Marcus Jewell driving his White, 1980, Ford Capri, during the Tony Dron Memorial Trophy For MRL Historic Touring Cars
The Ford Capri is a fastback coupé built by Ford of Europe, designed by Philip T. Clark, who was also involved in the design of the Ford Mustang. It used the mechanical components from the Mk2 Ford Cortina and was intended as the European equivalent of the Ford Mustang. The Capri went on to be highly successful for Ford, selling nearly million units in its lifetime. A wide variety of engines were used in the car throughout its production lifespan, which included the Essex and Cologne V6 at the top of the range, while the Kent straight-four and Taunus V4 engines were used in lower-specification models. Although the Capri was not officially replaced, the second-generation Probe was effectively its replacement after the later car's introduction to the European market in 1994. While Ford marketed the car as "Ford Capri – The Car You Always Promised Yourself", the British magazine Car described the Capri as a "Cortina in drag". The Capri Mk III was referred to internally as "Project Carla", and although little more than an update of the Capri II, it was often referred to as the Mk III. The first cars were available in March 1978, and sold very well initially. The concept of a heavily facelifted Capri II was shown at the 1976 Geneva show: a Capri II with a front very similar to the Escort RS2000 (with four headlamps and black slatted grille), and with a rear spoiler, essentially previewed the model some time before launch. The new styling cues, most notably the black "Aeroflow" grille (first used on the Mk I Fiesta) and the "sawtooth" rear lamp lenses echoed the new design language being introduced at that time by Ford of Europe's chief stylist Uwe Bahnsen across the entire range. Similar styling elements were subsequently introduced in the 1979 Cortina 80, 1980 Escort Mk III and the 1981 Granada Mk IIb. In addition, the Mk III featured improved aerodynamics, leading to improved performance and economy over the Mk trademark quad headlamps were introduced
Size: 3358px × 2393px
Location: Silverstone Circuit, Towcester, Northamptonshire, NN12 8TN
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: , 1980, 2022, 2996cc, capri, car, cars, classic, coupé, dron, essex, ford, front-engine, hatchback, historic, iii, jewell, layout, marcus, memorial, mid-size, mk, mrl, race, rear-wheel-drive, silverstone, sports, tony, touring, trophy, v6, white
