Still the car we’re promising ourselves?
It’s a grey and smoggy November in 1968 at the Halewood factory near Liverpool. Ford had begun production of the Capri two-door coupe, based on the dull Cortina. Across the pond in the United States, a young Ford designer Philip T. Clark was crafting sketches of a two-door fastback Capri for the European market that was destined to be a sales smash. It offered the middle manager stuck in a dead-end job with no children – or ones that he was aware of anyway – a reason to show up early for work. A smaller slice of American GT muscle, spoken with a Scouse accent – that was the Ford Capri. By golly, it was a looker as well. It remains one of the most attractive cars Ford has produced.
Elsewhere in Blighty, an advertising was beavering away, creating what was to become one of the most iconic advertising slogans ever used to launch a car in Europe: the Ford Capri was “The car you always promised yourself.” It was copywriting genius. Jumping into the 2025 time machine, I’m driving the new Ford Capri, and I’m thinking: (A) who is the person responsible for trampling all over Ford’s back catalogue naming convention and (B) is this the car I’d recommend to anyone wanting an EV crossover SUV? Being generous, the 2025 Ford Capri is a choice that fills a family’s needs instead of fulfilling a personal dream.
The punters, meanwhile, are nonplussed. The Irish Society of the Irish Motor Industry reports a total of 98 new Ford Capris were sold in Ireland between January and July. In June, Ford sold just one Capri. Ford may dispute this figure, but the long story short is this: it’s no repeat of the 1969 sales smash Ford hoped for. Kia shifted 823 new EV6s in the same period. That car is a direct rival to the Capri. Prices for the Kia start at €49,510.
The Capri’s cabin is smart and roomy, even if it’s a Ford Explorer clone, and it’s modern and airy inside. You get a big 14.6-inch touchscreen, the HVAC climate controls are always visible, which is good. There’s oodles of storage space for the family’s bits and bobs. The seats are wide and supportive. In the back, the boot will swallow a sizeable 572 litres of storage space. So far, so decent. But I expect a modicum of feel-good materials when spending all the time inside the car. Ford drops the ball here. For a car costing over €45,000 (€45,798.00 in Ireland, £41,485 in the UK), the cabin is presented with materials that feel hard, plasticky and unyielding. It looks smart but Ford’s accountants appear to have sucked out any feel-good vibe inside the cabin. It leaves the Capri void of any joy when living with the car.
Don’t think for one moment that China and South Korea aren’t watching. They have been and are busy filling the void with products that quietly impress the buyer at the dealership before they even set off in the car.
The rest of the car drives with a degree of verve – always a Ford trait. Refinement and performance are strong points but so too are the Capri’s rivals. Flicking through my notes, one sentence stood out. “It’s fine in the way your utility provider delivers a service. Needs more talent to stand out in this highly competitive BEV C-segment SUV.” The criticism is of Ford and not the plucky Capri. Cutting corners on quality offered by Tier 1 and Tier 2 part suppliers may look smart on a balance sheet. Often it impacts sales, as seen here. The remastered Ford Capri in 2025 faces a world filled with voraciously hungry South Korean or Chinese rivals. Sorry, Ford – your Capri has broken a fifty-six-year promise.
Verdict: 3 Stars
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Mark Gallivan, Journalist