RE: Shed Of The Week
Discussion
My dad had a Capri, a MK1 and although I was only 4 when he sold it yet still I cried... my uncle also had a 2.0S and I remember him hanging the back out as we went down a spiral car park ramp at 45mph!! Good times.
As such, I still yearn for a decent Capri but I guess it would shatter my illusions if I actually drove one now.
I quite like the stripe on this one though and I can't imagine what we be hiding halfway up the bodywork so I guess it's just a style thang.
Edit: Here's me (out of shot as I am yet to be born and just chilling in mama's tummy) and the Capri in question :-)
As such, I still yearn for a decent Capri but I guess it would shatter my illusions if I actually drove one now.
I quite like the stripe on this one though and I can't imagine what we be hiding halfway up the bodywork so I guess it's just a style thang.
Edit: Here's me (out of shot as I am yet to be born and just chilling in mama's tummy) and the Capri in question :-)
Edited by AARONM3 on Saturday 3rd February 21:50
Nick_F said:
nickwilcock said:
My late father had 2 Capris; the first was a 1600XL in dogpoo brown in 1969 - it was one of the first available and he bought it whilst waiting for the V6 model to be released. The gopping 1600XL was replaced by a metallic blue 3000GT XLR as soon as the V6 became available.
It was one of the first, with small brakes and an utterly awful gearbox. Not only was the gearbox clunky and unresponsive, but there was a huge gap in ratios between 2nd and 3rd. Max speeds were 28 in 1st, 55 in 2nd and 85 in 3rd - plus whatever it would do in top. Those motoring magazines of the day who overevved in 2nd to 60 mph got a much better 0-60 time than the others who fought the bastard into 3rd!
It looked very smart though - with a black vinyl roof, black bonnet and natty little fog lamp covers. It also had wider wheels than other models - all of 185/70 x 13 on 5J rims! It had a fair old appetite for tyres, as I recall.
We got about 17-21 mpg out of the thing; it seemed very fast to me when I was allowed to drive it, but 0-60 was a leisureily 9.2 sec! A Kenlowe fan helped a bit with the fuel consumption though.
Build quality was dire, it rusted like hell and the metallic blue paint flaked off the front after a few months. The black plastic leather interior was pretty cheap - and the awful stick on imitation wood dashboard trim looked very tacky! The bigger fuel tank meant that the boot was even more useless than the boot of the 1600XL had been.
But it was rather a cool care to impress the lady friends with when I got the chance!
It was one of the first, with small brakes and an utterly awful gearbox. Not only was the gearbox clunky and unresponsive, but there was a huge gap in ratios between 2nd and 3rd. Max speeds were 28 in 1st, 55 in 2nd and 85 in 3rd - plus whatever it would do in top. Those motoring magazines of the day who overevved in 2nd to 60 mph got a much better 0-60 time than the others who fought the bastard into 3rd!
It looked very smart though - with a black vinyl roof, black bonnet and natty little fog lamp covers. It also had wider wheels than other models - all of 185/70 x 13 on 5J rims! It had a fair old appetite for tyres, as I recall.
We got about 17-21 mpg out of the thing; it seemed very fast to me when I was allowed to drive it, but 0-60 was a leisureily 9.2 sec! A Kenlowe fan helped a bit with the fuel consumption though.
Build quality was dire, it rusted like hell and the metallic blue paint flaked off the front after a few months. The black plastic leather interior was pretty cheap - and the awful stick on imitation wood dashboard trim looked very tacky! The bigger fuel tank meant that the boot was even more useless than the boot of the 1600XL had been.
But it was rather a cool care to impress the lady friends with when I got the chance!
Edited by nickwilcock on Saturday 3rd February 21:08
I have that gearbox in my Scimitar - it's the best one you can get for it...
Capris are awful things unless fitted with Gp4 arches and GAA motors and even then they make strong men weep.
I bought one of those 69 3000GTs with that side rail gearbox bloody awful(car was old and s/hand of course, im not that old),the proper gearbox was fitted in 71 what an improvment and bullit proof,it also had the uprated engine much better than the asmatic 128hp unit from 69 to early 71 straight out the zephur zodiac(what a crock).i had a few of these cars good fun,but they grew the wrong image unfortunatly.
I've always fancied a V6 Capri. My Dad always yearned for one, and he finally got his hands on an S plate 3.0 Ghia when I was about 10. It wasn't a great example, an auto in gold, and had the pre facelift rectangular headlamps, but he loved it. Sounded great. We went shopping one saturday a few weeks before Christmas, and all our Christmas presents were in the boot. Popped into town and on the way back i was running in front of my parents (as kids do), rounded the corner and it was gone. My Dad had jokingly said 'it'll probably be nicked here' before we left. It had been. Got it back 3 weeks later. All the christmas presents gone, the front caved in and exhausts hanging off. It sat under our carport for 6 months before been scrapped. Shame - He still hankers after a 2.8i, or a Brooklands. Great looking car.
Yellow Fever said:
Has nobody spotted that the shed features 'Laser' alloys, a (later) copy of the MK2 Escort RS2000? The rally boys love these on their MK2s and a tidy set would fetch over £200. So it's not a complete waste of a grand....
Yes, Laser alloys which funnily enough came as standard on the Capri Laser.
Agree entirely with the price thing though, I considered swapping mine for mini/super-lites but decided that it looked purdy as it was...
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