the car had about as much poke as an old bag of chips! But I was on a budget limit from my company, (they were paying for the car) and unfortunately it didn’t stretch to the awesome Capri 3000GT I would have preferred to purchase.
But the appearance was everything. I invested in all the little extras and bells and whistles with my Capri, (this is what the XLR badge meant) and it looked an absolute million dollars. Reclining seats, extra badges, 5” steel spoked wheels, a tiny sports steering wheel, fog and spot lights, a map reading light, and those absolutely marvellous air scoops stuck onto both sides of the car which did absolutely nothing at all except sit there and look good! In sparkling diamond white, and with lots of “go faster” stickers adorning the bodywork, I could at least imagine I was some sort of racing or rally driver, even if the car’s actual performance dented the desired image somewhat.

~ ~ The Capri basically had a sports car body, with a couple of small extra seats tagged on at the back in order to ostensibly make it a “family car”. It was comfortable enough for the driver and front seat passenger, but I really wouldn’t have fancied travelling for any length of time cramped into the back seat. Later models of the Capri (from 1974 on) abandoned the boot in favour of the far more practical hatchback, which gave you a far better carrying capacity in the back for luggage. But my version only had a rather small and cramped boot, which caused me some problems at times when I was carrying a lot of samples or equipment. (I was a salesman at the time)

~ ~ It had lots of other little extras like a two-tone horn, interior lights for the driver and passenger, reversing lights, a locking petrol cap, and a dipping rear view mirror. These extras (part of the XLR pack) cost you about an extra £100 or so on the basic price of the car, and though they may sound old hat now in today’s terms, they were highly innovative at the time when most cars had no extras whatsoever, and sometimes even a heater was considered a luxury!
No fancy CD or MP3 sound systems in these days, in fact, it was just about this time that the old “8-track” stereo systems were first becoming available for cars. (Anyone remember these?) I had an old radio, (manual tuning) which I inherited from my old Austin 1100 and a couple of basic door speakers for sound. But I thought it was the bees-knees!

~ ~ As I have already mentioned, the 1298cc version of the Capri was never going to win you any races at the traffic lights, but it was comfortable enough to drive. The four-speed gearbox was adequate, and you never had any problem finding the gears, and the steering was tight and precise. Handling was again (at best) adequate, although with its rear wheel drive and somewhat soft suspension it had a disconcerting habit of allowing the back end to fishtail rather dramatically if you happened to go too fast into a corner, or accelerate too hard out of it. Fuel consumption was around the 30mpg mark, which for the time was about average.

~ ~ One thing you couldn’t really fault the Capri on was its reliability. I was living in the Home Counties of England at the time, and used to travel up and down to my home in Scotland about every fortnight (a round trip of about a 1,000 miles), as well as doing countless numbers of miles around my sales patch of Oxfordshire and Berkshire. In the year and a half I ran the car it only ever let me down badly on one occasion, when the coil decided to pack up on the M1 one dark and miserable winter’s evening, and the car simply died! But an hour or so later I was up and running again with the invaluable assistance of an AA mechanic.
Servicing was simple enough as the engine was fairly basic, but I have no idea how much it cost as my company footed the bill. But certainly the engine was accessible enough for basic maintenance to be carried out with no trouble or difficulty.

~ ~ In later life (1980’s) I briefly had another Capri as a company car, the 2.8-litre JPS (John Player Special) model. Now compared with my early Capri 1300 this WAS a true sports car, with scintillating performance and comfort. (0 to 60mph in about 8 seconds, and a top speed of around 130mph!) But that’s another review! I will always remember my early Capri with affection, although if I was considering buying one today (they’re still readily available second hand) I would without a doubt go for one of the later performance versions.

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© KenJ December 2004

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