New Ford Capri Set For July Debut
Depending on how old you are, the original Ford Capri is probably a car that you, a parent or a grandparent probably wanted at some point. Europeâs answer to the Mustang, it was a brawny coupe with a range of four-cylinder and V6 engines with a remarkably long production run from 1969 to 1986.
Fordâs gotten into a bit of a habit of slapping its historic sports car names onto cars that wonât necessarily appeal to fans of the originals â see the Mustang Mach E and Puma â and it seems the Capriâs the next to get the treatment.
The original Ford Capri
Itâs been rumoured for a while, and spy photographs suggest that the new car will be a fastback electric crossover âcoupĂ©â. Part of Fordâs tie-up with Volkswagen, itâll sit on the German brandâs MEB platform and, much like the new Explorer is largely identical to the VW ID.4 underneath, the Capri is expected to effectively be a rebodied ID.5.
That means itâll likely come with both single-motor rear-wheel drive and dual-motor all-wheel drive versions, with potentially up to 295bhp if it uses the same setup as the ID.5 GTX.
Volkswagen ID.5
The carâs existence has just been officially acknowledged â sort of â by Ford, via a cryptic teaser campaign based around a fake advert in Classic Car Weekly magazine. The ad, for an imagined restoration business called Comeback Cars, is packed with Capri references. These include the silhouette of the original car and the strapline âGet the Car You Always Promised Yourselfâ, a nod to an advertising slogan for the original car.
The ad ends with the copy âWe promise to return your car fast, back from its original glory, EV-ERY time,â pretty much confirming the whole fastback EV thing. It then invites you to WhatsApp the word âCOMEBACKâ to a phone number (07458 197899, if you fancy giving it a go yourself).
New Ford Capri – full-length teaser
After a slightly contrived âconversation,â youâre sent a close-up image of part of the new car and told that âthe legend returnsâ on 10 July, giving us a full reveal date.
While this new incarnation of the Capri is likely to rile up quite a lot of people, it wonât be the first time the nameâs been revived with a very different look: in the 1990s, the name was used for an Australian-built front-wheel drive four-seater convertible.
