One Forward, Two Back

Drive Time

Loyal Readers will remember that I love the 1970s Ford Capri:

…so one would think that the news of Ford reissuing the lovely thing would have me panting.

Alas, no.

Rather than a petrol-guzzling coupe, it will be re-marketed as an electric sports crossover capable of reaching 0-to-62mph in around 6.4 seconds with zero emissions, a Ford staff member has revealed.

And I bet that the “new” Capri won’t look anything like its predecessor.  Instead, it will look like all the other modern wind-tunnel-shaped anonymities, so in fact the only thing common to the two models will be the name.

Pass, with prejudice.  Fucking morons.

13 comments

  1. You mean the same company that gave the Mustang four doors and made the Maverick into a pseudo pick up truck? Next up must be making the LTD into something to compete with the Smart car.

    Mark D

  2. from the caption of one of the pics –
    “This Ford Capri from 1980s show Minder was restored to its former glory in 2021 after catching fire on the way back from an MOT test. ”

    Well, nothing says Ford like catching fire, unless it’s exploding tires. Get ready for the electric ones to do the same.

  3. I have no intention of EVER buying an electric car.
    Ford no longer make a car for me or people like me, only for woke folk.
    Let’s all watch their sales drop to the floor.
    No matter how much the media big up electric cars, we don’t want them.
    I can see a very strong argument for Hydrogen powered cars.
    NB I have two Fords at the moment, now what to replace them with?

    1. @Biggie …

      I’m right there with you on hydrogen, but a few problems remain to be solved .. much lower energy density when compared to gasoline, very little hydrogen infrastructure for safely/efficiently delivering hydrogen fuel to the end-consumer, having enough electricity in the power grid to generate the H2, etc. etc. etc. H2 internal combustion engines also have the problem of nitrogen oxides. Maybe some form of fuel cell is the answer. The fuel cell tech is not new .. has been around since before the Apollo moon shot … just needs to be made safe/friendly/efficient. (/soap box)

    2. While I was half-awake this morning waiting for the coffee to kick in, I believe FOX ran a story to the effect that Ford announced its losses for last year’s electric vehicle production, and its even worse projected losses for this year. Go woke… well, you know.

      The only good news from Ford is that they will continue to produce the gasoline powered Mustang while Chevrolet announced that they are going total electric with their Camero.

  4. Yep, it won’t be a Mercury Capri. An electric crossover will crossover to orphan car status after a couple of model years.

    Everybody always ruins everything. You know how hard it is to find real men’s clothes and shoes. Nothing around but ghetto style stuff, unless you’re talking high end, which I have no need for.

    1. If you’re into cargo pockets, uniform companies like 511 make some long lasting and comfortable gear. I shop the LA Police Gear web site and buy stuff on sale. I’m retired and I can get away with a daily uniform of cargo pants and polo shirt. For Sunday church I might iron the pants and shirt. Of course if you’re working the dress code might not allow that degree of casual wear but I got away with good quality cargo pants in the last few years I was working in a “business casual” environment. The fact that my work place was about as far from the suits in the front office as it could be may have helped.

      1. Nope, hate cargo pants. I’m stuck wearing Champion workout pants, the ones that look close to slacks, not the nylon with zippers or the fleece. Don’t work, so I discarded everything like that. I don’t mind golf pants because I like very lightweight pants. I wear polos or camp shirts. Way too hot to wear khaki where I live. There’s just very little I like anymore.
        I’d love a ’71 -’74 Capri though.

  5. As I recall the Capri was an underpowered cheap imitation Mustang II that had been tarted up by the Mercury division. It struggled to find buyers because of the things that the shape and exterior styling promised were not delivered once you actually drove the thing.

    Didn’t want one then, Probably won’t want one now.

    1. I believe that version of the Capri pre-dates the Mustang II by 4 years. I have always thought they were neat looking cars, although I was very young when the first generation was sold in the USA.

      Now, in the vein of “Curmudgeon Kim”, I am reminded that the “Capri” nomenclature was first used by a division of Ford as early as 1952, by Lincoln. And not nearly as attractive or nimble as the 1970-1978 model Capri.

      The EV version is even less likely to have any charm. I know I don’t care about it and am not interested at all.

  6. I stopped reading about the reintroduction of this car once they got to the electric car part. I have no interest at all in any electric car. I don’t care if it costs pennies to operate, recharges quickly and has a long range. I don’t want want and it doesn’t suit any need of mine.

    JQ

  8. Ah, the late, unlamented Ford Capri.

    Known colloquially in Australia as the Ford Crappy.

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