My summer fling with a 23 year old is over
Discussion
We only enjoyed a brief 6 months together, but she bought back many happy memories of my previous Capri's. For a 23 year old Ford, she was in excellent condition and we had some great trips together, including a few great runs down to the Goodwood Breakfast Club meets.
Good ones must be very rare though, I travelled to Sheffield to buy her from a classic Ford specialist and the guy came all the way from Dublin to collect her yesterday.
So, farewell my lovely, you'll be missed.
I have a feeling this won't be my last Capri though. Just don't tell the missus
I had that one on a classic policy, cost just under a hundred quid. I might give them a call and see if I can get any money back for cancelling after just 6mths 
With a classic policy, you normally need use of a second car, the mileage will be limited and you don't earn NCD.
Capri's are great, but you need to remember even the youngest one is 19 years old, they rust like a 70's Ford should and will require a lot of love and attention. Don't expect to just jump in and drive it like a modern.
But don't let me put you off. Try one
With a classic policy, you normally need use of a second car, the mileage will be limited and you don't earn NCD.
Capri's are great, but you need to remember even the youngest one is 19 years old, they rust like a 70's Ford should and will require a lot of love and attention. Don't expect to just jump in and drive it like a modern.
But don't let me put you off. Try one
No, but I did remove the furry dice before the sale (just visible in the photo). I liked the irony in the Capri......it might not work on my 300zx though, so they've now been transfered to my "car trophy cabinet" where I keep a few models and suchlike 
You can take the boy out of the Capri.......
You can take the boy out of the Capri.......
When I was on the lookout for the one above, I took a Brooklands out for a spin (not literally). It had been partially restrored with a full respray, engine and gearbox rebuild etc. The guy wanted £5.5k for it, which isn't bad for a Brooklands, but seemed a bit much for what is, effectively, a 2.8 Special with full leather, special paint and 15" wheels. Also, the market for these cars is smaller, whilst I might have been prepared to pay that money, most looking for a 2.8 wouldn't. The standard car offers better value......whether that holds true in 15 years remains to be seen. Knowing my luck, the Brookie will be worth £25k by then
BTW, Ford never officially called it a Brooklands, it was the 280 Capri, although the paintjob was called Brooklands green. A bit like the Ferrari Daytona never really being called a Daytona, it's a 365 GTB/4. That'll be the first and last time a Capri will ever be compared to one of my all time favourite cars
BTW, Ford never officially called it a Brooklands, it was the 280 Capri, although the paintjob was called Brooklands green. A bit like the Ferrari Daytona never really being called a Daytona, it's a 365 GTB/4. That'll be the first and last time a Capri will ever be compared to one of my all time favourite cars I've got an interesting capri here at the moment. It's all black, wide arched, leather, cossie whaletail and has a 4.0 rover v8 under the bonnet onto which I've squeezed a pair of t3's. Thing is, it's just so different to the cars of today. It's much lower then most cars which makes it look very long and sleek. Most modern cars just look fat and dumpy in comparison. I don't think we'll see many new classic cars.
Boosted.
Boosted.
F.M said:
drool...stop it your torturing us...
BHP...?
BHP...?
I can only guess as I didn't build the engine. It's got low compression buick 300 heads fitted so could be on around 8:1 c/r. If it makes 280/300 bhp and similar torque the owner should be quite happy. That's probably a realistic expectation.
Boosted.
Rumour has it that some of the 'Brooklands' 280's were lemons. Ford apparently ran out of parts for the interior during final production (original production was set for 500 Turbo-Technics beasties but Ford abandoned it and went with the plan of build it 'til we run out of parts) so many left the factory without steering wheels, wrong coloured carpets and no gear knobs. Dealerships were told to raid their parts bins and fit the missing parts.
The only parts they had were Shark Grey and the 280's interior was black, so they really did look pretty odd when finally put together in the dealerships.
Another urban legend is that there is at least one 'G' registered 280. Most are known on 'E' and a couple on 'F'. They were slow sellers as there will still loads of 2.8i specials in the showrooms that were at least £2.5k cheaper and as good.
I've owned 2 2.8i specials and driven a 280, and tbh, there is no difference. Tell a lie, the 280's speedo is a tad more accurate due to the 15" alloys over the standard 13".
Still has to be my favourite all time car and I've had four of them (Laser, 2.0s and the 2 Specials). Loved the little electrical gremlins in the dash clocks. Fuel and temp were always off the scale due to an infinate amount of duff voltage stabilisers Ford had manage to source. Prop shafts were easy to break and to quote a Manchester Traffic cop who really hated having to drive one, they appeared to have brakes the same as Morris Minors! Handling was sorted with a Scorpion A Frame kit and Spax adjustables, so back end slop was gone and the Sierra Type N gear box and abysmal gear selector was sorted with a Willacy engineering Quickshift.
Never had much of a problem with rust. I totally stripped the car and sprayed literally gallons of wax-oyl into every interior panel, crevice etc. Stank the car out for weeks, and on a hot day if you lifted the bonnet or tailgate, you'd get covered in runny wax-oyl.
Hmm, I wouldn't mind a fling with a 23 year old.... Hope the missus isn't going to see this. I still have a shed full of Capri bits still in original packaging that she wants me to get shot of.. But I still live in hope.
The only parts they had were Shark Grey and the 280's interior was black, so they really did look pretty odd when finally put together in the dealerships.
Another urban legend is that there is at least one 'G' registered 280. Most are known on 'E' and a couple on 'F'. They were slow sellers as there will still loads of 2.8i specials in the showrooms that were at least £2.5k cheaper and as good.
I've owned 2 2.8i specials and driven a 280, and tbh, there is no difference. Tell a lie, the 280's speedo is a tad more accurate due to the 15" alloys over the standard 13".
Still has to be my favourite all time car and I've had four of them (Laser, 2.0s and the 2 Specials). Loved the little electrical gremlins in the dash clocks. Fuel and temp were always off the scale due to an infinate amount of duff voltage stabilisers Ford had manage to source. Prop shafts were easy to break and to quote a Manchester Traffic cop who really hated having to drive one, they appeared to have brakes the same as Morris Minors! Handling was sorted with a Scorpion A Frame kit and Spax adjustables, so back end slop was gone and the Sierra Type N gear box and abysmal gear selector was sorted with a Willacy engineering Quickshift.
Never had much of a problem with rust. I totally stripped the car and sprayed literally gallons of wax-oyl into every interior panel, crevice etc. Stank the car out for weeks, and on a hot day if you lifted the bonnet or tailgate, you'd get covered in runny wax-oyl.
Hmm, I wouldn't mind a fling with a 23 year old.... Hope the missus isn't going to see this. I still have a shed full of Capri bits still in original packaging that she wants me to get shot of.. But I still live in hope.
Edited by DevilYellowCV8 on Thursday 5th October 00:29
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