History of the Ford Capri

· Designed as Europe’s answer to the Mustang, it copied a lot of the styling influences from that famous American car.

· Between 1969 and 1974 over 1 million Mark 1 Capris were built, with engines ranging from 1.3 litre straight fours to 3 litre V6s

· Mark 1 Capris were very successful in European Touring Car racing throughout the early 70s.

· Such people as Jackie Stewart, Emerson Fittipaldi, Niki Lauda plus many other Formula 1 stars raced them.

· In 1974 the Mark 2 was introduced.

· The main difference with the Mark 2 was the switch to using a tailgate instead of a boot thereby opening the market to families with a need for more luggage space.

· Over 400,000 were built before the Mark 2 came to the end of it’s run.

· The Mark 3 replaced the Mark 2 halfway through 1978.

· It was essentially just a cosmetic change to the existing body, incorporating more aerodynamic styling, front and rear spoilers and twin headlights.

· Only 300,000 of these Mark 3s were built but today they are by far the most popular models seen on our roads.

· In 1981 there was a significant change to the line-up. The ageing 3 litre engine was replaced with a 2.8 fuel injected version, essentially an uprated version of the Granada engine.

· Ford Special Vehicle Engineering (SVE) built the new engine into an uprated body, with all new suspension, to produce an instant classic; the Capri 2.8 Injection.

· Until the advent of the Sierra Cosworth the 2.8 Injection was the fastest European Ford in production.

· As late as 1985 the Capri was still winning races with a 2.8 Injection seeing off all opposition in the Willhire 24-hour race at Snetterton. 3 other Capris were in the top 10.

· Capri production finally ended on the 19th December 1986 when the last of the 1038 Capri 280 ‘Brooklands’ special editions rolled off the production line.