Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Varche]

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/news/secrets-of-the-lost-fords-they-never-made/ss-BBPK1EZ?ocid=spartanntp#image=1

Interesting stuff

[Webby the Bear]

Cheers for that. I love this stuff 👍

I have a question re the love for the Capri.

My auntie n uncle used to take me to the rugby when I was 8 (in 1990) and they used to pick me up in a red Capri. I remember thinking it was shit 😂 but obviously they came back in to fashion as they got older?

[Bigron]

It was a misprint when they named it - should have been Ford Crapi. 

Ron.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

I had a red Crapi for a while. Your young mind was quite observant. They were indeed shite. A cortina that looked a bit sporty.
All old cars come back into fashion to some extent, due to nostalgia, but for some inexplicable reason, this applies much more to Fords than other old mass produced cars. 

[BazaJT]

The Capri[not to be confused with the earlier Consul Capri] was I believe based on the MkII Cortina floorpan/chassis.Never owned a Capri but drove plenty and I must say the Fuego[of which I also drove plenty but never owned one]was a far superior car as was the Alfa GTV6 that I did own.Capri could[with the bigger engines-the 1300 versions were just slugs]be "tail happy" and with the V6 versions the front brakes weren't really up to the job,hence a lot of owners changed the calipers to those off the BL Princess.

[Doctor Gollum]

I like the targa Sierra, although the rear end looks a bit clunky.

Also the facelift Sierra Cosworth 3dr hatch...

Always fancied an Escort Cosworth estate in Citrine Yellow and a Granada Cosworth 4x4 saloon in Smokestone or Levant Grey ... No accounting for taste.

[YZ250]

Cheers for that. I love this stuff 👍

I have a question re the love for the Capri.

My auntie n uncle used to take me to the rugby when I was 8 (in 1990) and they used to pick me up in a red Capri. I remember thinking it was shit 😂 but obviously they came back in to fashion as they got older?

I owned a black MK3 3.0S Capri for over five years and loved it.  Very predictable handling and I was gutted when it had to go. The boot was just too small to cope with the kids buggies so I sold it and bought a Moonraker Blue SD1 V8 Vitesse Twin Plenun. Big mistake, by the time I sold it, if rust was gold I'd be a trillionaire.    Good engine though, sounded the nuts with a silencer removed. 

[Nick W]

The Capri[not to be confused with the earlier Consul Capri] was I believe based on the MkII Cortina floorpan/chassis.Never owned a Capri but drove plenty and I must say the Fuego[of which I also drove plenty but never owned one]was a far superior car as was the Alfa GTV6 that I did own.Capri could[with the bigger engines-the 1300 versions were just slugs]be "tail happy" and with the V6 versions the front brakes weren't really up to the job,hence a lot of owners changed the calipers to those off the BL Princess.

Hmmm, where to start:


there are bits of mk2 Cortina in the Capri, but a lot more mk1 Escort: the only difference in the front suspension is the track width for example.


Capris don't like changing direction once settled into a turn, but once you've got that covered aren't a problem


Capri brakes are poor, and many were fitted with Princess calipers. But, they don't fit under 13" wheels without grinding them down a bit(and the castings aren't consistent enough to thiat safely in my experience) and the discs are slightly too small in diameter for the pads. I've seen more than one Capri so equipped boil the grease out of the wheel bearings. Increasing the diameter and thickness of the disc from the stock 247mm/12mm(247x20 for 2.8i venteds) is what's actually required but isn't quite so easy to do. The brakes are not helped by the rear mechanisms frequently being seized solid: a long pedal and ineffective hand brake is the sign of this. Fixing it, an hour's work, makes a huge difference.


I never found the Alfa, Manta or Porsche 924/944 to be any better than a much cheaper, more comfortable and better looking Capri. But this was back when a nice 2.8i was easily a sub £1000 car.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Cheers for that. I love this stuff 👍

I have a question re the love for the Capri.

My auntie n uncle used to take me to the rugby when I was 8 (in 1990) and they used to pick me up in a red Capri. I remember thinking it was shit 😂 but obviously they came back in to fashion as they got older?

I owned a black MK3 3.0S Capri for over five years and loved it.  Very predictable handling and I was gutted when it had to go. The boot was just too small to cope with the kids buggies so I sold it and bought a Moonraker Blue SD1 V8 Vitesse Twin Plenun. Big mistake, by the time I sold it, if rust was gold I'd be a trillionaire.    Good engine though, sounded the nuts with a silencer removed. 

Back in the mid nineties a woman I know owned a 2.8i with a 5 speed box.

It needed  thrashing to within an inch of it's life to have any meaningful acceleration due to a combination of leggy gearing and a lack of torque at low revs. I know the V6 Essex lump has been described as a 'boat anchor' but at least it had good low speed torque.

[Nick W]

Back in the mid nineties a woman I know owned a 2.8i with a 5 speed box.

It needed  thrashing to within an inch of it's life to have any meaningful acceleration due to a combination of leggy gearing and a lack of torque at low revs. I know the V6 Essex lump has been described as a 'boat anchor' but at least it had good low speed torque.

That's the difference, under 100mph a 3.0l(which is on the same gearing) is quicker. But the fifth gear makes the 2.8i better over 100. There are two easy fixes to this: fitting a 2.0l diff(3.44 instead of 3.02) is the simple one, but  a 2.9 engine is the best

[Omegatoy]

owned 7 3 litre capri,s mk1 an 2 and a rs2.6 left hooker that had an appetite for breaking rocker arms,ten min fix at the side of the road to fix, till the next time i over revved it,at the time it was just an unusual capri and i swapped it for the first of my 11 rover SD1 v8 models! doh

[Doctor Gollum]

Either you're a former banger racer or a glutton for punishment 

Mind you, I have had seven Granadas and seven Omegas 

[Nick W]

I've had 10, maybe 11 but I'm pretty sure it's 10, Capris and only one was a V6. That was a £600 2.8 Special which quickly got a 12v 2.9 to solve the issues. The others were daily drivers when I was doing 30,000 miles a year, and the most expensive cost £250 - twice what the next one had. I wish I still had the last three I owned, as they would be worth about £12k!

[Webby the Bear]

My mate had a black Granada. G reg and two tone if I remember rightly (lower portion was dark grey iirc. It had probably the most comfortable seats I’ve ever sat in. And literally everything was electric. This on a freakin’ G reg.!

[Sir Tigger KC]

Talk of Capri's always reminds me of a girl called Amanda that me and my mates all lusted after when we were about 19 or so. 

She was hot, knew it and thought she was too good for the likes of us!     Anyway she got a new boyfriend, who was a bit older, drove a 2.8i Capri and was a bit of a self-abuser to be honest. 

One day walking past his car in the car car park we spotted a set of footprints on the inside of the windscreen!    Oh how we laughed! 

[Kevin Wood]

Talk of Capri's always reminds me of a girl called Amanda that me and my mates all lusted after when we were about 19 or so. 

She was hot, knew it and thought she was too good for the likes of us!     Anyway she got a new boyfriend, who was a bit older, drove a 2.8i Capri and was a bit of a self-abuser to be honest. 

One day walking past his car in the car car park we spotted a set of footprints on the inside of the windscreen!    Oh how we laughed! 

He probably bought them as transfers from Halfords.

[YZ250]

....
Back in the mid nineties a woman I know owned a 2.8i with a 5 speed box.

It needed  thrashing to within an inch of it's life to have any meaningful acceleration due to a combination of leggy gearing and a lack of torque at low revs. I know the V6 Essex lump has been described as a 'boat anchor' but at least it had good low speed torque.

Turbo Technics (blast from the past but still trading I believe) did a nice job of resolving that. I was a member of Capri Club International (membership card still comes in handy as an ice scraper) and mentioned the mod to my mate. He had it done by them and it flew. 

[Kevin Wood]

....
Back in the mid nineties a woman I know owned a 2.8i with a 5 speed box.

It needed  thrashing to within an inch of it's life to have any meaningful acceleration due to a combination of leggy gearing and a lack of torque at low revs. I know the V6 Essex lump has been described as a 'boat anchor' but at least it had good low speed torque.

Turbo Technics (blast from the past but still trading I believe) did a nice job of resolving that. I was a member of Capri Club International (membership card still comes in handy as an ice scraper) and mentioned the mod to my mate. He had it done by them and it flew. 

If the Cologne engine didn't have low speed torque I don't know what it did have. It was all over by about 5,000 RPM too, from what I recall, hence the gearing.

I remember my Dad trying to decide between a 12v Granada and a 24v Senator back in the early 90s. It was hardly a difficult decision.

[Nick W]

If the Cologne engine didn't have low speed torque I don't know what it did have. It was all over by about 5,000 RPM too, from what I recall, hence the gearing.

You're confusing Cologne and Essex engines! A 2.8i will happily hit the rev limiter in the first four gears(which is about 6k); an Essex is running out of puff at 5, and done by 5.5 if your mechanical sympathy is turned off. If you're daft enough to remove the rev limiter from a 2.8i(it's on the rotor arm) it's easy to blow them up. The Essex can be improved by milling out the centre of the plenum under the carb, with no other mods it will eventually hit 6k, but do it frequently and you'll be resetting the valve clearances. Both use the same 3.02 diff ratio and similar diameter tyres.
Both suffer from timing gear failure, and the oil pump hex drive is truly shit. And they're heavy.

[Doctor Gollum]

....
Back in the mid nineties a woman I know owned a 2.8i with a 5 speed box.

It needed  thrashing to within an inch of it's life to have any meaningful acceleration due to a combination of leggy gearing and a lack of torque at low revs. I know the V6 Essex lump has been described as a 'boat anchor' but at least it had good low speed torque.

Turbo Technics (blast from the past but still trading I believe) did a nice job of resolving that. I was a member of Capri Club International (membership card still comes in handy as an ice scraper) and mentioned the mod to my mate. He had it done by them and it flew. 

If the Cologne engine didn't have low speed torque I don't know what it did have. It was all over by about 5,000 RPM too, from what I recall, hence the gearing.

I remember my Dad trying to decide between a 12v Granada and a 24v Senator back in the early 90s. It was hardly a difficult decision.

Chalk and cheese...

The 2.9 Cosworth 24v V6 would give a 3.0/3.2 Omega a sound kicking (if only because the Granada is about 200kgs lighter.

That said both will cruise at Vmax. Allegedly 

[henryd]

....
Back in the mid nineties a woman I know owned a 2.8i with a 5 speed box.

It needed  thrashing to within an inch of it's life to have any meaningful acceleration due to a combination of leggy gearing and a lack of torque at low revs. I know the V6 Essex lump has been described as a 'boat anchor' but at least it had good low speed torque.

Turbo Technics (blast from the past but still trading I believe) did a nice job of resolving that. I was a member of Capri Club International (membership card still comes in handy as an ice scraper) and mentioned the mod to my mate. He had it done by them and it flew. 

A mate of mine had a Brooklyns 280 Capri with Turbo Technics conversion from new,that was interesting in the wet when the turbo lit up

[Kevin Wood]

You're confusing Cologne and Essex engines! A 2.8i will happily hit the rev limiter in the first four gears(which is about 6k); an Essex is running out of puff at 5, and done by 5.5 if your mechanical sympathy is turned off. If you're daft enough to remove the rev limiter from a 2.8i(it's on the rotor arm) it's easy to blow them up. The Essex can be improved by milling out the centre of the plenum under the carb, with no other mods it will eventually hit 6k, but do it frequently and you'll be resetting the valve clearances. Both use the same 3.02 diff ratio and similar diameter tyres.
Both suffer from timing gear failure, and the oil pump hex drive is truly shit. And they're heavy.

Possibly I am. Both are regarded as rather asthmatic boat anchors in the kit car world, and that Granada test drive told me why.

A Rover V8 is a horribly flawed engine, but even they are lighter, more powerful, make a nicer noise and are more reliable.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Talk of Capri's always reminds me of a girl called Amanda that me and my mates all lusted after when we were about 19 or so. 

She was hot, knew it and thought she was too good for the likes of us!    Anyway she got a new boyfriend, who was a bit older, drove a 2.8i Capri and was a bit of a self-abuser to be honest. 

One day walking past his car in the car car park we spotted a set of footprints on the inside of the windscreen!    Oh how we laughed! 

.......A combination that is more like to get her knickers off than a spotty 'yoof'  with a Marina.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

As a kid I lusted after a 3 litre Capri. Had to be the 3000GTXLR though. What the additional XLR pack consisted of I have no idea.

Later they were badged 3000E and then 3000 GXL.

[Sir Tigger KC]

Talk of Capri's always reminds me of a girl called Amanda that me and my mates all lusted after when we were about 19 or so. 

She was hot, knew it and thought she was too good for the likes of us!    Anyway she got a new boyfriend, who was a bit older, drove a 2.8i Capri and was a bit of a self-abuser to be honest. 

One day walking past his car in the car car park we spotted a set of footprints on the inside of the windscreen!    Oh how we laughed! 

.......A combination that is more like to get her knickers off than a spotty 'yoof'  with a Marina.

This is true M'lud, but we did enjoy telling her that her boyfriend needed to clean the inside of his windscreen, especially on the passenger side.   She looked baffled at what we were laughing at, but later when she realised was suitably embarrassed!