Capri Mk1  was the European version of the  highly successful American Mustang.

1964 saw the beginnings of this new coupe codenamed project COLT, a name to be dropped later as another company already had the rights to it.

           Olympia 1966 the first glimpse of the soon to be called New CAPRI  this car was badged GBX to disguise its origins.  A  survey was conducted to find out the reaction of the public.

         Generally the public disliked the side windows which were practically none existent , they said it made the interior  dark and claustrophobic.  The familiar 'D' shape appeared just before production in 1968.                                    

The Capri was launched officially at the Brussels show on 24th January  1969 and it was scheduled to be for sale from 6th February.  The factories had been producing Capri's for sale from November 1968 and some of these early cars can still be found today  - though not many.

Racing was important to the Ford company and they it was no coincidence that a Capri was included in a saloon car rally which was to be televised on World of Sport  around the same time as it's launch.  The Capri  driven by Roger Clark was victorious  - what a boost for Capri.

The Capri wheel base is the same as Corsair and many components come from both Escort and Cortina.

The Capri was available in 1.3, 1.6, 2.0, and in GT version,  later in September 1969 the 3000  GT was added     the first special edition was the  Vista orange with Boss dress up louvres at side and rear windows just 1200 were made.

The 3000E was launched in March 1970  and Ford claimed  that the 3000 E and 3000GT versions were the fastest road cars with a top speed of  122 mph. The whole range was  revised in September 1972 with 151 changes taking place but not all of these were obvious to the eye.  The most obvious changes were to the headlamps and rear lamps.  the indicators were included in the bumper and side of the wing.  The dashboard was revised and all the lesser engine sized were given a bonnet bulge to accommodate the OHC engine.  The 3000 GT was replaced by the 3000 GXL and the 1300 GT was dropped.

The final Capri was the RS3.1 was seen for the first time at the Scottish Motor Show in Glasgow  November 1973  it is suggested that Ford only built around 250 of these cars as the oil crisis loomed and it became an embarrassment to own such a petrol thirsty vehicle.  Today they are much sought after.

To contact Capri MK1 REGISTER email:  emailus@fordcapriclub.com