Ford Capri

The Ford Capri was a car produced by Ford of Europe. Two different models named Capri were built.

Classic Capri

The first use of the name Capri was in a version of the Ford Classic saloon. The Ford Classic Capri was built from 1961 to 1963. It was a 2-door compact coupé, with a long tail and half-bubble roof. Initially available with an underpowered 1.3L engine, it was replaced in 1962 by a 1.5L, but sales were disappointing and the Capri vanished after three years.

Capri Mk1

The first real Ford Capri was introduced in January 1969 at the Brussels Motor Show, with sales starting the following month. The intention was to reproduce the success of the North American Ford Mustang in Europe, to produce a European pony car. It was mechanically based on the Cortina and built in Europe at the Dagenham and Halewood plants in the UK, the Genk plant in Belgium, and the Saarlouis and Cologne plants in Germany. The car was named Colt during development stage, but Ford were unable to use the name, as it was trademarked by Mitsubishi.