Ford Capri
This is the new, all-electric Ford Capri. OK; the elephant in the room – I think it’s important at this stage, right from the get-go to emphasise the following; FORGET. THE. NAME.
Since the adverts first hit our screens featuring a certain French, god-like footballer there has been, shall we say, a fair amount of noise regarding the resurrection of the Capri name. It is not important.
Car names are such a big deal to manufacturers that they actually employ people to sit scrolling through and even inventing words that they then register as trademarks for their brand. It’s plainly obvious that all the decent names were taken some time ago hence the emergence of car names such as ‘Austral‘ and ‘Bigster‘. I mean, come on.
So, when you’re the Ford Motor Company and you’re sitting on a name as valuable and iconic as ‘Capri‘, it was only a matter of time before it once again saw the light of day.
But, but, but…..
‘But it should have been a coupe with a long bonnet and a V6′, I hear many of you say. Well, unfortunately the market isn’t really screaming for RWD petrol-powered coupes at the moment, and, in all fairness to Ford it’s something of a miracle that they still sell the Mustang in the UK (5.0l V8 only, btw – the 2.3 EcoBoost has gone), so they weren’t really going to launch a model to compete with their own car.
Some similarities if you look hard enough
That all said, there are some visual cues that align with the car that originally bore the moniker. This new Capri has five doors so technically it can’t be a coupe but the rear hatch is raked in a coupe-ish fashion. The C-pillar and quarter light behind the rear doors is the most reminiscent feature we can find, the way it curves around is pure Capri. One of my favourite features of the original Capri was the way the bonnet overlapped the headlights like a furrowed brow on the MK3; I personally think Ford missed a trick by not reimagining this and giving the new Capri some much needed attitude which would make its ‘the legend is back‘ tagline more credible.
Anyway, back to the here and now as, as I’ve pointed out, getting worked up about the original Capri is pointless.
What’s the Capri’s range, then?
This all-electric Capri comes in three trim levels; Style, Select & Premium. Style is RWD only, Select is RWD with extended range only & Premium comes in either RWD, RWD extended range or AWD extended range flavours. The entry-level Style manages a claimed 243 miles from a charge which is actually better than the Premium RWD which only manages 231.8 miles. If it’s maximum range you’re after the mid-range Select RWD extended range manages an impressive 389.6 miles.
And how much is it?
Prices start at £41,485 for the Style version and top out at £56,185 for the AWD Extended range Premium spec. We think the sweet-spot is the Select spec version which comes in RWD Extended range only and will set you back £48,085.
Roomy inside, but I hope you like haptic controls
Apart from the squared-off three-spoke steering wheel which has a slightly retro feel, the Capri’s interior is as fresh and modern as they come. The 14.6″ central infotainment screen dominates the whole dashboard and the angle it sits at is adjustable so Ford has called it SYNC Move. Ford were clearly designing the Capri before the backlash to minimalism kicked off so there’s not a dial or switch to be seen. It’s a sea of haptic controls which may give a seamless look but can be frustrating to operate, especially when the heel of your thumb accidentally presses the controls on the left and right of the steering wheel.
How does the Capri drive?
What’s important to remember when driving the new Capri is it’s basically a Ford Explorer underneath, it’s therefore not exactly light and nimble. In fact, this AWD version is a considerable 2.2 tonnes but when a lot of that weight is down to an extra, if slightly less powerful motor driving the front wheels and it therefore gets from 0-62mph in 5.3 seconds, a bit of extra mass can be forgiven. And, to be fair, Ford’s done a good job of making the Capri feel as spritely as possible; it doesn’t bang and crash about or wallow around on its suspension.
Again, though, for the sake of some slightly less impressive acceleration (0-62mph in 6.4 seconds), we’d be looking at the RWD version for that all-important extra range and a few quid saved.
Wherever you’re sat in the Capri you’ll not feel cramped, even with the optional full-length glass roof there’s plenty of head room in all seats. The boot is a generous 572 litres and thanks to it being quite deep, the sloping hatch doesn’t stop even larger items fitting in. From a driver’s perspective, one thing we’re grateful for is Ford’s more subtle way of delivering the now-compulsory driver aides; less klaxon-like than some manufacturers we could mention.
Should I buy a Ford Capri?
For a mid-sized electric coupe-crossover that’s actually based on an SUV, the Capri does lots of things very well and it’s not exactly ugly. Just get over the name thing.
By Ben Harrington
The new Ford Capri is available now, priced from £41,485 OTR. For full details go to: www.ford.co.uk
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