Back in 1969, about the same time when Neil Armstrong said the famous words on our natural satellite and the Woodstock festival had its name written in the annals of the music history book, Ford launched the Capri in Europe.
The affordable sports coupe remained in production for the next 17 years, during which the company’s plant in Cologne, Germany, put together three generations of the model. More than 1.8 million people made the Capri their ride of choice, so it quickly became a natural presence in Europe’s roads, back in the day.
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Now that the Capri turned 50, Ford decided to celebrate the anniversary by taking an RS2600 model on a nostalgic trip. They turned to motoring journalist Steve Sutcliffe, who was handed over the keys and put more than 700 km (435 miles) on the odo during the six days of filming. The Capri RS2600 was taken from Cologne to the Eifel mountains and was then raced at Spa Francorchamps and Zandvoort.
“The Capri was the car that allowed the man on the street to live the everyday dream”, said Sutcliffe. “It made you feel good about yourself when behind the wheel, and it still does today. Ultimately, it was about the pure enjoyment of driving something just a little bit different.”
After the Capri was discontinued in 1986, its successor, the Probe, which in turn became the Cougar in Europe and ZX2 in North America, was launched two years later.