A car that made history with the name of the Salotto del Mondo
The name of our island, the Living Room of the World , has traveled and continues to travel the world, used in many ways such as hotels, restaurants, streets, buildings and objects of all kinds. In any case, it has always semantically linked to itself a meaning equal to prestige, elegance, luxury, elements tending to identify a high quality product.
In many cases, the name “ Capri ” made history, as it happened in automotive sector, linked to a choice by Ford, which from 1969 put into production a very successful coupe in Europe: “The car you always promised!” This is the slogan with which the company launched its Capri coupe. An apt claim, because the new Ford combined a spectacular and gritty line with the purchase and maintenance cost of a normal sedan.
The father of the family could thus satisfy his ego without too many sacrifices in terms of habitability and trunk; probably the other members of the family also willingly accepted some renunciation in favor of a car that constituted an excellent “status symbol” of which the name is fully part of it.
In America it had broken through the Mustang, while for the old continent the company thought of a product more suitable for the European market; the goal was to create a widespread car, room for more than two people, a large trunk and affordable prices. The stylistic basis was the beautiful German Taunus GT and the English GBX, while the name “Capri” was taken from the cabrio version of the Consul 315.
The first important aesthetic renewal dates back to 1974, bringing it closer to an “almost” normal sedan, while the second change took place in 1978, transforming it, with numerous tricks, into a modern and captivating car. Then, for speed lovers, there was also a racing version, the “Capri Rs 2600”.
The design-price mix led to success the Ford “Capri” which remained in production until 1985, also the protagonist of a series of telefilms entitled “I Professional”, aired a few years ago on TeleMonteCarlo. Twenty years later, Ford decided to reuse the name “Capri” for a coupe car that came out in 2005, the last historical heir.
