Ford Capri – the boy's dream

I think every boy born in the 50s and 60s dreamed of a Ford Capri. Well, actually we dreamed of the Ford Mustang, but the Mustang was out of reach for the vast majority of people, even in dreamland.

 

Capri, on the other hand, lay within. You could buy it for Cortina money. Because the Capri shared most of its mechanical parts with the Ford Cortina mk2.

The Capri was no sports car. More of a Cortina 4-seater Coupé. Cars for Norway were delivered with Kent engines of 1300 (52 HP), 1600 (75 HP) and 1600 GT (82 HP). This engine series is also found in the Escort and Fiesta. OHV with overhead valves driven by lateral cam and pushrods. Crossflow with intake and exhaust on each side to create optimal flow and combustion. Suspension and brakes were also sourced from the Cortina shelves. McPherson and discs at the front, – leaf springs and drums at the rear. The steering, on the other hand, was taken from the Escort – rather than the Cortina – because the Escort, which had arrived the year before, had received rack and pinion steering and a safety steering column.

Could the engines do the sporty look justice? The 1600 engines could do that. I have driven both regular 1600 and 1600 GT in Cortina mk2. These are engines without electronics and catalytic converters. When you step on the gas, the mechanical acceleration pump ensures that the engine gets a real rush of petrol. In a car of around one tonne, the power comes spontaneously to the rear wheels. The 4 gears are quite close, with a jump between 2nd and 3rd gear. The driving characteristics are simple, but offer good opportunities for active and sporty driving, and are quite entertaining on winding back roads. You don't have to drive very fast to have fun.

The Ford Capri is starting to disappear from the roads. They rarely come up for sale. And when it does, it's often a car with a 1300 engine. Fortunately, Ford are grateful objects for engine upgrades. Technically, you can fit almost anything from Ford, even modern engines. The largest Capri engine was a 3-litre V6, but it was rarely seen in Norway.

 

I parked next to a 1971 model 2300 GT a while ago and took pictures of it. It is built in Germany and has the same small V6 used in the contemporary 20M and the rare OSI model, later also the Ford Consul/Granada. It produces 125 HP and must be ideal for the Capri. Later also came the 2600 GT, which I think is the most attractive engine package. I have read that the Capri with V6 only received some reinforcements in the front wheel and was otherwise the same car as those with 4-cylinder engines. On the outside, you can spot the sixes by the fact that they have a hood.

Capri was built in several places in the world, including in Great Britain, the United States and Germany. And they used the engines they had. Capris from the UK got the Kent engines from the Cortina. They were the ones who ended up in Norway. The Capri could also be delivered with a V4 from Corsair, - and of course the top model with a 3 liter V6. Cars from Cologne got V4 engines from the 12M. The Germans also had their nice little V6 engines. Cars from the USA got Pinto engines. They could also be equipped with power steering.

If you are looking for a Capri, there are several fine objects in Central Europe - but many of them have V4. Capri with V4 sounds wrong to my ears. Fortunately, it is a narrow matter to insert something else.

Maybe a 2,3 Granada engine?