Description
This lot will be auctioned via Iconic Auctioneers, The Iconic Sale at the NEC Classic Motor Show 2024 - Cars on Saturday the 9th of November, NEC, Birmingham, B40 1NT. Ford had started production of the Capri at Halewood in Liverpool, England in November 1968 in order to ensure that every Ford dealer had at least one Capri on their forecourt on 5 February 1969 and heavily marketed as "the car you always promised yourself", over the next eighteen years nearly two million people in Europe and America did fulfil that promise. Eleven years after the Capri was launched it was still in the top ten selling cars in Britain, something that would be impossible today.
Over the decades, there can't be many people who have not owned or driven one of the many models of Capri at some point so, whatever your view is of the Capri, it remains a part of our motoring history that carved a place for Ford in a sector of the market it had never been in before and set the trend for others to follow.
Ford were absolute masters at up-selling their range by adding clever touches which really enhanced the cars and were badged accordingly allowing your neighbour to closely observe your career path. Specifications, and consequently desirability, varied directly with those little chrome letters moving through 'L' to XL, GXL, E, GT and some time later, Ghia. Despite having been built in serious quantities, the ravages of time and multiple owners have significantly reduced the number of survivors and, although many of the more powerful and rare examples have been rescued and restored, it's very, very rare to find a basic 1300 or 1600 model like the 1600L on offer here in such fabulous condition.
On offer here is a simply incredible Capri, probably the best example of it’s type available in the country today. First registered on the 9th October 1972, this UK-supplied, right-hand drive, 1600L is showing just one former registered keeper from new. Powered by the 71bhp, 1593cc, 4-cylinder Kent engine, it's finished in Lime Glaze and trimmed to 'L-spec' with an odometer reading of 59, 233 miles at the time of cataloguing.
This show-winning example has been enjoyed the same owner for 43 years of its life and has been subject to a full nut and bolt restoration. The results are simply stunning. We could go on but really a car like this needs to be seen in the metal in order to be fully appreciated so we encourage all interested parties to come to the NEC to see this remarkable Capri for themselves.
