Ford Capri, First Car?

Zip · 3 Jul 2006 at 13:46

Mundu said:
Now I'm starting to get even worse ideas like getting a DeLorean which would cost me something like £1000

Thanks for the help guys. Will go and have a look soon anyway.

Have a look at the MK1 MR2.
They are supposed to be a seriously fun car to drive

burns · 3 Jul 2006 at 13:48

Mundu said:
a DeLorean which would cost me something like £1000

Surely they can't be that cheap? Saw some at CARS at the weekend, they were pretty slow tbh.

Mundu · 3 Jul 2006 at 13:50

burns said:
Surely they can't be that cheap? Saw some at CARS at the weekend, they were pretty slow tbh.

£10000 even. Well going through some garage that finds them for you and makes sure they're all working.

richolmes72 · 3 Jul 2006 at 13:58

I wouldn't say that buying a 1.6 Capri for £400 with lots of MOT for a first car is a bad move.

It's not injenction though and a fairly old engine design, so the car won't be particularly fuel efficient or fast. But it does look good, if you've got the cash and accept that it could be a lemon, then i'd say not too much wrong with that.

zetec452 · 3 Jul 2006 at 14:18

Don't do it unless you are willing to waste every penny you have on it.

The 1.6 is very very (did I say very) slow.

JRS · 3 Jul 2006 at 16:06

Firestar_3x said:
No its due to the fact a milkfloat has more power than that capri, instant death and new driver only happens if the car is capable of breaking traction under its own power, you will be hard pushed to loose the back end of that capri unless your doing something very very stupid indeed.

So, you missed the bit of my post where I descrubed it's performance as "glacial"? And also missed the fact that I was agreeing with the POV that you just posted? And since when has the performance of a car been enough on here to stop people saying "OMGZZZZ RWD = OVERSTEER"?

They really need to invent a language that is a touch more expressive than English for forum use, so people can actually get their real point across.....

vanpeebles · 3 Jul 2006 at 17:30

penski said:
Capris only go sideways on the road if they have silly power and you're driving in a manner that a, puts other road users in danger and b, will get the old bill onto you.

*n

surely that applies to any car?

penski · 3 Jul 2006 at 17:34

vanpeebles said:
surely that applies to any car?

No - some will go sideways easily and can do it in a controlled manner.

You really have to provoke a Capri; especially a 1.6...

*n

vanpeebles · 3 Jul 2006 at 17:36

but that would still invoke rules a and b

penski · 3 Jul 2006 at 17:37

Not really - you can get an 1100 moggy sideways very easily

*n

Dogbreath · 3 Jul 2006 at 17:40

vanpeebles said:
surely that applies to any car?

Not really, you can get a Morris Minor to drift beatifully at comically low speeds, especialy on the original crossplies.

Capris have far too much weight at the front and plenty of grip at the back, which means they naturaly understeer. I drove a friends 2.8i for several thousand miles and you had to try hard to get it to step out in the dry, and even in the wet planting the throttle mid corner would inevitably see the car ploughing straight on.

mattpc · 3 Jul 2006 at 17:42

Buy BUY BUY!!

vanpeebles · 3 Jul 2006 at 17:43

Dogbreath said:
Not really, you can get a Morris Minor to drift beatifully at comically low speeds, especialy on the original crossplies.

Capris have far too much weight at the front and plenty of grip at the back, which means they naturaly understeer. I drove a friends 2.8i for several thousand miles and you had to try hard to get it to step out in the dry, and even in the wet planting the throttle mid corner would inevitably see the car ploughing straight on.

you missed my point, i was being cheeky at that fact surely sliding any car would get the cops interested

Jonny69 · 3 Jul 2006 at 17:45

Sounds like a great idea to me. The 1.6 is a straight swap for the 2 litre when the insurance gets a bit more reasonable which can be followed by either a straight swap with a Cossie engine, the Cossie turbo or swap the engine crossmember for one out the V6 model and fit any of the RWD Ford V6's in there from either a Capri, Saphire Cosworth or up to the late model Scorpio. All the same block on the outside to the best of my knowledge.

The car was originally designed for the Ford 302 or 351 V8 and either of these also fit quite easily with a choice of manual and auto gearboxes.

Brakes can be upgraded with a spacer kit in the caliper for vented discs, 4-pot Capri calipers if you can find them or a number of reasonably priced disc and caliper upgrade kits depending what size wheel you use.

Go for it dude

Zip · 3 Jul 2006 at 17:47

Jonny69 said:
Sounds like a great idea to me. The 1.6 is a straight swap for the 2 litre when the insurance gets a bit more reasonable which can be followed by either a straight swap with a Cossie engine, the Cossie turbo or swap the engine crossmember for one out the V6 model and fit any of the RWD Ford V6's in there from either a Capri, Saphire Cosworth or up to the late model Scorpio. All the same block on the outside to the best of my knowledge.

The car was originally designed for the Ford 302 or 351 V8 and either of these also fit quite easily with a choice of manual and auto gearboxes.

Brakes can be upgraded with a spacer kit in the caliper for vented discs, 4-pot Capri calipers if you can find them or a number of reasonably priced disc and caliper upgrade kits depending what size wheel you use.

Go for it dude

That sounds like my plans for a car

Buy a reasonably rare/unusual car.
Drive it until insurance gives me room to move then once im bored with it upgrade the engine by putting a bigger one in and making it like a whole new car but with the parts you love about it still there if done right :cool:

danza · 3 Jul 2006 at 17:49

You really have to provoke a Capri; especially a 1.6...

http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/ww...urce=0&photo=1&sort=3&ukcarsearch_full=SEARCH

Provoke a Capri to go sideways? It's probably easier to drive sideways than forwards in at least 2 of them!

Look at the bottom 3 on the above page (a bit flippin ££££ though)

Phate · 3 Jul 2006 at 17:52

my friend has a 2.0L as his first car insurance was 1400 hes doing a lot of work on it himself and its a nice car

he paid 600 for it and its in damn good condition except for a bit of rust.

My dad says though if the capri ain't a 3ltr its not a proper capri

Foghorn Leghorn · 3 Jul 2006 at 19:40

Always had a soft spot for th Capri. The 1.6 would be a good first car. Not fast by any standard (there was a 1.3 also :eek:

). No dodgy handling traits that are likely to put you in a hedge/ditch/wall (its handles like a boat as already mentioned above).

The only problem you will find is high insurance, Capris always were expensive to insure, but with this one you are going to have to tell the insurance company that it is modified (twin choke weber carb wasnt standard) and that will put your insurance through the roof

Fog

MrWhippy · 3 Jul 2006 at 20:10

if you like the looks of it, take it for a test drive.
if you still like it after a drive, go for it.

just be prepared to do a bit of mechanical tinkering every now and then as required, it'll need it, but capri's are so so easy to work on.

my first car was a 2.0 sport.
my third car was 2.8 injection.

one day though, i'd like a 3.0 JPS (if there's any still running).

Iamzod · 3 Jul 2006 at 21:53

My 1st car was and still is a Capri 2.8i.

As previous posters have mentioned theres loads of options for engine swaps to bigger things in the future should u decide to keep the car but want more grunt.

Repairs are generally mechanically simple, they were designed over a quarter of a century ago afterall.

Parts are generally very easy to source if you know where to look.

And the whole thing about it will throw you through a hedge in the rain backwards is a load of carp. Stick decent tyres on it and go steady & smooth in the rain and you should be fine, just be careful, and plan ahead.

Ford Capri, First Car?

Man of Honour