New Ford Capri...

[Grimbo]

It's saying something when they need to limit the run for a £300k car

TBH to build a Gp4 version from original shell and parts now with a BDA or BDG would cost the same I reckon and there's a fair few of them around on the rally scene .
The "new" one will have lost the handling of the original for sure.... even when we put all the Mk2 running gear in a Mk3 shell with the same wheel base and track it never handled like a Mk2 for some reason

 

[Shayne]

Crossed my mind that Ford is well placed to offer a fair number of retro electro classics all on the same platform .

 

[Towpack]

A mate of my Dad's had an A series Manta Berlinetta which I thought was a stunning looking car.
Around 1983/4 I bought a 1975 Opel Commodore GSE off one of the compny diectors where my Dad worked. It had the 2.8L IL6 which had quite a punch and was really smooth and quiet. I'm buggered if I can find any photos of it but it was the four door, fuel injected version of this one...
Opel Commodore

 

[Grimbo]

The Manta 400 was basically the B series Manta but purpose built to go rallying with different rear suspension and a 2.4 litre 16 valve engine on fuel injection in the road car but we ran twin 48 webbers... as the injection was only good for the road car .
The 400 was built as a GpB car but Audi saw to the fact it was redundant before it was very old.... they did have a couple of 4wd examples but never developed them .
If we're talking rallying......
Michele Mouton and the swb quattro ...... be still my beating heart ;-) . A goddess in a legend that rocked the world and could probably have reversed the worlds rotation it had so much power .

 

[Towpack]

I remember Michele Mouton taking the course record at Pikes Peak in 1985 in the Quattro S1 Sport, much to the surprise of the other entrants!
No understatement to say Audi rewrote the rule book with the S1, go 4wd or go home!
The car had an unmistakeable sound all it's own.

Quattro S1Sport

 

[Grimbo]

Thread drift form the original escort I know......
The SWB Quattro when being tested was faster 0 to 100kmh than the current F1 cars ....
Walter Rohrl was timed over a gravel section while testing that was the same distance as a lap of the nearby F1 track.... his lap time on gravel would have put him mid grid in the F1 race ! some reckon the cars were 700hp ....in a forest .
So fortunate to have been witness to GpB and watched them in the forests and on tarmac.... spitting flame and gravel as they hurtled past . And been "chase" ahem management ;-) car driver on a few GpA events later.... Ford Sierra estate with mostly cossie running gear so we could rob our car to keep the rally car on the road if needed.... loads of fun times .

 

[fbnss]

I saw one of these Capri things today on trade plates, had no idea what it was, nothing Capri like aboutit, just looked like every other modern car

 

[pompeyprado]

This seems to be an emerging pattern for Ford; re-using names that have heritage behind them, to slap on to electric cars that don't share any of that heritage!

First was the electric Mustang...

 

[GeekOKent]

Everyone is doing it mate, Toyota have the MR2 coming back

 

[Shayne]

Which manufacturer will be he first to recognize a massive demand for simplicity in the 4x4 sector .

If flower power demands an electronic brain then it should be plug and play as easy as inserting a video cassette , and the buyer should be supplied with 2 of them so a blown bulb can't leave you stranded .

Does anyone doubt the old Defender if offered new today with all its faults and probably with a weak engine to meet Climate bollox would top sales charts where anyone actually needs a 4x4 ?

 

[GeekOKent]

I am not sure there is huge demand. There is some, in a few corners. And maybe a few specialist builders will do something, but by and large that boat has sailed.

The Grenadier was meant to be such a thing, and even they have gone to a more middle ground posture just to try do something.

 

[Towpack]

Major manufacturers are having their arms twisted to hit EV sales targets prior to the ICE ban, all in pursuit of this "net zero" ideology so there's no way they'll even consider building simple, "old style" 4x4's. In Ford's case I reckon they're hoping the fact the Capri was loved and revered by so many will help sales of the new EV "Capri". Not worked with me I'm afraid.

 

[Shayne]

70 series is about the last utilitarian vehicle still sold but few will pay that price to beat it up around the farm when a 10+ year old L200 held together with bits of string does the job .

Only way i can think of to boost ev sales is to produce a bunch of toy cars for retirees , a GT40 lookalike that could only do 100 miles on a charge might even appeal to me when i'm 70 if i'm not yet pushing up daisy's and have nothing to spend my money on .

 

[Grimbo]

70 series is about the last utilitarian vehicle still sold but few will pay that price to beat it up around the farm when a 10+ year old L200 held together with bits of string does the job .

Only way i can think of to boost ev sales is to produce a bunch of toy cars for retirees , a GT40 lookalike that could only do 100 miles on a charge might even appeal to me when i'm 70 if i'm not yet pushing up daisy's and have nothing to spend my money on .

What annoys me is that we are all being penalised as manufacturers lump the EV fine on the price of ICE vehicles ...and the only way they can sell any EV is to bribe people into buying them .....
If they built a desirable EV people would buy them.... A GT40 look alike would only be desirable until the point you drove up the road and it made a whirring noise .
The only saviour for the EV is the young generation now in the main have little interest in cars and bikes with many not bothering to even drive ... a deliberate policy from Government I'm sure to cut the desire and demand ..... so many will buy or probably rent per mile some 4 wheeled hoover to get around . Both my son inlaws are ambivalent to cars ....they own ICE vehicles but have no interest in or ever did have an interest in motor sport or performance cars or bikes and would not be able to tell the difference between a Merlin and a Radial engine.... they are simply another generation

 

[pompeyprado]

the young generation now in the main have little interest in cars and bikes with many not bothering to even drive

In their defence, it is SO expensive to drive now at 17-25, one can hardly blame them.
I'm barely in to my 30s, and when I was 17 I couldn't afford to drive a car, so I got a motorbike. If it wasn't for that, I probably wouldn't have become an avid motorcyclist.
When I was 18, I could just about afford to drive, but even then my first years insurance I think was about £1,500. That being said, I have always had a passion for cars regardless. Probably inherited from my father.

Now, I believe 17-18 year olds are paying up to £5,000 for insurance for even a basic car. And I don't think it drops to a particularly affordable rate until they're 25+. But even then they still have to balance that along with high fuel costs and outrageous second hand car prices. My passion for cars was really fuelled in those critical 18-25 years, along with my peers. Tinkering with cars, car clubs, etc were all a big part of my early adult years.

And If you've made it half way through your 20s without a car - I can see how someone might be reluctant to then get in to driving since they've already made it that far in life without one. Even driving lessons are eye wateringly expensive now!

 

[Towpack]

I agree that cost of obtaining a licence on 2 wheels or 4 has increased tremendously in recent years.
I had the luxury of training and test fee paid for by my employer and past the car test at 18 and my first car just HAD to be a 3L Capri, which I bought with a small bank loan and insured it FC in my Dad's name with me as a named driver for £147. You could do that back then but loopholes like that were closed long ago.

I passed the old one part bike test on a 250 at 21, then went out and bought a Z1300 a few months later. Can't remember how much insurance (in my own name) cost but it wasn't a problem. The current compulsory, multi module training is very expensive before you even look at the cost of insurance and proper gear, hence the decline of motorcycle popularity. I only bought a bike initially as a cheap commuting alternative to the XJ12 I had at the time but if I was starting out at 18 today, maybe not.

 

[Shayne]

A GT40 look alike would only be desirable until the point you drove up the road and it made a whirring noise .

That's my point , its a pointless toy , I don't expect to make 70 years old but if i did then pointless toys might make sense , just be a giggle to go to Tesco once a week in something like that .

What truly astonishes me about the younger generation is that they are glued to their phones convinced one day they will become super rich by posting a video of a cat farting or something so life requires no effort at all , BUT when they ask me for advice on how to do something and I say its easy just youtube it and you will find loads of instruction they look at me like i have 2 heads

I gather ticktok is a constant stream of 5 second vids that can keep them amused without activating a single brain cell ?

Just looked it up - UK motor insurers expect to show a 1.25 billion profit for 2024 .

 

[Grimbo]

It's not all doom and gloom .
I know several young lads and ladies that in their early 20's are into cars , 4x4's , trucks and tractors .
Several are hugely talented .... one just converted his 80 to FTE power and has got a huge variety of projects on the go ...... another is a talented welder but drives a series 3 Landy and lives in a "Shepard's Hut " on a farm.... he doesn't own a smart phone . Many of them have been through a "steam apprentice" club .... they are all helpful to each other and an absolute pleasure to spend time with .... I count them as friends ..... our groups age spans 3 generations yet all are equal and and there are no egos.....
I count myself lucky to be part of such a group .

That's my point , its a pointless toy , I don't expect to make 70 years old but if i did then pointless toys might make sense , just be a giggle to go to Tesco once a week in something like that .

What truly astonishes me about the younger generation is that they are glued to their phones convinced one day they will become super rich by posting a video of a cat farting or something so life requires no effort at all , BUT when they ask me for advice on how to do something and I say its easy just youtube it and you will find loads of instruction they look at me like i have 2 heads

I gather ticktok is a constant stream of 5 second vids that can keep them amused without activating a single brain cell ?

Just looked it up - UK motor insurers expect to show a 1.25 billion profit for 2024 .