Ford Capri: the car you always promised yourself (1969-1986)
At a glance
- Years
- 1969-1986
- Body styles
- Two-door fastback coupe
- Drivetrain
- Front engine, rear-wheel drive
- Engines
- 1.3-1.6 Kent and Pinto fours; 2.0-2.3-2.8 Cologne V6; 3.0 Essex V6
- Power
- From around 50 bhp (1.3) to 160 bhp (2.8 Injection)
- Top speed
- Up to around 130 mph (3.0 and 2.8i)
- Trim levels
- L, GT, XL, GL, S, Ghia, plus RS2600, RS3100 and the 2.8 Injection
- Production
- Nearly 1.9 million across three generations
- Assembly
- Halewood and Dagenham (UK), Cologne (Germany)
- Designer
- Philip T. Clark (also involved in the Ford Mustang)
- Values
- Four-cylinder cars from around £5,000; good V6s £15,000-£25,000; excellent 3.0 and 2.8i cars £30,000-£45,000; the RS models well into six figures
- The pitch
- Sold as 'the car you always promised yourself', the affordable European Mustang
- The one to have
- The Mk3 2.8 Injection is the enthusiast's favourite road car
Ford sold the Capri with one of the great advertising lines: “the car you always promised yourself”. It was a promise nearly two million buyers kept. Launched in 1969 as Europe’s answer to the Mustang, the Capri was an affordable fastback coupe that let an ordinary buyer have the look of a sports car, and, further up the range, the performance to match. It became one of the defining Ford classics of the 1970s and 80s, and it is one of the most loved British classics of all.
A note on the name: in 2024 Ford revived “Capri” for a new electric coupe-SUV. That car shares nothing with the original but its badge. This guide is about the classic Capri of 1969 to 1986.
The European Mustang
The Capri was a deliberate copy of a winning idea. Ford’s American Mustang had shown that a long-bonnet, short-tail fastback coupe, offered with everything from economy engines to fire-breathing V8s, could sell in vast numbers by making sporty looks affordable. The Capri did the same for Europe, and Philip T. Clark, who styled it, had worked on the Mustang itself.
The genius was the range. A buyer could have a humble 1.3 with the coupe looks, or work all the way up through the fours to the snarling V6s. That breadth, glamour for the many, real pace for the few, is why the Capri sold so well and why it remains so accessible today.
Mk1, Mk2 and Mk3
The Capri ran through three generations. The Mk1 (1969-74) is the purest shape, low and lithe, and includes the competition-bred RS2600 and RS3100, now among the most valuable Fords of all. The Mk2 (1974-78) added a practical hatchback tailgate without losing the look. The Mk3 (1978-86) brought the four-headlamp facelift most people picture, and the car that crowns the road-going range: the 2.8 Injection, with a fuel-injected 2.8-litre Cologne V6 and the performance and sound to back up the styling. The very last cars were the limited-edition 280 Brooklands of 1987.
The V6 sound
What separates a Capri from an ordinary coupe is the engine choice, and above all the V6. The 3.0-litre Essex of the early cars and the 2.8-litre Cologne of the Injection give the Capri real performance and an unmistakable hard-edged V6 note that is a big part of the car’s character. It is why the six-cylinder cars command such a premium and why the four-cylinder cars, good as they are, are the more affordable choice.
What it is like to own
The Capri is one of the more usable performance classics. The mechanicals are familiar Ford components, simple and tough, and parts supply is excellent through the specialists and the owners’ clubs, helped by the sheer number built. The V6 cars are quick and characterful; the four-cylinder cars are cheap to run and easy to live with. All of them are practical enough, especially in hatchback Mk2 and Mk3 form, to use regularly.
Buying guide: what to look for
Rust is the great enemy. Check the inner and outer sills, the floors, the front wings and inner wings, the rear arches, the boot and spare-wheel well, the bottoms of the doors and the area around the front and rear screens. Crossmember and suspension mounting points matter too. A Capri that looks shiny can hide serious structural corrosion, so inspect underneath carefully.
Mechanically the engines are durable, but check the V6s for the usual wear and overheating, and confirm a 2.8 Injection’s fuel-injection system is healthy. Originality and identity matter increasingly as values rise: confirm a car is the model it claims to be, particularly with the rare RS cars and the 2.8i. A sound, honest, correct car is always the better buy.
Current value and where it sits
Four-cylinder Capris start around £5,000 for a usable car, good V6s sit between roughly £15,000 and £25,000, and the best 3.0 and 2.8i cars reach £30,000 to £45,000, with the RS2600 and RS3100 well into six figures. The V6 cars and the 2.8 Injection lead a market that has risen sharply, while tidy four-cylinder cars remain a genuinely affordable way into one of the most famous classic Fords. A classic Ford Capri is also one of the most usable: the hatchback practicality, the unstressed mechanicals and the club support mean plenty of owners drive theirs regularly rather than saving them for shows, which is exactly how the car was meant to be used. The handful of six-figure RS homologation cars aside, this is a classic you buy to drive, not to store. For the era, see British classic cars of the 1970s and 1980s.
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