Although the Ford Capri started in 1969 as a new series, there was previously built in England Ford Consul Capri (1961-64). This was a completely unsportsmanlike, but elegant coupe, that fit much better to the sophisticated holiday island of Capri. The 69er Capri, however, was a bully, albeit with small Muscles . It was produced parallel in Cologne and Dagenham, the Germans with domestic V4 and V6 engines, the British with those of the island. The Series I ran from 1969-73, then came as Series II a mild facelift and four-cylinder from the Taunus. The smoothed Capri II ran until March 78, number III until 1987. The only true sports cannon but remained the RS from 1970 to 1973 - the car with which Ford race director Jochen Neerpasch set a memorial.
Capri friends love the sonorous rasp sound from the V6 Weslake engine, the raw power, the handiness on good, the sporty stubbornness on bad track. Nerves cost the parts seeking, because unlike the noble brands are imitated for Ford hardly parts, also destroyed in 1977 a big fire in the spare parts inventory. Cold start problems are a legend, so many owners have allowed themselves a manual choke. The plastic fuel lines harden and break over the years, various RS are smoked to smoke and ashes. Helpful is readiness for frequent refueling, the beast is drinking. Rust is an issue: trunk lid, cowl windows, lamp rings and the frame are at risk.
The majority of Capri customers bought the cheap 1300 or 1500s with 50 and 60 hp, technically trivial but smart-looking cars that would normally have been ridiculed. But the top-of-the-line RS 2600 became a lesson in how dodgy coupes can be charged with a heroic myth.
