The brand new Ford Capri desires to faucet a vein of Gen X nostalgia. Does it succeed?

The long-nosed, two-door fastback coupé Ford Capri (1969-1986) had a swagger that advertising budgets couldn’t purchase. Popstars selected to pose contained in the automotive on their album covers, together with reggae superhero Gregory Isaacs on his 1974 debut LP In Individual, whereas TV stars enhanced their characters’ secret-agent standing by driving them, specifically Bodie & Doyle within the British crime-busting drama collection The Professionals (1977-1983). The previous Capri had an inexpensive cachet – as Ford’s European reply to its US Mustang muscle automotive – and held nice enchantment amongst a sure mainstream male buyer base, if not all the time mega gross sales success, throughout three a long time.

However these a long time are lengthy gone. So why resurrect the Capri title now? Ford has been leaning into just a few of its iconic nameplates of late, likening them to Marvel superheroes with superpowers. Familiarity will be good when confronted with competitors from so many, usually nameless, new Twenty first-century electrical start-up manufacturers aiming to tackle the well-known American marque that revolutionised mass-production within the early twentieth century. And in addition to, new names break the bank to register and market.

The technique has labored properly with the Ford Bronco, which additionally had an extended hole in its manufacturing historical past earlier than being resurrected in 2020. The present model continues to be out there as a three-door petrol mannequin, nonetheless seems to be boxy and nonetheless seems to be like a sensible and genuine 4×4, as a result of it’s. The brand new mannequin has a transparent hyperlink to Broncos of previous, stands out properly on the street and is promoting properly.

The brand new electrical Ford Capri

By comparability, the brand new all-electric 2024 Capri has no want for an extended bonnet to deal with a combustion engine. And as a high-sided five-door crossover, it doesn’t have sufficient visible, and even proportional resonance with the low-slung two-door fastback Capri fashions that preceded it to share the title in any significant method.

Trying past the title’s authenticity or in any other case, the brand new Capri is nonetheless well-designed and constructed. Panel gaps are tight and minimal and the surfacing clean, logical and restrained, particularly obvious across the entrance finish. Inside, the cabin shares the clear aesthetic of the brand new electrical European Explorer, bar the daft addition of a steel steering wheel spoke at six o’clock with drilled-out holes that – whereas reminiscent of related detailing on sure Capris of previous – sits uneasily inside this in any other case trendy Ford inside.

The brand new electrical Capri additionally options the Explorer’s secret locker house behind the big and slidable portrait-shaped centre touchscreen, which is an efficient factor. Passenger house back and front is genuinely good and with a min/max boot house of 572 to 1,505 litres, the Capri is sensible too. The inside temper is enhanced by the optionally available panoramic glass roof, ambient lighting and a classy floating B&O sound bar on Premium fashions, however normally, the brand new Capri might do with some extra shock and delight supplies. Perhaps a rumoured sportier ST model will rectify that.

What’s it prefer to drive?

To drive, the brand new Capri is competent solely. In both rear-wheel drive (RWD) or all-wheel drive (AWD) mode, the driving expertise doesn’t really feel related sufficient to the automotive. On twisty roads, this higher-sided automobile doesn’t really feel totally comfortable, and with solely a single-speed automated transmission and no paddle-style regenerative braking choices, can really feel prefer it’s working away with itself.

The one regen possibility – from a twist of the steering column-mounted gear selector to the ‘B’ setting – helps a bit by ‘holding’ the automotive after bursts of acceleration, and in ‘Sport mode’ the throttle response is sharpened and steering suggestions higher. However not a lot. Which is a disgrace, as in latest historical past Ford has been often called a maker of great-driving vehicles. Perhaps selecting to borrow VW’s electrical platform for the Capri’s underpinnings offered too many constraints on what dealing with modifications may very well be made, though Ford engineers did stress that trip high quality for lengthy journeys – particularly for these within the again – had been actually centered on.

All of which suggests the brand new five-door Capri – out there to order with 170hp, 286hp and 340hp energy outputs, RWD and AWD and 242-389 miles of electrical vary – is aimed extra at households than the previous two-door coupé ever was. For that new market – who might or might not bear in mind the previous Capri in any respect – the brand new sensible crossover might swimsuit their lives completely properly. But it surely’s not likely a Capri anymore, in form or spirit.

Ford Capri, from £42,075, Ford.co.uk, @FordUK