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Post by Dirty Epic on May 23, 2020 20:15:05 GMT
I suppose Ford had gone down the XR2/3i and RS route with the Fiesta and Escort which they probably won potential Capri owners with from '88 onwards plus the Capri wad dated and for some had a bit of cultural baggage/old hat back then... shame as those last Capri's like the 280i and Brooklands were good and much more revered now than their hot hatch replacements from that period! Ford also has the Sierra RS500 and Sapphire Cosworth's too for buyers wanting something extra too, no Capri wad really in their legaue back then. They should have done a special and called it the Bodie. Would have sold a few! Only available in Silver 3L.
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Post by Sam Tyler on May 23, 2020 22:15:28 GMT
They should have done a special and called it the Bodie. Would have sold a few! Only available in Silver 3L. No, the 3L was long gone by then, they'd have used the 2.8i or the later 2.9i. Sam.
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Three Litre
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Post by Three Litre on May 24, 2020 18:22:14 GMT
The Capri was available in basic 1300 spec I believe. Yeah, it was. Did fit its image though, the 1300, what was it, 70 hp?
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Post by D.C. Burtonshaw on May 24, 2020 18:39:36 GMT
I think, the 1300 Capper was only 57 bhp, a cross flow engine, same as used in earlier MK2 Escorts!
The MK3 Capri in later years was eventually only being built in Germany for one market, Britain apparently as the Europeans had got bored of them earlier, but their market always did seem to have some different requirements like coupe Consul and Granadas and 2 door saloon versions. as well as Taunus (German Cortina) coupes.
Ford did have to call time on the Capri eventually, as sales were dwindling, the previous buyers had got older and probably driving Sierra or Granada estates with families and the younger drivers yes, did seem to want the new Hot Hatches. Ford had to respond when Volkswagen pioneered the concept with the first Golf GTI in 1976.
As for the Escort coupe concept looking like the eventual Opel Kadett C series coupe, well not sure about the design team being poached, but the Kadett and Vauxhall Chevette, were part of the General Motors world T car project and much of the initial styling work was done as a scaled down American Chevrolet Vega compact, the saloon versions do look semi similar. The coupe version looked a bit like the Vega hatchback coupe, although of course the Kadett coupe had a separate boot.
Curiously they never did a Chevette fronted coupe for the UK, as Vauxhall I believe didn't think there would be a market, but I'm positively 100% sure I saw as a boy in Luton a factory built prototype Chevette coupe in Regatta blue, with Rostyle wheels and Vauxhall badging/rear number plate location and wondering why it wasn't in the all Vauxhall catalogue at the time. Yes I can find no reference to it in the extensive and otherwise excellent "Vauxpedia" site (worth checking out for car fans but I digress...).
It took until the late 90's with the neat little Puma coupe (remember the Steve McQueen advert?) before we got a new specialist coupe from Ford Europe again but that was based on the Fiesta if I remember correctly. It even had the Capri shaped side window....... but was too small to be a "new Capri".
Does anyone remember the US designed Ford Probe? Made in the 90's, it was hailed as a "New Capri" but never had the same appeal, and the image also didn't help with a Steve Coogan character driving one; (Gareth Cheesman..... )
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Three Litre
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Post by Three Litre on May 24, 2020 18:47:07 GMT
Yes, I thought it was horribly nondescript, looked like it had been designed by committee.
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Post by Del Boy on May 24, 2020 22:07:28 GMT
Yes it was an odd car. The public didn't buy it and it was tugged after a couple of years . The Cougar was an odd looking Coupe and fairly short lived appearing not long after the Probe. Probe: Not a bad effort but not to my taste. Cougar : I liked the Puma but didn't like this offering. Is it just a Mondeo Coupe. ..... (90s Mondeo's )
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Three Litre
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Post by Three Litre on May 24, 2020 22:20:57 GMT
I’ve thrashed a few cougars in my time!
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Del Boy
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Post by Del Boy on May 24, 2020 22:24:04 GMT
Bet they didn't look like the above. Or was that thrashing a cougar in a cougar
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Post by Dirty Epic on May 26, 2020 8:20:18 GMT
The 24V Probe probably wasn't a bad effort for back then, I suppose the issue with it was it's similarity to the Mazda MX-6 and it's (then) Americanised styling which probably didn't hook too many buyers.
I remember the Dennis Hopper ad campaign Ford had when the Cougar appeared in 1999.
Generally wasn't a bad effort and like the Probe it's 24V versions seem to be the one's best thought of in retrospective reviews.
Will they become classics? Debatable but I feel they've got just as much a right to be say 5-10 years from now as the current crop of Capri's do now. If anything they're rarer than a Capri right now!
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Post by Three Litre on May 26, 2020 9:12:23 GMT
Maybe I was a bit unkind to the Probe, however I remember feeling it was a bit bland on first seeing it and it never seemed to catch on over here. Ford didn't heavily market it, or am I wrong in that?
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