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New Ford Capri...
- Thread starter Towpack
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The new one is hideous!! This classic one is much nicer! My aunt had a 1979 one and I loved going around in that thing as a kid!
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Seen the new ad for first time the other day and let out a groan saying to the mrs is nothing sacred .
My sister inherited her fathers mark 2 Capri which he restored must be at least 25 years ago , I think she intends to finish the 2nd restoration he started before he passed away .
Even as a kid I always thought the Coke bottle Cortina should have been the Brit muscle car .
My sister inherited her fathers mark 2 Capri which he restored must be at least 25 years ago , I think she intends to finish the 2nd restoration he started before he passed away .
Even as a kid I always thought the Coke bottle Cortina should have been the Brit muscle car .
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Towpack
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My Dad had a '72, K reg Mk3 Cortina 2000XL in 1974. He (and me!) thought it was light years ahead of the Hillman Avenger it replaced. The Mk3 is the best looking of the Cortina variants IMO. Ford never went bigger than the 2L Pinto engine in the Cortina but a guy called Jeff Uren did a Cortina Savage with the 3L V6 Essex engine from the Capri with tuning available by Weslake which took it to over 200bhp. The car was well sorted with suitable upgrades to suspension, brakes and running gear. As with many Fords from this era, good ones fetch many times what they cost new!
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Mum had one worth about 50 quid black with a thin red stripe down the side sounded like a racing car and went like a go cart , broken exhaust . I loved that A-Team car 
Can't find it now but somebody put a Cosworth engine in a blue one years back .
Can't find it now but somebody put a Cosworth engine in a blue one years back .
Gav missin
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Mk4 or5 cortinas were available with the 2.3 v6. I raced a couple( wish I hadn't now) in the bangers
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Bet I wake tonight when dreams put me back in the boot of that Cortina when my uncle came to visit on Christmas eve and decided we can't be without a tree when plantation was only about 2 miles away , I was the tow rope and how the hell i never fell out i don't know
Towpack
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My Dad had a Mk2 Granada in '79 with the 2.3 V6 which was a bit underpowered for the bigger car. The 2.3 & 2.8's were the Cologne engine which later went to 2.9. I had a 2.9 in a 4x4 Sierra Estate in the 90's.
The Cortina had lost it's identity and much of its appeal by the Mk4 IMO, maybe that's why Ford dropped it?
His most revered Ford (and his first brand new car) was the Mk1 Granada 3L GL he bought in 1976.
They were still pretty basic cars back then though with mechanical "keep fit" windows and manual seats etc compared to electric options available in BMW, Mercs etc.
The Cortina had lost it's identity and much of its appeal by the Mk4 IMO, maybe that's why Ford dropped it?
His most revered Ford (and his first brand new car) was the Mk1 Granada 3L GL he bought in 1976.
They were still pretty basic cars back then though with mechanical "keep fit" windows and manual seats etc compared to electric options available in BMW, Mercs etc.
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About 16 caught riding a motorbike with no helmet the copper hugely proud of his suped up Granada let me talk him into giving it some welly while taking me in and spun out the back end . He caught it in time then in furious silence turned around and drove me back to where he lifted me and told me to get out
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I had a 1500 Corsair, my first 'proper' car with separate front seats and a floor shift (my dad had Consuls - bench seats and 3-speed column change!).
The Corsair eventually rusted away and was sold to a Farmer for £30 - to be replaced by . . A Sunbeam Rapier in metallic gold with a black vinyl roof. 1800 straight 4 with twin carbs and overdrive on third and top - how I loved that car.
Pity it was such a sh1t build !
The Corsair eventually rusted away and was sold to a Farmer for £30 - to be replaced by . . A Sunbeam Rapier in metallic gold with a black vinyl roof. 1800 straight 4 with twin carbs and overdrive on third and top - how I loved that car.
Pity it was such a sh1t build !
MODVRS
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Had two "proper" Capris back when I was a yoof. The 3 litre S was a better car than the 2.8 Injection in my opinion, much nicer engine.
I got the big Ford bug from my dad and The Sweeney who both had Consul 3 litre GTs. Took my driving test in the Consul which had flames painted on the bonnet at the time; remarkably I didn't pass! Also had a Messerschmitt that I drove on L plates at 16, those were the days.
I got the big Ford bug from my dad and The Sweeney who both had Consul 3 litre GTs. Took my driving test in the Consul which had flames painted on the bonnet at the time; remarkably I didn't pass! Also had a Messerschmitt that I drove on L plates at 16, those were the days.
Towpack
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In between his Mk3 Cortina and his new Mk1 Granada my Dad had a Consul L 2.5V6 in 1975. This was the first car I "drove". On the annual holiday to St Ives, after Mum and Dad had gone out for the evening I was taking the keys, going down to the car park and reversing the Consul in and out of the parking bay and around the park. I was getting away with it until some bugger came in and took the space and I had topark it 5 bays away, plus I forgot to pull the seat forward again and left it fully back (my Dad had short legs) and I was rumbled! Thankfully, after a lecture on no licence and insurance liabilities etc he saw the funny side.
Phew!
Phew!
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My only driving lesson before doing a 2 day crash course 20 odd years later was the same uncle in his Austin Maxi 1750 , it lasted one mile and when I overtook the third car "I thought you couldn't drive get the **** out"
Austin Marina gets a bad wrap but its a scream to race around a scrapyard that's mostly mud when your not yet a teen . And no we never played dodgems on the surrounding back roads honest Gov .
Austin Marina gets a bad wrap but its a scream to race around a scrapyard that's mostly mud when your not yet a teen . And no we never played dodgems on the surrounding back roads honest Gov .
Towpack
Well-Known Member
Certainly looks faithful to the original. Not really a mainstream Ford model but being built by an independent Co., licensed by Ford and backed by them to an extent. Limited to a limited production run of 150 units starting at £295k! 
Escort RS
The originals have a bit if a cult following now and command crazy money, especially the RS badged versions but TBH I never really rated them back in the day. I just thought of the Escort as a car you bought if you couldn't afford any thing better, definitely NOT in the same league as the Capri IMO.
Escort RSThe originals have a bit if a cult following now and command crazy money, especially the RS badged versions but TBH I never really rated them back in the day. I just thought of the Escort as a car you bought if you couldn't afford any thing better, definitely NOT in the same league as the Capri IMO.
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When I was a teen everybody was into Rally and everybody wanted a Mexico , they were rare even then and most got handed down to the amateurs just starting out . Few survived me thinks .
Sat in with my mate Chady for a few night rallies though we couldn't officially enter aged 14 lol .
Sat in with my mate Chady for a few night rallies though we couldn't officially enter aged 14 lol .
Doesn't sit right.... wheel diameter is too big.... and it looks strange from behind
Save your 300K and buy the real thing for less .
The only good thing is in theory the steel is new so it should be strong .
The originals were crumbling away badly 40 years ago and we had all moved onto Mk2's and even then considered the shells to be getting old and were re shelling Mk2's into Gartrac or Rally Designs converted Mk3 or Mk4 FWD shells that allowed your Gp4 Mk2 Escort parts to be in a stronger shell while keeping RWD .
I had a RWD Mk3 with an atmo cossie engine at circa 200hp ..... and Gp4 running gear ... on an old P plate as that was the donor V5 reg ;-) it was never questioned at MOT despite it clearly saying it was a Mk2..... so glad I'm old enough to have been around in the era where we could modify and tinker with cars without big brother interfering .
If they do a "new" Manta 400 then I would be very tempted ..... the only car of that era I wish I'd kept .
Save your 300K and buy the real thing for less .
The only good thing is in theory the steel is new so it should be strong .
The originals were crumbling away badly 40 years ago and we had all moved onto Mk2's and even then considered the shells to be getting old and were re shelling Mk2's into Gartrac or Rally Designs converted Mk3 or Mk4 FWD shells that allowed your Gp4 Mk2 Escort parts to be in a stronger shell while keeping RWD .
I had a RWD Mk3 with an atmo cossie engine at circa 200hp ..... and Gp4 running gear ... on an old P plate as that was the donor V5 reg ;-) it was never questioned at MOT despite it clearly saying it was a Mk2..... so glad I'm old enough to have been around in the era where we could modify and tinker with cars without big brother interfering .
If they do a "new" Manta 400 then I would be very tempted ..... the only car of that era I wish I'd kept .
