Old Ford find - and ignorant fool on the phone!

[Mark300SL]

A friend of ours has just pulled this out of the garage after a recent bereavement - it has been there since it was laid up in 1990!

It has 5 owners - the original first owner and then father and son twice each - so it really is one owner + 1 family from new

3.0 Mk1 pre facelift Capri

The son (previous owner) has looked it over and reckons it wont take a lot to get it through a test, and will hopefully stick it in for one soon.
I needed to get a fair valuation on it so they can sell it, as its not as much use to an 80 year old Widow as the cash might be.

It looks like Capri Club International are not interested
Someone gave me a number for the Club but wasnt sure, so I called the guy to check I had the right number - and he just called me a knob ??? I said "what ?" - he said again "You're a knob!"
Couldnt be bothered any more - so I just hung up!

Maybe he knows me


So far I figure its somewhere between £2500-£5000, but thats quite a variation in price

Mark

 

[DieselE]

The bodywork on that car is certainly in beautiful condition. It looks as if someone has been fiddling around with the rear suspension as that does not look like standard.

I had a 1600GT Mk1 Capri back in 1970. It was a great car. The 3 litre version had a reputation for being great in a straight line but having a marked reluctance to go round corners. The weight of the engine produced chronic understeer.

 

[grober]

Strange rear spring hangers? Non standard rear chrome embellishments?

 

[AANDYY]

Loverly car, I prefered the Mk1's to the later ones.
Squint a little and it's a bit like small Mustang

 

[GRAV888]

Strange rear spring hangers? Non standard rear chrome embellishments?

Been jacked up at some point.
God knows why, but all my mk1's were done too

 

[grober]

Might be worth contacting some of the branches instead- one of the ones local to you? http://www.capriclub.co.uk/ branch listings

 

[imadoofus]

If the hidden metalwork is as good as the visible (which, realistically, is never the case with a Capri) then it's a nice looking car.

Pre-facelifts are sought after, but by a relatively small group. If the mileage is good, then it could be worth up to £4k with a following wind. the £5k you mention is closer to a 3000E value.

It's all about who is looking for the car at the right time...

 

[st13phil]

That looks like fun

The rear suspension has a "jack up kit" on it - which are just longer spring shackles - probably because it has (difficult to be sure from the pic's) or had larger than std wheels on it. The front ride-height looks a bit high too, so maybe that's got spacers on the springs. Rear bumper overriders may be off a later model (perhaps a 3000E?).

As for value, I've no idea as these sort of cars go for whatever someone's willing to pay. Why not pick up a copy of Classic Ford (or whatever it's called) mag and e-mail the editor some pic's and a short "look what we've just found" note. They may be able to help with a valuation or be able to put you in touch with interested parties?

 

[Mark300SL]

Loads of useful info - cant believe I didnt think about classic Ford - Doh!


The vehicle is a 3000E apparently
Mileage is under 100k - will get exact figure soon
Apparently very rot free

 

[BTB 500]

Yup I've noticed that almost every article in M-B Enthusiast about an older car ends with a footnote "this car is currently for sale, contact ..."

Basically the magazine fills some column space and the seller gets a huge advert, so everyone's happy

 

[imadoofus]

Basically the magazine fills some column space and the seller gets a huge advert, so everyone's happy

More often than not, I suspect you will find that once approached by the magazine, the owner decides that now is the best possible time to sell, given that there are loads of impulsive buyers out there.

 

[BTB 500]

More often than not, I suspect you will find that once approached by the magazine, the owner decides that now is the best possible time to sell

But how would the magazine know of the owner in the first place??

 

[Diesel Benz]

The bodywork on that car is certainly in beautiful condition. It looks as if someone has been fiddling around with the rear suspension as that does not look like standard.

I had a 1600GT Mk1 Capri back in 1970. It was a great car. The 3 litre version had a reputation for being great in a straight line but having a marked reluctance to go round corners. The weight of the engine produced chronic understeer.

To me it looks like standard rear suspension except that the rear hangars have been changed to make room for bigger tyres?

Did everyone have one of those, at least in the family? We had a three litre one too, unfortunately I did not have the driving licence at that time. It did not have a lot of power in absolute terms really but the light rear allowed it to spin wheels on first gear, not usual for cars at that time among the cars where I live.

Understeer sounds odd for that car but perhaps the engine weight and position made it like that, I never drove it on public roads and don't know from experience.

 

[BTB 500]

IIRC the Ford 3.0 V6 was only 120-130 bhp or so?

I had a Granada 3.0 Ghia ("Sweeny car")

 

[imadoofus]

But how would the magazine know of the owner in the first place??

Through owners clubs, and appeals on forums (fora?) like this one.

 

[Rory]

A friend of ours has just pulled this out of the garage after a recent bereavement - it has been there since it was laid up in 1990!

Are you sure the story is true? - I can't believe that the chrome etc is in such good condition after 18years, unless it was very well protected or the car was kept in an air conditioned garaged!

 

[Rory]

I had a 1600GT Mk1 Capri back in 1970. It was a great car. The 3 litre version had a reputation for being great in a straight line but having a marked reluctance to go round corners. The weight of the engine produced chronic understeer.

I had one of the first MkII 2.0S brand new in 1978 (they must have kept the models for longer then that they do now) and that was just the same - in the wet it just went straight on. Nightmare. Yet I can't remember ever losing the back end, it just didn't have much power, I guess.

In its day it was a great car - it seems laughable now, but the girlfriend I had for the most of the time I owned it hated it because people used to stare at it all the time, and kids would gather round it wherever we stopped.

 

[kjay]

Beautiful car!!

Love Capri's - I had quite a few - sadly never a 3 litre.

Not sure about understeer?? All mine used to be sidways most of the time.
Ahhh, the good ol' days of leaf springs.

.

 

[rf065]

I knew someone who had one & I got to drive it a few times.
As you looked over the bonnet you could actually see the front lift upwards and the steering go light if you pushed it beyond legal limits on the motorway. I think later models had spoilers fitted to the front to stop this happening.

Russ

 

[Mark300SL]

Are you sure the story is true? - I can't believe that the chrome etc is in such good condition after 18years, unless it was very well protected or the car was kept in an air conditioned garaged!

Garage is very watertight - Its been in there under a cover for 18 years and the story is most definately true. I have known of this cars existence since I first met my wife - and my son is now 19!

I have just come back from going to see it tonight
Its currently in the care of my wifes Aunt for disposal. It has been in the same family and the same garage for the last 32 years as far as we can work out. The son bought the car orignally when he was 18 and he is now 50!

The shell is VERY solid, the only serious area to need attention is at the base of the drivers A pillar/wing
Front wings have been replaced in the past - I am trying to find out when
Sills (inner and outer)/jacking points/boot floor are all good.
The exterior paint is as good as it looks
Engine bay is not as tidy - but there is very little sign of any corrosion
interior needs work - its far from dire but it lets the car down
Dash has a couple of splits and a green one might be fun to match!
Drivers door card has a few splits on the edge
Current mileage is just over 100k at 101k
Had a water pump fitted a few years ago but its vever been run since!
Fitted with a K&N - not the original filter but it may be in the garage

I had my camera with me - but unfortunately the CF card was still in my PC -

So these came from my phone and the majority were taken to show defects.

Remember these are the "warts" pictures and to be fair they don't show the car in a true light, the pics make it look a lot worse than it really is.

So there it is - Warts and all

Mark