In this video we're looking at the freshly launched Ford Capri, and asking some serious questions about what has gone wrong at Ford #EV #New #Breaking #FordCapri
Other videos in the 'We need to talk about' series... The New Ford Capri ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RPSGqI3F-kw.html The new Honda Prelude ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HIlqTKCu1mA.html The German Automotive Industry ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-foAdF_eGJ_o.html Jaguar’s latest announcement ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3Blr6mRL20s.html
I remember, maybe about 10 years ago, seeing some design sketches for a possible Capri revival. It was modern, a bit more squat but it was clearly a Capri and did look rather beautiful. How come we get this new PoS?
Yesterday i sat in a car park waiting for my wife to come out of work. There was a white 1984 2.0S on the car park. It was without a shadow of a doubt the best looking car on the car park,endorsed by every single person,women included who stopped to not just look at it,but to physically walk around it. It made me smile,ive owned and driven every type of Capri from Mk1s to Tickfords. Ford is now clearly run by marketing men trying to cash in on Fords heritage. People are genuinely angry about what theyve done here and i doubt any private buyers will buy one. The concept of Capri was an alternative to boring 4 door saloons,a dream car for the working man,2 doors,long sleek body,low to the ground. This is a boring SUV,the world is full of them. People drove Capri to be different. To be the same as everyone else you drove Cortinas. Maybe if they had called it that they could have got away with it. This car is a fraud and an insult to the name Capri. Where are the louvered back lights,power bulge,grill and RS wheels. Ford is now a laughing stock. Huge # fail. Take out two doors lower it and bonnet bulge and you may just get away with it...though i doubt it. Shame,huge opportunity missed.
It´s been said in many TV shows and historical articles that it was the swarm of "hot hatches" like VW Golf GTI and such that killed the Capri. I just don´t get that. They´re hardly anything alike besides the fully opening rear lid and not much of a rear seat. The Capri´s win on walkover in the looks department against all of them, it´s RWD and not until it was long gone, some contenders started showing up with six cylinders. There´s just no real comparison. Just people with fresh driver´s licenses and bad taste turning up at the car dealers. Had they been around when the Capri mk I was introduced, they would have bought Mini Coopers so it has to be all about demographics and Ford´s marketing people losing contact with the younger buyers. BMW still sells their 3-series but not sure about the numericals, guess they kept on track somehow. Nothing sporty at all about a big, heavy 4-door crossover (what´s the point with that anyway, call the segment POS instead of a fastback SUV...),. There are electric dune buggys that runs like stink without much more to bring along than their ICE driven counterparts.
Someone in Fords marketing department realises that nostalgia sells. So, using a nostalgic name of a successful car from their history should be a winner, right? No-one told them that for nostalgia to work, it would need to actually resemble the original
@@ianmontgomery7534 But only one of those has actually become a legend. And that's what Ford is - very cynically and ignorantly - banking on. I guess anti-marketing is starting to reach its logical conclusion.
It's the same thing they've done with the Mustang badge. Instead of honoring it, they've risked its equity by doing what in marketing is known as a "brand extension"
@@laverdajota8089 if the Capri was legned in England for when they used the nameplate then why would the US care about that. The US has had 4 different Capri vehicles so why not a fifth.
Yes. Its very much of its time, the 70s and 80s. It had its day. Its not like it was a Porsche 911 that has evolved for decades and is still around. It is in that bracket of time when the UK still had a car industry and made things and most of everything was not foreign owned. Its up there with the other period cars like Jaguar XJS and the original Mini before BMW got hold of it and turned it into an over priced pretty toy.
@@Simon-xc5oy Obviously BMW, that has a history of sweeping up dying car makers (dating back to the sixties: Borgward, Glas), has a real knack for breathing new life into classic brands. I think they were among the first to do this into a reoccuring trick. At least they didn´t mistreat the brand like Honda did with Rover when they just wanted it as an alibi to limbo into the british car market (BMW bought that along with Mini, tried restoring it but ended up selling it to China where it lives on as... Roewe - the Rover brand name is still owned by BMW). Or when the chinese bought the MG brand just to sell their electric SUV´s under a fake name to stupid europeans. Still, i really don´t like those bloated rediculous midsize cars being sold as "Mini"´s, maybe because i´m old enough to remember both the originals and the Austin Maxi that is much more comparable with BMW´s "Mini" of today. Well, the Maxi was smarter, i think. At least when new they worked fine with their Hydrolastic suspension and what not, just a bigger Mini for real.
@@hasseslaggmek3573 Yes. Its sickening that BMW a German firm own some of the classic British car brands. Simply as we are too poor, too useless and too stupid to have kept them. The new mini is anything but. It should be called the Fatty. The original was a classic. It was small and cheap and nippy. It may have rusted and had issues etc but it was iconic in looks as it was what it was, a MINI!!! The new version should have stuck to that, it could have been quality and expensive, and yet remained small and nimble and light and it would still have sold. What they did to it is change it into something its not. I cant stand to see the things, with Union Jacks on the roof, and with Union Jack embossing in the tail lights etc, playing up that is British, when its anything but. All of the classics are gone, all the UK has left is some niche creators nothing mass produced and mainstream. What can you do? I just ignore. If I had to get some boring bland normal motor I would go for something Japanese that was at least reliable....and reasonably priced.
The problem, as I see it Geoff, is that the current crop of designers/marketeers etc weren't even born when the Capri was in it's heyday and therefore have no conception on what the names of these new models mean to people that were around then. No sense of history in most cases and not just confined to cars either.
But why do rhey always build one soccer mom car after the other? All these new cars are clearly soccer mom cars. Are there so many soccer moms now and no male car customers anymore?
It's not the first time they screwed this up, when the Capri ended in the UK they launched the Probe to replace it, which was so unimpressive no one remembers it.
For a second then I was going to disagree with you. Then I twigged that you were talking about the Probe, and I was thinking about the Puma. I literally didn't remember the Probe. I thoroughly and completely agree with you.
When the news came through that Ford were re-launching the Capri, I ran to my computer in a state of giddy excitement. When I saw it I dropped to my knees and sobbed.
From November 1969 to approximately June 1972 I worked in the Ford prototype workshop in Cologne-Merkenich. I worked extensively on the Ford Capri, building test vehicles from scratch. Once completed, these test vehicles were test driven around a test track adjacent to the prototype department. Later, many Capris were test driven on the extensive Ford Europe test track in Lommel, Belgium. Cars were also tested under extreme weather conditions in Finland and the Middle East. The Capri was my dream car. I was a guest worker in Germany, and Ford employees were entitled to a significant discount on a brand-new Ford after they had been working for the company for one year. So, one year after starting there I applied for the discount programme to purchase a new Capri in purple with white leather seats. And it was then that I was told that the one-year rule didn't apply to guest workers. Instead, guest workers had to work for TWO years! I was so pi*sed off that I bought a brand-new VW Beetle instead.
Yes. I was never a fan of the Capri. I admit I liked the look of it and it was a nice enough car at the time though and very iconic in looks and how its become a classic. The reason I did not like them so much is I knew three people who had one. The things were everywhere and I got sick of the site of them. And all three people I knew with them were all utter A holes. So I associated that with the Capri, which was not its fault. One guy had a maroon coloured one, one bloke a silver one and one with a dark British Racing Green version. Before the green one he owned...a silver Capri!!! Sold it and got the green later model. He was very much the epitome of the adverts etc. A loud mouthed idiot that women and most other blokes could not stand, but he thought he was Gods gift and went around acting like he was actually in the Professionals....Looking back on it now, it was pretty funny in a sad and desperate sort of way. But classic good times as well...
I was twelve years old, travelling home on the school bus when a brand new Capri 2.8i ripped past, overtaking the bus in what to my mind at the time was warp speed. My younger self said I want one if those when I can learn to drive. Many, many years later I have owned two 2.8i's. Loved them! Regret getting rid when I did, looking at today's prices.. 😊
To be fair, Ford also made a mockery of the Mustang name with the EV eMustang joke. They’re so desperate to shift EVs they’re happy to destroy their heritage 😂
Yes indeed. It's downright stupidity to make EV and call it Mustang. To me that name gives impulse of V8 that's drinking gas like crazy. What next? Corvette EV? Plus what on earth is the fetish to even try to re-create these old classics in electric vehicle format? Like I read years ago about that Opel Manta or was it Ascona launch. I'm not Opel guy at all, but still it gave me certain impression that it's likely going to be bit faster gasoline car that'll be modernized, but still be reasonably priced. I saw some pictures and I was like yeah, I might be interested in that and then it hit me in the text. It's going to be electric car. And I couldn't care less about that car anymore :D
@@jothain Corvette or Camaro EV crossovers are not unlikely. Especially the Camaro, I think the electric SUV Camaro is already in development. I guess what Ford or Chevrolet are banking on is that the name "Mustang" or "Camaro" gives a brand recognition which "id5" or "Model Y" does not.
As someone who had a MK1 Capri 3.0L V6 as my first car and in later years a Capri Perana 5 litre V8 (unique to South Africa) this new "CRAPI" deeply offends me.
Thanks Geoff for another great video, I can still remember clearly the day that the Capri was launched in 1969, as a 17 year old I could not get to the local Ford dealer in Burton-upon-Trent fast enough, sadly I had to wait until 1976 to purchase my new 1.6 GL. Today, many cars later and at 72 I have not owned a car since 2019 and 'enjoy' my free Bus Pass to keep me mobile! I still love cars but I feel so sorry for the next generations who will never have the same enjoyment and memories that I experienced. Looking forward to your next video.
I own a 2.8i Capri and I'm a member of the Lancashire Capri Club. Another club mate us currently at Goodwood where Ford have unveiled the 'new' Capri. It's getting alot of interest and plenty of feed back , about 90% negative. People aren't happy with it at all and the poor Ford rep is getting it from all angle by the public 😂.... Would I buy one ?? I'd rather shit in my hands and clap 💩 👏
What The Professionals had before the RS Escorts. Doyle might have had a perm, but even he would wear this bag of shite. Have a great time at The Festival Of Speed, it is a great show, mind you The Revival is even better.
Vauxhall Zafira....hehe dear GOD that was a dreadful car. Like one of the living dead...what was that other crapmobile they made that had the curved shell like wing mirrors? I cant even remember its name, but the advert had it driving across a desert that bloomed into life with a sea and whales tail coming out of the water etc...it was something ridiculous with a fancy name and the whole car was basically like a cut price Astra from the early 80s....
@@Simon-xc5oy to be fair, the Zafira did a job. Primary bought by families with a drippy husband and a ball breaking Karen of a wife to transport their snotty kids about. They did a VXR version too! I think you are referring to the Vectra with the wing mirrors.
@@chriswarren2599 THATS THE ONE!!!! The Vectra! And the Zafira. Truly cars for people who do not care about cars AT ALL. Driven by the man who has completely given up hope and is under the thumb of the wife / girlfriend to ferry the kids etc around as you say. It did the job true, but honestly it was even worse than the Mondeo or Sierra. And I am talking about from the point of view of sheer blandness and boring, lack of style or charisma or soul. And before anyone goes on about Sierra Cosworths and so on yes, they were fast and all the rest of it, but such a boring car to look at . They were still doing stuff like that into the 200s putting stupidly fast and huge engines into plain ordinary cars, and calling it the sports version or some exotic name. I prefer cars to look the part as well. At least in the sense that looking at them does not send you into a coma. That new Capri is dreadful. Its an insult to the name. And the Vectra and Zafira are utterly forgettable and made zero impact....heh....there have been some truly dreadful main stream motors over the years...
I remember a quote about the original Capri. I think it was Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear. It was something like “this car looks so good, it would snap knicker elastic at 20 yards”. Those were the days!
My dad had a 2.8i special - what a car, on the odd day he gave me a lift to school i felt like a super star! Imagine giving your kids a lift to school in this new model - fs they'd ask to be dropped off a few miles away!
The Ford Motor Company has lost it's way. It seems now they can only build mediocre vehicles with poor quality, and doubling down on stupid is their new marketing strategy.
Well, Ford said and chose to just make SUV's, Vans and Pick-up trucks and ditched doing cars except for the Mustang and the GT maybe, so all of this are on them and they set themselves to fail because they lost touch of what they are, just like all the car companies these days, no balls from anyone, so yeah
@@billgordon6489 The mental thing is this is just a little bigger than the outgoing Focus. If they really wanted to re-use a name, call it the Focus! It's far closer to one of those than it is to a bloody Capri. And if they'd used the Mk1 Focus for styling inspiration it might look a bit less of an anonymous blob.
@@billgordon6489 Discontinuing it until they bring it in a few years as another generic SUV Crossover that is either gas powered or an EV, or be it back but the the hatchback, estate and saloon would be exclusive to China while we get the bulky ass EV SUV Crossover instead, lol
Before I even watch this I know ford have lost all their marbles that thing is not a Capri , I still miss mine ……it’s a fooking milk float 😂😂😂😂😂 they’ve lost the plot ! “Let’s give buyers the Capri back but make it the polar opposite of every single thing the Capri is !”
never had a capri but dove some for a friend years ago from action when he bought and sold cars they were fun to drive... i all ways had escorts or cortina now and again an astra but loved fords not now there junk... my last ford was a 1988 escort estate if i had any ford now would be 80s models not these pile of crap.
Isn't it ridiculous that it's based on a Volkswagen platform and from the side it looks like a Polestar 2 and still costs more than 40 thousand € seems like a huge flop to me
As the owner of a 2.8i Capri, I don't think this harms the legacy of the Capri. It's just a big fat nothing. They took the most generic, boring vehicle they could muster and slapped the name of a loved legacy model on it. These cars have nothing but the name in common, they couldn't even get the passenger windows right. I agree with your Facebook commenter, when they put the Capri badge on this they put the 'r' in the wrong place. It's a Crapi.
@@Alex462047, it's like many things today, including food and religion, that name is the lowest common denominator, and the thing you sell is always the name.
Spotted an Capri in Tesco hereford last week, in genuine unrestored condition being driven by a what I would usually call a chav with two chavettes on board but the fact he chose this over a Corsa etc made me smile in appreciation.
I was at Goodwood yesterday, the new Capri and the Cybertruck were in a stand next to each other. Every time I walked by the stand people were always laughing, joking and pointing, nobody was really interested. The ford staff had an uphill battle as everyone only had one question, Why?
You cant drive new cars away unless its hooked upto an app, in readiness for pay per mile, i recently had my mother purchase a new evoque and they wouldnt let her have the car unless it was connected to thee app, it was a scenario in which she nearly walked out the garage and asked for a refund, all they want to do is watch your pattern of life and fck you in anyway they can
Why do all new cars look like they're on steroids? Went to a classic car show last month and it was a real wake up call to remind us how many cars of today are just bloated bulging bundles.
@@IonorRea VAG has the scope to build a cheap rear wheel drive MX5 competitor, yet they refuse to even build the Golf-based TT or Scirocco anymore... The Porsche Boxster is now the cheapest 2-door car in the entire VW group range apparently. So much for VW being an enthusiast brand. Good work Mazda in sticking to the principles of a lightweight, affordable(ish) sportscar (and durable NA engines in their passenger cars too)!
If they named it the Mondeo - no criticism would have been expressed! But to revive the legendary name for a boxy and non-coupe-like EV is absolutely absurd. The Puma should have been the warning!
A friend of mine (a Ford dealership employee) was told to collect a Capri (with two or three other guys) from a remote storage garage in Devon in 1969 - they drove them through Newton Abbot (when you could do so) and were inundated by the public - they thronged around it and were amazed by it. I don't see that happening with this lump. Sorry Ford - a failure
Excellent coverage of The Capri! One thing to add......in the states we had the same Capri as the UK version up until 1978. The 1979 Capri ( Mercury ) - thru 1986 were same as the 1979 - 1993 Mustang for the exception of the flaired fenders and the bubble back hatchback version from 1983 - 1986. I owned 4 Capri's which had the I4 and the 302 ( 5.0 ) . I MISS MY CAPRI .. it was such a cool, unique vehicle :)
The advent of the SUV.....When SUV's first came out, I hated them....Nothings changed, neither a car or a 4 x 4....just crap at both...Im pretty sure ALL us petrol heads are of the same opinion about SUVs....🤔😳😏🇬🇧
I like SUV’s personally, but then again mine has half a ton of tools in it and frequently tows a cargo trailer. See? Because it’s a utility vehicle. Once or twice a year I pull the tools out of it and replace them with camping and biking gear. See? Because it’s a sport-utility vehicle. If I did neither of those things, I wouldn’t own an SUV.
I would say one reason is it bears no resemblance to the original. Awful. And that's just the appearance. The comment about going back to designing cars rather than SUV's is spot on.
I had an old one when serving in the Army in Germany. It was a model you couldn't get in the UK. It was a 2.3L V6 light blue left hand drive beast. Loved that car!!
Was yours that mythical one that was supposedly confiscated when going off piste from the Helmstedt/Berlin route, leading to numerous claims of sightings along the byways of the DDR, no doubt driven by StaSi/Volkspoliizei bods.
Cracking April Fool's joke Geoff, really had me going for a moment there. Oh, hang on a minute it is 18th July........so you're serious......Ford are actually going to do it? Oh boy.........
@@JobiWan144 Ford absolutely should. Unfortunately even Toyota can only bring limited units into Europe because of its high CO2/km (over 200 g CO2/km) and the affect of that on their WLTP average, and the FA24 definitely doesn't meet 2025 Euro 7 emissions. I guess by European standards a 2.4L engine is enormous, when Fiat 500s were 900cc and are now electric (and twice the price!). This is by-the-by to automakers other than Toyota, Subaru and Mazda viewing the small, (relatively) affordable sportscar market as unprofitable. Are there too many rules about what cars an automaker can and can't sell? 🙂
My 1976 Cologne Capri was my first car. I did major mods ... 4bbl carb, cam, headers, lowered with Bilstein shocks and aftermarket springs and caster/camber plates. Homemade traction bars, dual exhaust with Ansa tips. Painted and graphics imported from Europe to look *EXACTLY* like a 3.0S but left-hand drive and in California. It would smoke any IROC or Mustang in the 80's, run low 13's at the dragstrip then win best paint at the car show on Sunday. It only had two doors and a hatchback, but with the seats folded down it would easily haul my go-kart to the track. That is what "Capri" means to me. What I want to buy is a light sporty CAR with a high revving engine, manual trans, mechanical gauges and NO AIRBAGS, NO ELECTRONICS (except those required for port fuel injection). It doesn't need to sync with anything but the road and me! Thank you for reading.
In 1980 I worked in a small car spraying garage where the owner had a M1 3ltr Capri, [brown with a tan vinyl roof] he had customised it by spray painting an erupting volcano on the bulge on the bonnet. And a similar image on the rear boot lid. If he put his foot down it would drink fuel and eat the rear tyres. 😂 it was definitely the coolest car in town.
Lol, wow, I had the same thought today at 5pm looking at a Mini park. It was huge, thought about the name, and thought it should be called. a Maxi. I remember them from the 70s, no one will revive that 🤣
. . . actually it was a Mercury Capri, at least in Arizona. I had a 1974 green one. It had a slight flaw. If you power-shifted the manual from 2nd to 3rd the driveshaft came up, hit the floorboard, locked up, and stripped the 3rd gear. I did it twice. Both times covered on warranty.
The BofE is lying. It would be more like double. 'Inflation' has been at least 6% p.a. since 1969. In fact GBP has declined in relative value since 1971 by about 99%....
Fond memories' of the old Capri. Mate at work had the lazer version and came roaring into the yard one day with the dashboard on fire! Turns out the Capri was prone to electrical faults.
When you started reading out the ‘fake’ specs that you’d made up I thought “wow that actually sounds quite interesting”, when you went on to reveal the actual car it was a huge let down. It reminds me of when my wife and I booked a holiday cottage and it had a wood burning stove in the living room. I could see it in the fireplace in all the pictures and was excited to use it. Took a load of logs from home and an axe to split wood, gather more with. We entered the cottage after a long drive south, and I went straight over to the stove with a handful of logs. The bloody thing was an ELECTRIC fake wood burning stove. 😮 I was gutted.
which one? I liked the Mercury Capri convertible but would not call it a thing of beauty. Same applies to the Lincoln Capri or the Consul Capri (all Ford products)
Geoff, you've missed the point it's a car reflecting the time it's in. Old Capri = 60/70s freedom, asprition, room for expression ( un pee cee) New Capri = bland, digitised, suppressed, speaks of no hope and giving up!! Colour indicates sponsorship by well known drink in a sachet sharing the same name hehe!!
I had a JPS 3.0L Capri back in 82. Loved it. Low, fast, extremely tail happy, and sounded brilliant. That new SUV doesn't even look Carpri like. It's a Capri in name only. Good luck in selling that Ford!
My older brother drove a banged up old Vauxhall viva for years saving up for his dream car “ a blue 2.8 injection special Capri “ and god was it a car. He used to take me and my sister out for a burn down the motorway and the hills around Morecambe where we used to live and I still remember hanging on for dear life as he gave it a boot full 😂
My dad had 2 Capris he lent me the first one when I was aged 17 to go on holiday camping with my first serious girlfriend. Imagine......RIP Dad you were a legend so was the Capri.
In stark contrast to that: I've only ever owned one car, which was a 1983 1.6 litre Ford Capri. I loved that car and looked after it likle the child I never had. I'd had it for two years and while I was working away my Dad's Ford Mondeo broke down so I said he could use my car. 2 weeks later he blew the engine up because he drove like a complete t*** at 65 🤦♂ RIP the car (Dad's still alive, but on the buses now👍)
First video of yours I watch. Under a minute in and I am wondering if you sit in a Volvo 850 with a wonderful custom headliner?... God bless and lots of love from Norway. And my deepest condolences for loosing in the final, you did great though.
My mother had an 81 or 82 Capri, when they were just rebadged Foxbodies. White over blue. It exploded in the parking lot while she was at work one day (I believe a literal battery explosion). This new one, I don't hate the styling itself, but that's because I quite like the Polestar.
Wish I had a grey Cortina, whiplash ariel racing trim Cortina owner no-one meaner, wish that I could be like him. Never had a parking ticket, never seems to show its age. Grey Cortina, got it made!
Geoff, the original Capri was a 60's model not unlike the Ford Classic but with a fastback, without the 'Anglia' rear window. Honourable mention to the Ford Corsair too.
Don't tell geoff, but wet belt popularity is the sole reason I got myself........ .An EV ! My previously shitty peugeot with its prince engine put me off ice cars for life. Sorry Geoff.
@@bondjamesbond9041 I very nearly did get that Toyota. I wanted to avoid Peugeot citroen PSA, Mini (BMW -wet belt, Ford with its Eco Boost. My 207 was no good from day1. Brand new, at 3,000 miles it was a new cylinder head, and at 23000 miles- scrap with total engine failure, in between It cost a fortune with sensor problems and also had rubbish performance. Never again.
The Ford Capri we all know so well was basically a Cortina in a skirt, crippled by poor weight distribution. Of course despite all the negatives we kind of liked them like that... I am old enough to remember being pissed about the Ford Escort morphing into a front wheel drive thing, completely missing out on the tail happy fun enthusiasts wanted.
with leaf springs lol. crapi was a terrible car so was all cortinas. so was all sierras. so was all mondeo's so was all escorts. so was all focus's so was all mustangs. basically ford have made some of the worst cars in history. for me the mk4 escort wins that crown. uttlery dreadful cars to drive
Ford have previous form though....look at the Granada vs Bug eyed Scorpio abomination in the mid 90's......the new EV Mustang vs the real Mustang.....again no comparison.....
even before I passed my driving test all the way back in 1985, I almost got a Mk 1, 1.3 Capri in sky blue as a friend at work was selling one for £175. I never got it in the end and he sold it for £75....I was gutted
Over their century of making and marketing cars. Ford has had very few missteps. I would be surprised if this was not customer focus tested across multiple European markets prior to launch. The shift to higher seated vehicles that made drivers feel protected was forecast by Ford about 30 years ago.
As a former owner of a 2014 Ford Focus Ecoboost, I recommend people NOT to buy a Ford as these cars require a lot of regular expensive repairs. Best go for more reliable and durable Japanese cars like Lexus, Toyota, Honda. I recommend people to get a Lexus NX - perfect size, perfect suitability, very comfy seats and top quality fuel efficient driving performance.
My Dad had a Capri - and still remember him getting the back end out as we entered the school car park when I was a child. He held it and to this day I haven't been able to replicate that maneuver, sadly. How we have regressed since then. ;-)