Ford Capri review: why the EV relaunch is angering fans of the original classic coupe
Ford have resurrected the Capri name and reinvented it as a ‘non-SUV, SUV’ but it bears absolutely no resemblance to the original which was loved by millions as ‘the affordable coupe’.
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FORD CAPRI |
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★★★☆☆ |
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from €45,798 - €47,270 as tested |
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286bhp from a single motor layout |
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Claimed range of 598km, actual around 500km and even lower in Sport mode |
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excellent and rightly divorced from the VW it’s based on |
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a colossal misjudgement |
It’s not that often that car manufacturers get accused of corporate malfeasance, but that’s exactly what’s happened with Ford since it revealed that it would be re-launching one of its most famous nameplates – the Capri.
Known and loved by millions as ‘the affordable coupe’ from when it was originally launched back in 1968 through to the cessation of production of the car in 1986, the Capri was essentially Ford’s ‘Mustang for Europe’ and adored as such.
Cars are every bit an essential part of people’s memories as any other part of their lives – school, family, sport, achievement, first sexual encounter etc. – and people remember them every bit as much as they do other intrinsic incidents and moments.
It is generally unwise, therefore, for car companies to trick around with those memories because they only draw wrath upon themselves for soiling those events or things which made people happy at any given time in their histories.
By reinventing the Capri as what we have come to term here at Examiner Motoring as ‘a non-SUV, SUV,’ Ford has done just that and, in doing so, has brought down upon itself the wrath of generations of people for whom the original Capri was a nailed-on icon.
From the moment the new Capri arrived in the driveway chez Colley, we were inundated by people giving out yards about it. ‘It doesn’t look anything like the Capri,’ was the single most common complaint, followed either by: ‘They’re ruining my adolescent memories;’ or: ‘What the hell were they thinking?’
Not once during my time with the car had anyone anything good to say about it and, to my mind, their attitude reflected a growing public antipathy towards the Blue Oval and its current product line-up.
They fluffed their lines too when they introduced the electric Mustang Mach-E; why they had to call that car – any car – a Mustang, defied belief and watered down a heritage that has been over 50 years in the making.
I don’t know are these moves the idea of modern marketeers or people who have no idea of the history they are tricking with. The simple conclusion, though, is that they were bad ideas. Really bad.
Indeed, since Ford management announced it was going all-EV (a decision that was hastily reversed when the market for electrics slumped) and killed off two of its most successful ever nameplates, the Fiesta and the Focus, customers have largely gone cold on the once-dominant – in Ireland and elsewhere – automotive behemoth.
Once upon a time Ford was embedded at the top of the Irish sales charts – for decades. Nowadays it cannot even claim a place in the top ten (it’s 12th). And its bestselling model to date this year is the Puma – an excellent car, it has to be said – which languishes at 23rd place and with year-on-year sales down by 16% on the same period in 2024.
And the Capri? Well, they’ve sold just 102 of them this year to the end of August.
It’s not exactly a mind-boggling success, is it?
But is all the opprobrium being heaped on Ford justified? Well, yes and no. Certainly the kickback the company has provoked by introducing a new car and calling it ‘Capri’ when it bears absolutely no resemblance to the original, was foreseeable and dumb.
So too the misjudgement of the company’s client base. The ‘they’ll-never-remember-the-original’ line of thinking among Ford management who signed off on this project was wildly misguided.
Another thing which might backfire on them is the fact that the new Capri is actually more Volkswagen than it is Ford, utilising as it does a VW platform, glitchy software, instrumentation and battery technology.
The other side of the story is actually not bad, primarily because this is not a poor car at all; in fact, it is rather good, albeit let down by poor ride characteristics which were amplified by our rapidly deteriorating road network here in Ireland.
Despite the fact that the only thing here that resembles anything about the original Capri is the rear quarter windows, the car does look imposing and, in the testers’ yellow overcoat, certainly catches the eye.
Ford maintain that the car – as it now is – is exactly how the Capri would have evolved had it remained in production, but that’s a bit of a stretch really and expecting diehards to believe that is a bit like the Catholic Church doing a turnaround and saying God was/is a woman.
Although it shares much with VW’s ID.4, Ford has done well to distance the Capri’s looks from the Wolfsburg car. It is quite the individual thing, but still it bears no resemblance whatsoever to that which was known and loved by so many for so long.
And that’s the thing, really, because for so many people over a very long period of time, Ford made very many bog-standard cars, but when it put its mind to performance models, it really got people excited. Just mention the letters ‘RS’ to anyone or whisper the word ‘Cosworth’ and people start getting sweaty hands.
Cars – Ford cars – with those appellations meant something to people. So, while Ford has done a good job of erasing the ‘white goods’ feel of the ID.4 with the Capri, the fact of the matter is that the Capri is now simply just another EV.
Sure it is quick (it’s got a 6.4 second 0-100 km/h time, although top speed is limited to 180 km/h for both the single motor tester or the dual motor AWD version), but it has nothing of the character or panache of old performance Fords.
The handling is great, for such a big car, but as is the case with so many electrics, the ride is only all right and on anything other than billiard table surfaces, it is lumpy and uncomfortable.
The car actually feels like it is too heavy for its aspirations and while you will induce some wheelspin if you try hard, you will never get the rear end breaking away like so many Fords of old.
As is so often the case with EVs, range is an issue and the claim here is that the Capri will cover 598 km on a full charge. Not alone could I not get it beyond a 501 km level on a 100% charge (according to the car itself), but if you left it in ‘Sport’ mode, capability plummeted.
The boot is large and commodious and the interior will easily accommodate five adults in comfort. The décor is good and the infotainment systems easy to use.
All that is good – or reasonably so – but still the question remains – why the hell did they decide to utilise a legendary iconic nameplate on a new car that has nothing in common with the old one.
Ford will try and spoof you that “this is exactly how an original Capri driver would have expected the future to feel.” Nonsense.
They’ve built a good car, for sure, but the management decisions have been wildly misguided and, put simply, plain wrong.
This car has nothing whatsoever of the character and appeal of the original Capri. People are not dumb and they don’t like what Ford has done here.
And they’re right.
