A nice pair but too easy for a whatsthisthen!

[NewcastleFalcon]

I do like scims. I nearly bought one, but bought a Capri 2.8i instead, a choice I'm not sure was wise or not.

when a Capri 2.8i is mentioned this is the colour scheme which comes to mind.....



Visually there is nothing not to like about that...and according to the "Ford Gives You More" advert top speed 130mph and 0-60 in 7.8 secs. Still thats only a mere 2 seconds quicker than a Marina 1.8tc!



regards Neil

[Northern_Mike]

I had one that was metallic grey, and one which was black. I thought the grey one was the best colour. I even shelled out having it properly resprayed, and it looked so good without the stripes put back on it, we left it like that and it only got the boot badges.

The black one I had was mint, I owned it for 10 days Chap saw me in it in a petrol station in Marlow, and offered me 50% more than I paid for it there and then, so stupidly I said yes. Had I kept it a couple of years, it would have been worth 4 times what I paid for it!

[NewcastleFalcon]

I am surprised that a Capri hadn't turned up in the "first Cars" thread. Obviously not a 2.8i one, but maybe one of the bog standard Capri L 1.3's.



Never driven one myself but a friend of mine did have a 3-litre JPS Capri, and spent some time touring around Mönchengladbach and down to Cologne. It had a nice sound from the V6, and was quick, but only arrived at 60mph 0.8secs in front of the Marina 1.8TC!



Regards Neil

[CitroJim]

The person who needs to contribute to this is PavlosV6. He had several Capri's early in his driving career and latterly a 2.8i.

Myself I've never had much to do with Fords at all although I did borrow Pavlos's MKII 1500GT (yes, 1500 pre-crossflow) Cortina for a wile whilst my R4 was being repaired following an accident. That was a great car but thirsty. 21mpg seems to ring a bell.

It had another problem in that the footwells would fill with water if you drove through deep puddles. That trait put an early end to a potential romance when taking a young lady out on a date her feet got soaked

The only Ford I've properly owned is an early MKII Fester back when I was working in London and needed something nondescript I could leave at the station overnight without worry. It was a 1983 one and lived on until 2009 in the ownership of the person I sold it to when we left the UK for Australia in 1992. No bad really.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Looking back Ford did make some good looking cars-heres another nice pair. The bottom one may well have been from "Craggy Island" looks like a good personal reg for Father Jack!





regards Neil

[addo]

Wouldn't have minded a Perana.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Looks like the Perana was pretty quick 0-60 in 6.1seconds

Well against the benchmark of the Morris Marina 1.8TC you could probably have lit up a cigarettein the 3 and a half seconds or so waiting for the Marina to catch up



and, this is a Ford Granada Perana for those who like a bit of beige!



regards Neil

[myglaren]

Had a mate with a brand new Corsair V4, very impressed at the time.

I think the original Capri is one of Ford's best designs ever.

[DickieG]

I think the original Capri is one of Ford's best designs ever.

I used to sell brand new Mk2's and Mk3's, great looking car's of their time but terrible brakes and awful ventilation even then. I recall a white Mk2 2.0 Ghia with a black vinyl roof being over 18 months old when it was sold as new/first registered, by then there was visible rust inside the door shuts.

[myglaren]

I meant in terms of prettyness Richard, not longevity or usefulness.
My daughter was fancying one, saw some at a local car show.

[Northern_Mike]

Never driven one myself but a friend of mine did have a 3-litre JPS Capri, and spent some time touring around Mönchengladbach and down to Cologne. It had a nice sound from the V6, and was quick, but only arrived at 60mph 0.8secs in front of the Marina 1.8TC!

The 3.0 made a nicer noise than the 2.8i, but it was about 25bhp down and wasn't anything like as nice to drive. I have no idea how fast they'd go flat out, I once ran mine up to around 120, but it felt so fast compared to the Mondeo we had as a family car at the time, I didn't feel too safe going any faster than that.

The 2.8i with the 4-speed gearbox was the one to have, though most had the 5-speed in them. I loved the laid-back driving position and the direct steering. The hooligan in me liked to go sideways in it, oh so very easily. I worked with a young lady who found it most amusing to be in it when the tyres were smoking, which given I was 33 and she was 28 and we were both in sensible suit and tie jobs was hilarious.

[Northern_Mike]

I used to sell brand new Mk2's and Mk3's, great looking car's of their time but terrible brakes

Yes, the brakes were not forgettable. They were ok once you got used to the fact that they were completely rubbish and drove accordingly. I even replaced the master cylinder, calipers, discs and pads on mine, and they were still awful. My second one had already had the "upgrade of the time" fitted - Princess discs, pads and calipers, and stopped much better.

[NewcastleFalcon]

I used to sell brand new Mk2's and Mk3's, great looking car's of their time but terrible brakes and awful ventilation even then.

Had a mate with a brand new Corsair V4, very impressed at the time.

There are better ones like the "Dawn Rendezvous" one I took the still of the corsair from above, but this promotional film is shorter and has a bit of nice dialogue about the "ventilation" in the Corsair. Quite funny as seconds before, the spiel about the ventilation, the stylish occupants of the vehicle are lighting up cigarettes with the new fangled cigarette lighter from the dash! Its about 50seconds in........

"Corsair V4 a new kind of luxury with redesigned fascia, new instruments, and fresh air comfort with aeroflow ventilation"



If you stick with it to the end, the beach scene/ the sunset and the terrible swimming costumes.....They seemed to like a bit of "Jazz" to go alongside with the visuals in that era of advert too.

regards Neil

[CitroJim]

The Corsair was a lovely looker and still looks good today but oh, that horrible V4 engine It gives both boat anchors and old nails a bad name...

Those engines enjoyed a brief popularity as a replacement for the Wankel in the NSU RO80 and as a 4-stroke engine for the old Saab 90 series that originally started out as 2-stroke triples.

The V4 in both applications had the advantage of being small enough to fit spaces vacated by Wankels and 2-strokes. The diminutive size of a Wankel was a big problem when we spent lots of effort earlier in the year trying to re-engine a Mazda RX-8.

The V4 was also used in early Transit Vans...

[Northern_Mike]

The V4 improved from being awful to poor after Saab got their mitts on it and gave it a good going over, in much the same way they improved the old Triumph nails. I'm not allowed a 96..

Bike engine + Forced induction for the RX8? Much lightness, plenty of bike engined Westfields about so gearbox/bellhousing solutions must be common. .

I'm just a grumpy Northern git.