In January 1969, a few months before man walked on the moon, Ford introduced the new Capri into Europe, in a bid to capitalise upon the massive success that the Capri’s American cousin the Mustang had enjoyed in the pony car and sports coupe market throughout the decade.

When the Mark 1 Capri was launched at the Brussels Motor Show with the slogan ‘The Car You always Promised Yourself’ it became an instant success with the baby boomer generation.

Within a year of production, almost one in four of all cars that Ford sold in Europe, was a Capri.

In 1970 nearly 250,000 Capris were sold. The car was assembled at Liverpool and Dagenham in the UK and at Ford’s plants in Ghenk in Belgium and Cologne in Germany. By 1973 the millionth Capri an RS 2600 rolled off the production line at Ford’s Halewood plant in Liverpool.

The early success in Europe led to Ford introducing the car into the US and Australian markets in 1970 and guaranteed the production of two further models, the Mark 2 and Mark 3 Capris.

The Capri Mark 1 was a sporty looking fastback with a long bonnet, wide opening two doors, low roofline often in black vinyl, rounded side windows, fake air intakes and alloy wheels and the distinctive hockey stick shaped indent that ran the length of the side of the car. Inside the car was designed with plastic and fake wood which was to become synonymous with cars of the 1970s. Inside the car was roomy with a rear bench seat and according to an advert by Ford at the time ‘We were going to call the new Capri a 2+2 but there’s too much room in the back’. Read the rest of this entry »