One afternoon, in late summer 1999, I was nonchalantly heaving a large suitcase into the trunk of my car, in a parking lot at London’s Heathrow airport.
“Is this your car? It’s so cool!” she said in her deep Appalachian accent.
A fountain of bright red hair. Cheekbones like geometry and (green) eyes like sin. I somehow know and yet cannot know that in just over a year later I will marry this woman in a small chapel in North Carolina. As I turn the key and the 2.8 injection V6 rumbles loudly into life through the barest of legally required mufflers, the opening riff to L’il Devil by The Cult erupts from the stereo.
Livin’ in a shack in a one-horse town
Trying to get to heaven ‘fore the sun goin’ down
I think my life peaked right there, to be honest.
I loved that car – a 1985 Regency Red Ford Capri 2.8 injection Special. The car I always promised myself. A while later it was stolen from outside my house (another story in itself), and I’ve long yearned for another. Because the Capri 2.8 injection is probably my absolute favorite car. Ever. As a car mad eight-year-old I was transfixed when I saw the television advert – lightning striking the rear of the car to leave you in no doubt how fast it was. And for 1981, when the mighty 2.8 injection was introduced, they were bloody quick cars – 160bhp, 0-60 in less than eight seconds and a top speed of 130mph. It was a few months before I saw one on the road, but I recall it vividly – parked on the Barking Road, outside Rathbone Market near our house. Jet black, wide 13” Wolfrace Sonic alloy wheels smeared in Goodyear low profiles, twin exhausts, subtle red pinstriping and a black and white tartan interior.
It was by far the coolest fucking thing I had ever seen. A vision of speed and style in a grubby, hardscrabble part of the world. I was completely smitten. So decades later why didn’t I buy another one instead of making a slightly questionable Italian decision? Good question, and one I reflect on regularly. I did consider it, but classic Fast Ford prices have been burdened by a massive scene tax for a while now, and as much as I love them a good one is hard to justify at over thirty grand.
Names Are For Tombstones, Baby
The last Capri was built on 19th December 1986 – after a production run of nearly twenty years and two million cars, but the truth is it had been living on borrowed time for a while. A two-door coupe with ancient live axle undercarriage kept on life support by an adoring British public as the everyman sporting car market moved on to hot hatchbacks. By then the Carpi did have something of an image problem–it was basically an Essex Camaro.
But now, after a 38-year gap, Ford have launched a new one. Well, a new something, because my friends it is categorically fucking not a Capri. It’s an insult. An abomination that should never have been born. The paint-drinking thundercock who came up with this thing should be fired from a trebuchet off the end of Southend pier on a Saturday night in full view of every single member of the Capri Club. I’ll sell the tickets. Everyone else involved with the design, conception, and execution of this unholy bastard should be rounded up, strapped into a chair and forced to watch reruns of The Professionals with their eyes pinned open like Alex in A Clockwork Orange. And then kicked by a donkey in the privates. Repeatedly. Because if we’re just slapping heritage names on any old shit willy-nilly, then what in bloody hell are we even doing?
Now you might think I’m being saltier than usual and taking this whole new Capri thing very personally, and you’re goddamn right I am. No doubt, somewhere over in darkest Dunton, some shiny suited worm eater from the marketing department with a tie knot bigger than his head, is showing his boss all the rage engagement statistics and saying see, I told you calling it Capri would work. It’s a free marketing buy. Well done, double Proseccos all ’round. And in hate-typing this piece, I’m contributing to that digital outrage. Well, given my love for the original, if I didn’t let everyone know exactly how I felt in a forthright manner I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. And I’m not the only one who feels this way. The original press release on the Ford UK Facebook page was deleted after 300 negative comments, and I waded through over 25 pages of mostly angry comments on Pistonheads (the UK’s main car forum) so you don’t have to. So you don’t have to take my word for it – the UK enthusiast community is pissed.
They Chose Capri Violence Over Diplomacy
Why did Ford of Europe choose Capri violence over diplomacy? What possessed the product planning department, presumably all suffering a communal fit of insanity, to think that this could in any way, in any shape, on any fucking planet, possibly be a good idea? I’ve already mentioned the free buzz generated by the digital outrage but that alone cannot explain the temptation to step onto a potential PR landmine of galactic proportions. The truth is Ford have already got their eye in with this sort of bullshit, so it probably seemed worth the risk.
The Mustang Mach E cultivated similar outrage in the US by hammering the skin of a Mustang onto a five-door electric SUV. And in Europe, Ford replaced the beloved Fiesta hatchback with the Puma, another name from the slightly more recent history books. But the difference is, in the case of the Mach E it wasn’t a replacement – so all those built tough Ford fans with Mustang underpants could still buy the genuine article. They were never going to lose customers. With the Puma, the pert Ian Callum original, with its singing Yamaha engine and Steve McQueen television adverts never had anything like the same level of cultural cachet as the Capri. And by all accounts (I’ve not driven one, and probably never will if Ford UK PR read this) it’s a great little family crossover. [Ed note: Wait, I drove it, it was awesome! – MH]
Before I help myself to another line of rage cocaine, let’s put all that to one side for a moment. An argument can be made that people don’t buy low-slung two-door coupes anymore. Ignoring for a second the slightly inconvenient fact that the normal Mustang is the best-selling sports coupe across Europe, we know customers buy crossovers and, like it or not, the coupe crossover is now an established category in the automotive market. So, you might not blame Ford of Europe for wanting to introduce one. Except they already sell the Mustang Mach E here, so what the actual fuck? Another argument I’ve heard made is that legacy OEMs are shitting their collective knickers about the imminent invasion of cheap, tech-heavy, well-built EVs from China. I’m still on the fence about this assumption – maybe in softer, less brand-sensitive markets it will happen – but European countries tend to be incredibly loyal to their domestic manufacturers, and the UK in particular, as I’ve said before is a very, very snobbish and fashionable market when it comes to cars. So the theory goes all legacy OEMs have to stem this tide are tariffs and something no Chinese brand has – heritage. A back catalog of greatest hits they can dust off and rerelease, to push nostalgia buttons and differentiate themselves in the eyes of consumers. The more charitable among you then might be thinking in that case, resurrecting the Capri name on a coupe crossover sort of makes sense. Apart from the fact the original was an aspirational, affordable two-door coupe for the working man (or woman), and the new one is a raised ride height four-door that starts at forty eight fucking thousand pounds, there’s another teensy weensy issue with it.
It’s absolutely fucking gopping.
The Design Is Just Plain Bad
It’s been compared to a Polestar 2: in a hilarious bit of corporate shade Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath compared the two cars in an Instagram story that now appears to be deleted. But the truth is the Polestar is a great looking car with much better proportions, and strong sense of its own minimalist identity: a Volvo for people who live in concrete houses with no furniture.
Let’s look at the two cars side by side. The Capri has a fractionally longer wheelbase at 109” (2765mm) compared to the Polestar’s 108” (2735mm) but because the Capri at 64” (1626mm) high is nearly six whole inches taller, everything else, including the cowl and the beltline has to pulled up to compensate, making the whole thing look too high. And talking of the cowl, look at where the base of the windscreen is on both cars. The Capri’s is very fractionally further forward, and it has slightly less curve to the windshield, which brings the A-pillar and the leading shut line of the front door closer to the front wheel. There’s a tiny amount more dash-to-axle ratio on the Polestar, and it makes all the difference, making the wheelbase of the Polestar appear longer, even though it is in fact an inch shorter.
Given the Capri is supposed to be a coupe, why didn’t Ford make more effort to make it lower like the Polestar? Clearly stuffing the floor with cells in the usual EV fashion isn’t the driver of this inflated dimension because guess where the batteries are in the Polestar. No. The problem is the Volkswagen MEB platform the Capri is built on.
All the Volkswagen ID electric vehicles, with the exception of the ID Buzz because it’s a van, suffer from the same excess of verticality. But what makes it worse in the case of the Capri is the fact it is essentially the new electric Explorer in sneakers. They have identical interiors and even share the exact same doors. Ford is making a big deal about the curved shape on the rear of the Daylight Opening, and how it references the classic Capri rear window shape, but it’s totally wrong. It doesn’t have enough curve and the apex is in the wrong place because the shape of it is driven by having to use the same glazing and door frames as the Explorer. No wonder there was no scope to take any height out of it. They totally phoned it in. Here, see for yourself:
Don’t Leave Me This Way
Why fart out another anonymous piece of bloated EV shovelware onto the crowded crossover market? It’s possible there’s an excess of line capacity to be used, but the Explorer isn’t available yet, so that reasoning seems unlikely. Have Ford and VW misread the market so much that they are taking the blunderbuss approach, spinning as many models off of MEB as possible with the barest minimum of extra investment, hoping a beloved name will pick up the slack and make one of them a hit? Fuck my life. Names mean something.
Heritage for car companies (or any company really) mean something – it defines who you are, what you stand for and gives your products meaning. They provide an emotional anchor to your brand in the eyes of customers and loyalists. If they become just a label, they lose all of that goodwill and connection. They shouldn’t be squandered by cynical marketing departments. But it doesn’t have to be like this. You know how I know? The Capri was released last week at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. You know what else was shown at the same event? A brand new version of another fondly remembered low-slung two-door coupe from the eighties with a glittering heritage – the Honda Prelude. If Ford had any sense of treating their storied history in the same way that’s how they would have approached a new Capri. If only they had a EuroNCAP-compliant, RWD two-door platform they could adapt to build such a car…
In the meantime, I’m not getting (and don’t want) the wife back but I can replace my old red 2.8 injection. With a black one this time, obviously. Anyone want to buy a Ferrari?
Unless otherwise stated, all images courtesy of Ford Media and The Ford Heritage Vault.
We need more plaid interiors.
That was marvelous. Caused me to emit all sorts of snorts and cackles. But when I reached the part about the Explorer, I gasped. Oh, and I felt the specific stab in the heart re Polestar people living in concrete houses with no furniture. Thank you! I feel seen!
Here you go, Adrian: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202310102835484?sort=relevance&advertising-location=at_cars&make=Ford&model=Capri&page=2&postcode=TW1%204QR&fromsra
That’s perfect apart from the interior. Good price too.
Looks like those seats are fabric so “wrong color” is nothing a box of RIT and a couple of days of drying time can’t fix
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_erxVbazS4c
Edit: I assumed the problem with the interior is its not 100% black. If the problem is its not 1000% Bordello red velour that may require more work.
I want the interior shown in the article.
Of course, my mistake.
I have replaced seat fabric in the past. It takes work but it’s doable. There are also upholstery shops and of course used seats and door cards. I think you would be able to figure it out without too much hassle.
If you were to buy this car and change the interior you’d also have the option of upgrading to fine wool, fix any weak foam, go with a quilt stitching, put in seat heaters or whatever. And obviously keep us updated on your project.
I am horribly tempted to go out and do £15K’s worth of crimes real quick.
Peter, top tier work with the topshot as usual
Peter is the magician.
Lot of personal nostalgia for the Capri. It was my first “not a piece of crap” car. I went from a military surplus (I actually bought it at auction from the Marines) M37 3/4 ton Weapons Carrier, a total babe magnet to the Bright red Capri. Right off the bat, my girlfriend in Italy thought it was a cool car. Win. Now I look at the new one and reflect on mine. It is like the M37 and my old Capri went off behind a barn somewhere and had a mutant kid. Kind of like when one of those revolting little rat dog things, somehow mates with a German Shepard and produces viable offspring. So Ford went down the path of semi weird looking but somehow just the same as everybody else boxy, chunky transportation. Or you could call it an inspired take on a Tesla.
As a former Eclipse owner I can relate to this.
I’m always ready for a fresh batch of Goth Uncle’s British insults.
“Paintdrinking thunder cock” I’m guessing you wanted to use another slang term for genitalia that starts with a C, but as my English father has already found out that particular c-word is considered far more vulgar in much of the greater English-speaking world than it is in the UK.
“Shiny suited worm eater” Love it. It immediately gave me the mental image of a guy who has failed upwards his entire life and has no connection with the people he thinks will love him for bringing the Capri back.
The problem is Thundercock sounds like a superhero. Or the name of a high school heavy metal band.
It’s close to an AC/DC song.
Not sure if it’s from practicing the language so long they’ve mastered the perfect sounds and meanings or being stuck with each other on the rainy Isles trying to convince each other they’re less miserable than the other, but British insults have a certain dark verve about them.
My favorite term of abuse “chinless wonder” I feel has no real superlative for abusing the aristocrats/rich etc. “Pencilneck” just doesn’t have the same bite.
If you ever get the chance to listen to Spike Milligan’s war diaries as read by the man himself, there was one portion where he’s with his fellow soldiers, and one of them complains along the lines of “Why am I the only one who gets stuck with this?”
And Spike replies, in a chipper, cheery, and and earnest voice, “Well, it’s because you’re a cu-t!”
Perfect delivery, timing, perfectly dismissive, and you can’t use it in the US…
I’ve heard my dad refer to a politician he finds especially odious as a “raging thunderc—t”. It sounds beautiful in a Kent accent.
You are right this is not a Capri, it is a small vehicle, not a large luxury car like the real and original Capri. Plus it has the wrong brand on it, it should be a Lincoln or at least a Mercury.
Are you saying the Capri nameplate should be reserved for a small, FWD convertible?
Yeah I thought about that one too, but that was the last in line, until now, not the original.
They probably would’ve been better off creating a new model name, honestly. The market is just flooded with crossovers right now, and I can’t comprehend the idea of recycling the model name of a coup sedan to use in a new crossover. I have to hope that the cyclical trend of fashion will make sedans cool again (they’re still cool to me, but I imagine eventually people will open their eyes, look around and realize they’re surrounded by gray crossovers that are nigh indistinguishable from each other). And when that day comes, will Ford look back and say “The last gen Capri was shit, we can’t use that name again” or press forward with an actual coup with the Capri name, and just pretend they never tarnished it in the first place? I don’t know.
But to me it seems like they’re staring at a large Venn diagram of new buyers and old buyers and thinking “new folks don’t know what a Capri is, and old folks love them, so this is a win win for everyone”. And now I’ve developed this sort of morbid curiosity, waiting for the next instance of a car brand resurrecting a beloved name and slapping it on a generic crossover.
Maybe we will see a Pontiac Trans-Am Electric Crossover SUV in the near future that shares an interior and frame with a Trax.
Don’t worry, they’ll put a small tasteful screaming chicken logo tucked in a corner, and call this CUV a Firebird.
Every brand will get a MEB platform POS before too long. I predict this is just the first.
I have no idea how we haven’t reached a saturation point on CUVs. Everyone seems to have a dozen of them, often with minuscule measurement differences that could be handled on the same model with a slightly increased wheelbase or something and almost none of them engender any kind of passion (and I’m skeptical of the few that do) to justify the vast numbers to appeal to everyone. I guess maybe the overlap is to appeal to those who want to stand out from the more common CUVs, but not that much—there’s only 5 identical cars to mine in this parking lot instead of 18!
I don’t think sedans will make a massive comeback anytime soon, though. They sold as the majority of the market for decades for the same reasons CUVs sell now and CUVs do that boring job better for most of those buyers. One could argue a performance benefit from a lower cg, but sport sedans have always been a small percentage of the traditional category (generally replacing coupes that once held that spot) and, as things transition to EVs that all have the same kind of performance characteristics on advanced tires and with low battery cg allowing for good handling (if not necessarily fun), and people lose any kind of contact with a car that’s actually good to drive while countries push obnoxious safety nannies and automatic speed limiters on everything, who will be calling out for a return of the sedan in the name of often marginally better driving enjoyment at whatever ridiculously low speeds the local municipality forces people to drive when they’re only arguably more practical in a few circumstances most buyers don’t care about? I’m afraid you’re going to be on the lines next to the people wanting active-“safety”-BS-free coupes. Or actual wagons that aren’t too expensive to use for purpose. I’ll wave to you.
The municipalities would be fools to set the automatic speed limiter too close to the posted speed limit, given how much revenue they get from speeding tickets.
Anyway, enthusiasts have largely done this to themselves; by “letting some other sucker take the depreciation hit”, letting companies get away with selling under/overengineered products because they looked good and were enjoyable to drive (when they worked) and shunning anything that wasn’t available with a manual transmission, they’ve handed the market over to people with far more interest in sports, gaming and gardening than driving and just want something reliable with decent cargo space that gets them and their 2.5 children to their destination and back safely.
We denigrate those people as soulless NPCs, but unlike the average auto enthusiast who’d rather buy cars as cheap as they can from a third party and wrench them back to health/mod them into something better than they were originally, they buy cars new and actually contribute to the manufacturers’ profit margins. And in the post-Friedman Doctrine world where shareholder value is priority one, instead of spending the money made from selling commuter appliances on other vehicles with more niche appeal, shareholders dictate that they only build that which makes them the most money and either try to convince everyone to want one (remember “You Know You Want a Truck”?), the CUV form factor is totally capable of being “sporty” with a slight engine tune and a body kit while being more practical for everyday use (remember the Edge ST commercials showing people trying to cram improbably large objects into Mustangs and other performance cars?) or the lineage of the original can be continued into the new era of “mobility” through styling, as is the case with the Eclipse Cross, the Mustang Mach-E and the subject of this article.
I miss where I indicate that I’m unaware of the majority desires of the market and even argued why CUVs are successful. My only difficulty is not understanding how so many essentially identical and heavily overlapping cars are sold. I don’t know why the OEMs don’t share more platforms together and just change the trims to meet the particular brand identity. Have, say Toyota build the drivetrain and Honda make the chassis for the smaller CUVs and maybe Ford makes the larger ones, whatever, and that’s probably where they are going. That way, maybe they could actually put a full-ass worth of effort in instead of dumping drivetrains on the market with apparently limited R&D (or cause even higher failure rates with the larger volumes of installation). Almost nobody buying the majority of vehicles would notice and even less so when they’re EVs.
I buy cars new and plenty of others do when we can afford to have a car that isn’t a do-everything-OK-enough, we’ve just always been a small minority of the overall market and we will continue to decline in numbers as people get less exposure to the joys of driving through the pervasiveness of ever-more-boring cars, modern traffic, and nannies and fewer people can afford something less practical as healthcare, housing, and education costs continue to rise. There are already speed enforcers in the EU and CA is talking about making it mandatory, which means the rest of the US will also get them, which also means constantly connected vehicles for tracking and data gathering (don’t worry, it’s only for, uh, marketing purposes! You know, so you’ll get targeted ads, that’s all. And anyway, the corporatocracy can’t possibly sort through all that data. Oh, AI, no don’t worry about that and its significant environmental footprint while we squeeze individuals with guilt about their negative environmental contributions, it’s only there to help you find stuff on search engines and make fun pictures!). Now it’s just an obnoxious speed enforcer, but next will be restrictors and most of the distracted populace raised to be perpetually dependent will accept it because it’s safer and we’re all a bunch of wusses now who only care to protect lives we waste away working for billionaires. Police will get their money from something, they always do, and wherever it comes from will be worse for us all.
“They probably would’ve been better off creating a new model name,”
They should have called it the Ford TNV… Totally Not a VW
The Adrian we all know and love is back and in form. Great read!
I was prepared to write some pithy ‘This is what cars are like now, get over it’ comment, but yeah… This Capri is lame.
I didn’t realize that platform was shared right down to the doors, glazing and interior. Talk about a ham-fisted attempt to stock nostalgia. This feels not only cynical, but quite pointless.
The Electric Explorer is already a decent looking hatch/CUV- What does a nearly identical vehicle from the same brand really achieve? Maybe if the Capri version dropped the rear doors, or had literally anything solid to differentiate I could see the argument, but nope.
I found the Mach E confusing when it came out, but having seen plenty in real life, I respect what they were going for. It doesn’t replace the Mustang, it compliments it. To call it an SUV is honestly a stretch, it’s a sporty, all-road hatchback sedan, with space under the floor for batteries. The rally-inspired styling makes it feel like a possible ‘next step’ for Focus ST & RS owners.
The Explorer and Capri kind of make sense…because Volkswagen. They are infamous for having the same SUV as a coupe and a normal crossover version (Atlas, Cayenne, several Audis). Coupe SUV’s are just a ridiculous cash grab (the Atlas Coupe is the funniest of the bunch, as it keeps it’s squared-off front end.)
“To call it an SUV is honestly a stretch, it’s a sporty, all-road hatchback sedan…”
Agreed. Ford called it an SUV for tax credit purposes (which have evaporated in the US), but even though it’s built on a modified Escape chassis, it’s not nearly as tall. It exists in some in-between gray area, although I do wish it was a tad wider to offset the height.
Yes, the take we’ve all been waiting for. Was not disappointed.
Best read of the morning. Sorry Adrian, Ferrari: Yes, Mondial: No
Now you’re trying to make me upset.
I don’t mean to be pedandtic given the article is of course excellent, and the take absolutely correct, but MQB is VWs FWD based ICE architecture which the Mk7 golf debuted. MEB is the electric equivalent which all the ID series vehicles are based on. MQB is an excellent architecture with great driving vehicles, MEB on the other hand has the ID.4, which bodes even more poorly for the EV “Capri” beyond its horrendous design and naming.
Good catch, thanks.
Following the tangent Adrian started about the Mustang Mach-E.
Ford should of dropped the Mustang and have just called it the Mach-E.
Gets you some heritage in the name and not piss off the Mustang fans.
Or Galax-E
Weirdly the MachE is growing on me. My wife had the 65 convertible. Yes poppy red. I had the Austrian Merc Capri which I loved but it wasn’t a capri.
“Weirdly the MachE is growing on me.”
Like a tumor?
Benign not malignant
Oy vey. Australian not Austrian, and it was a fun little convertible, that I at 6’2 and 225 and my son at 6’5 and 300 fit in and drove. The idiots out the ECU under the A/C condenser. Gee whatever could happen with water and electronics.
Exactly. At this point, drop the Mustang and move on.
THIS! Everyone just calls it the Mach-E anyway, and it’d look better without the tacked-on Mustang bits.
Reading the headline, this was my first thought as a multi-time Mustang owner. These marketing ploys are utter bullshit and insulting.
I want someone to sell badges that change it to Mach-er-E since that’s what it is.
100% agree.
The storied Capri nameplate has been on the leading edge of many excellent sport compacts; this is none of that. This is another too-big, too-heavy lumbering lummox that gets around its overweight by generous helpings of too-powerful, motivated by a a sufficiently enormous battery to drag its flab to work and back.
Ford, you had the opportunity to pare everything useless away and leave us with a shining core of purpose. It could have been a nippy sporty hatchback with sufficient room in the back for a couple of people, sufficient room in the boot for luggage and shopping, and sufficient controls and power to entertain a smart driver who would, when not shopping and taking the kids to school, build momentum in the straights and then use a smartly designed chassis and suspension to retain that speed through the turns. Instead, you gave us…this. And then you wasted the Capri’s name on it.
I’m not angry. I’m just very, very disappointed.
When I saw the headline, I flashed back to high school and the 1983 Mercury Capri a friend had. It was a terrible car with an auto and a 2.3L that couldn’t get out of its own way. I had forgotten about those earlier European Ford Capris that were initially imported to the US. Those were pretty cool.
Adrian, I’ve appreciated your iteration of the Capri from across the Atlantic for some time. Although I lack the emotional connection you do I, too, am enraged by this Baudrillardian farcical simulacrum of what a Capri should be.
I appreciate your rage.
“Baudrillardian farcical simulacrum” is going in my list of album names, thank you
I loled. Well done.
So what you’re saying is I should have bought the insanely clean ’76 that was listed for $10,000 canadian dollars a month ago?
So how much editing did THIS require so it was suitable for publication on the internet (that realm of propriety) I wonder?
For what’s worth, my mother was a teenager when the Mustang came out in 1964. She had her license but she herself didn’t have a car. However, her boss at the store she worked at did – he was able to get himself a new Mustang, the only one in the town.
And b/c my mom was trustworthy, she was occasionally allowed to drive it and still remembers every detail. In 2010, we bought her a convertible S197. She still has it and absolutely loves it. When the Mach-E came out, I asked her what she thought of it. Imagine an American old lady version of this, lacking the technical acumen but including all the passion.
Luckily I think David was still in bed (it’s actually almost exactly word for word what I wrote. I think one or two fucks may have been removed).
As long as no fucks were given…
“The paint-drinking thundercock…”
I totally get the gist, Adrian, but… That dude kinda sounds awesome.
“paint-drinking” effectively negates anything cool about “thundercock”.
.
Depends on the paint.
I had a 1974 V6 Capri and loved it. Not quite as nice as your 2.8 Injection, but it was a fun car.
I agree, that new “Capri” is horrible.
Really all I can say is, “Get over it.” It doesn’t matter what it used to be. Cars are named to drive sales. Ford thinks the Capri name will do that and the market will prove that out one way or the other.
BTW, my favorite was the 1st gen. No matter what your personal favorite is, they still exist and no one is ever going to make new ones.
I mean, it’s also way easier to pull an old name that you already own, is already associated with automobiles, comes up in searches for “Ford” already, and is generally inoffensive to the general public. But also people can reminisce, and articles like this help drive it further into everyone’s mind that there’s a new Ford Capri – whether you like the name or not.
It’s how we get the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross.
And the damned Dodge Hornet. Ugh.
I hope something that you treasure and hold dear is bastardised into something you hate.
TBH I was expecting more anger. Are you exercising restraint?
I haven’t even read this, but if Adrian is livid, I’m getting a stack of Pringles to eat while reading.
Yes this is the article I’ve been expecting/waiting for!
As a Brit, I’m expecting both barrels being fired here too… will read on.