The Ford Capri is set to make a roaring comeback as an electric sports car nearly four decades after the original version went out of production. The 1970s style icon, dubbed the “working man’s Porsche”, was beloved by celebrities including Liverpool footballer Phil Thompson and TV presenter Noel Edmonds.
It was just as popular on TV, favoured by Bodie, played by the late Lewis Collins, in The Professionals; Terry McCann, played by the late Dennis Waterman, in Minder; and by Del Boy, played by David Jason, in Only Fools and Horses. Del Boy’s eye-catching green model was dubbed the “Pratmobile” by his brother Rodney, played by Nicholas Lyndhurst.
But the popularity of the 1970s classic car has endured, with singer Harry Styles, 29, owning a white 1970 Capri and TV chef Jamie Oliver, 47, also owning a Mark I that he calls his “little bad boy”.
The original Capri, marketed as “the car you always promised yourself” was a notorious gas-guzzler. But the revamped electric version, which will cost about £40,000 and do up to 310 miles on a full charge, is due to go on sale next year.
The new 300hp Capri will go from 0 to 60mph in 6.4 seconds and will boast rear-wheel drive and four headlights in a nod to the original model.
It will also be fitted with wireless phone charging and massaging seats, with a 15-inch interior touch screen.
A spokesman for the car manufacturer refused to confirm whether the Capri was being brought back.
He said: “We don’t speculate on future products, but Ford is on a mission to make electric iconic.”
However, Amko Leenarts, the design chief for Ford of Europe, said he would love to bring back the Capri for the modern market during an interview in 2019. He said: “Who would not want to bring back the Capri as a design?
“We’d love it. But it’s got to be in the zeitgeist and has to fit, and work as a plural, not just exist as something for a designer to bring back an old car.”
Fun facts
- The Ford Capri was named after the sun-kissed Italian island.
- The first Capri was made at Ford’s Halewood plant in Merseyside in 1968.
- It was officially launched at the Brussels Motor Show in January 1969.
- About 400,000 models were sold in its first two years and almost 1.9 million by the time it was taken out of production in December 1986.
- Throughout the 1970s it was also sold in North America as the Mercury Capri, where it was marketed as the “sexy European”.
