Classic Ford Capri ‘to make a comeback with an eco twist’
The Ford Capri – a style icon in the seventies and eighties – could be relaunched soon as an electric sports crossover, it has been reported.
Known from its appearances on TV shows including Minder and The Professionals, it was once marketed as ‘the car you always promised yourself’.
And classic models have been owned and beloved by celebrities such as Harry Styles and Jamie Oliver.
According to The Sun, a new version of the Capri is due to go on sale next year.
The newspaper says it will cost around £40,000 and feature rear-wheel drive, massaging seats – and four headlights, like the most famous iteration of the sporty favourite.
However, the revamped car will reportedly be an eco-friendly departure from its gas-guzzling predecessor, doing up to 310 miles on a single charge.
Ford has not officially confirmed the news.
In 2019, the head of the brand’s European design studio hinted he was keen to bring the much-loved vehicle back to the road.
Amko Leenarts told Autocar magazine: ‘Who would not want to bring back the Capri as a design?
‘We’d love it. But it’s got to be in the zeitgeist and has to fit, and work as a plural, not just exist as something for a designer to bring back an old car.’
Despite ending production in 1986, the Capri is still fondly remembered thanks to its many appearances in pop culture.
A white model was driven by bodyguard Terry McCann, played by the late Dennis Waterman, in the eighties show Minder.
History behind the 'sexy European'
Named after the sun-kissed Italian island, the Ford Capri was launched in the late 1960s and became a quick success, selling 400,000 in the first two years.
Through most of the 1970s, it was also sold in North America as the Mercury Capri. Advertising campaigns over there marketed it as the ‘sexy European’.
The Mark II was released in 1974, with the aim of making the car more suited to everyday living.
It lasted until 1978 when the Mark III came out, but the global popularity of the model soon started to wane and it was discontinued in 1986.
However, by that point it had sold almost 1.9 million units and left its mark as a cult favourite – especially in the UK.
The 1978 3.0 S Capri used by Bodie in The Professionals, meanwhile, sold at auction in 2016 for £55,000, a record price at the time.
Del Boy drove an eye-catching green one in Only Fools and Horses – though that car was unfortunately dubbed the ‘Pratmobile’ by Rodney.
Last year, Jamie Oliver put his prized 1970 model up for sale after it featured prominently on the TV show Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast with Jimmy Doherty.
That car still featured stickers with the two presenters’ names on the windscreen, but no sales have yet been reported.
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