Beating ULEZ with a 46-year-old Ford Capri

We had travelled hardly 200 yards, the Ford Capri and I, and conscionable begun a gentle right-hand crook into a roundabout erstwhile a rattling sound, acquainted but unexpected, transported maine backmost 4 decades astatine the velocity of light.

Or much accurately, astatine the velocity of thought, which is somewhat slower. The sound was casual to identify: the fluttering dependable a leafage fragment makes erstwhile it encounters the blades of a two-speed Ford heater instrumentality moving connected Low.

I’d heard it a 100 times successful a Cortina 1600E I owned because, backmost then, Ford ventilation systems tended to ingest fallen leaves done an aerial intake grille up of the windscreen base, wherever they soon met the fan. When you cornered the car, the leafage shifted and the dependable started. Or stopped. 

My homemade remedy was ever to power to High, hoping the other leaf velocity would mince leaves to powder, and occasionally it worked.

Ironically, this sojourn successful a 47-year-old Ford wasn’t expected to beryllium nostalgic. It was spurred by caller changes successful the law.

When Transport for London announced that definite cars, 40 years aged oregon more, would beryllium allowed to traverse the caller London ULEZ boundaries without paying the £12.50 charge, we fell to wondering however it would consciousness to commute done London successful a car arsenic aged arsenic that.

Soon, the proposition widened: could a 40-year-old car bash each of its owner’s motoring: state roads, motorways, nighttime journeys, bedewed travel, suburbs and cities? 

Sure, determination are plentifulness of classical car zealots who marque an contented of doing conscionable this (powerfully insisting the greenest car of each is the 1 you ne'er scrap) but however would it onslaught idiosyncratic specified arsenic me, cosseted each time by the champion the modern car manufacture tin provide?

Ford had conscionable the car for the occupation – a Capri 1.6L successful photogenic mid-blue with achromatic vinyl roof, donated to the company’s Heritage Collection aft the proverbial 1 woman proprietor had driven it a specified 28,000 miles successful each those years.

It was 1 of respective cars Ford keeps successful MOTed information for projects similar this. They lent it instantly with nary provisos, adjacent though I knew this would adhd 500 miles to the odometer reading.

Ford utilized to support its 100-strong car postulation (comprising commercials, concepts, contention cars and a afloat array of accumulation Fords reaching backmost to the Model T) successful little than cleanable conditions successful Dagenham but has precocious moved the batch to a overmuch amended spot attached to its immense European parts HQ successful Daventry.

The cars are grouped according to property and benignant by the curator, Len Keen, and his precise capable wingman Chris Smith, and there’s imaginable for displaying the collection’s immense array of models, artworks and artefacts.

When it’s ready, astir apt beyond Easter adjacent year, it volition beryllium a large spot to visit, though Keen says visitors volition request to marque (easy) anterior arrangements.

The Capri started connected the 2nd twist of the key. On the first, I thought it wasn’t going to, having failed to announcement the ‘Choke’ motion idiosyncratic had enactment adjacent to a discreet achromatic knob snuggling up to the near broadside of the steering column.

Pulled out, it helped the motor burst instantly into beingness and settee into that rolling, rich-mixture idle from the olden days that makes the astir docile motor dependable cammy.

The different large reminder of the past was the stink of the exhaust: a 2nd oregon 2 lasting down a 40-year-old carburettor car is much than capable to item the galore advances successful clean-air engineering since.

After a mates of minutes, the motor was quiescent and smooth, its single-ohc 1.6-litre considerably little thrashy than my 1600E’s pushrod Crossflow that came instantly before. It sounded docile too, rather close for a bulky-looking blue-topped 1.6 producing a stone-age 72bhp and 86lb ft.

Still, the program had been to effort a car whose powerfulness was emblematic of its era, alternatively than a V6 that mightiness look much modern.

I couldn’t assistance reasoning it was arsenic good that this medium-sized coupé (at 4.4m, arsenic agelong arsenic a Ford Focus) weighed conscionable 1010kg, a afloat 100kg little than my allegedly light, aluminium-rich 2021 Alpine A110.

My contiguous ngo was to thrust westbound from Daventry to the Fosse Way, past southbound down that precise acquainted roadworthy to my location astir 65 miles away.

There’s thing similar a acquainted roadworthy to assistance you recognize an unfamiliar car: contiguous impressions were that this car had amazingly bully visibility, astonishing compartment country (even successful the rear) and shallow but thoroughly decent footwear space.

Given the problems today’s car makers person with abstraction efficiency, the information that a Capri had a 16.5-gallon substance vessel was a existent surprise.

By the clip I’d reached home, I’d sorted retired my large impressions. The Capri was an casual car to drive, and amusive to beryllium seen in, with spectacularly bully visibility that shames astir modern cars and instantly proved a immense applicable assistance to modern driving, particularly compared with the Jaguar F-Type from which I’d conscionable stepped.

Its part-fabric seats looked bully but lacked the ‘designed’ enactment we’d request contiguous and its controls were amazingly simple. Its wipers were noisy but susceptible and its lights were overmuch much almighty and amended dispersed than I was expecting, but its audio strategy was crude, not slightest due to the fact that we were harking backmost to pre-FM days.

The decent thrust comfortableness amazed maine astatine first. Then I remembered however precise galore cars of this epoch gave a superficially bully relationship of themselves portion driving astatine five-tenths, aft which their shortcomings became much and much apparent.

The Capri was conscionable similar this: flat-riding and beauteous composed connected mean roads, with a inclination to suffer assemblage power arsenic soon arsenic you pressed connected a bit. The rear leafage springs, a Cortina throwback, were peculiarly poor, some for axle determination and wind-up, and due to the fact that they really steered the car implicit bumps.

One almighty content that grew implicit my 500-mile, six-day sojourn was that the stellar efforts of modern suspension designers successful the latest cars person done much than we deliberation to support roadworthy builders from adjacent much vociferous disapproval of immoderate genuinely unspeakable roads.

In particular, the Capri had crude, unassisted steering that was further hamstrung by a steering instrumentality with the diameter of a shoelace and gearing that did perfectly thing to sharpen it astatine the straight-ahead, thing we nowadays instrumentality for granted.

The brakes were harmless but spongy and their powerfulness assistance didn’t person the intuitive qualities that were built successful a decennary aboriginal erstwhile Ford discovered ‘driving quality’. 

Chuck successful an motor whose 1970s-era powerfulness and torque could hardly present a 14sec 0-62mph clip and you person a car you’d hardly picture arsenic sporty, but for 2 redeeming graces.

The archetypal of those was the Capri’s looks and colour. People who saw it loved it. They enjoyed the signifier and the Capri ethos. Those young capable not to cognize what that Capri stood for (it was Ford’s “car you ever promised yourself”) simply saw it arsenic a chill car.

The 2nd vantage was a sublime gearchange-clutch combination. This car had a gearlever enactment whose lightness, slickness and cleanable explanation I retrieve vividly from my archetypal four-speed Caterham Seven (albeit with a somewhat shorter gearlever and hence a shorter propulsion betwixt ratios).

But the feeling was there. Add an perfect clutch changeable and motor flywheel value that combined to marque slick, speedy gearchanges a delight.

The Capri did rather good connected the motorway, fixed that successful your archetypal 5 minutes you’re conscious that successful today’s satellite it lacks 1 oregon 2 precocious ratios.

Perhaps the lack of a tachometer (a diagnostic of the L model) was helpful; you were lone alert from the motor enactment that it was pulling much revs than you’d nowadays similar to usage astatine astir 70mph.

Road sound built up steadily from 50mph truthful that, erstwhile cruising with the traffic, you had to commencement raising your dependable to converse.

Yet, oddly, it ne'er felt oppressive. Still, I did spell everyplace astatine 65-70mph, which mightiness not delight everyone, adjacent if experienced UK motorway travellers cognize you tin walk truthful small clip astatine elevated speeds that relaxing connected motorways costs you small successful time.

I’m alert that the supra contains a just spot of carping, but that’s not the extremity of the story. The Capri’s restricted width, which made manoeuvring successful postulation casual and made ‘taking a line’ done B-road corners usually possible, added amusive to our progress.

So did the car’s decent grip connected its beauteous Rostyle alloy wheels and 13in Dunlops. Sure, the cornering rotation feels a spot uncontrolled successful today’s presumption but determination was grip too.

The Capri experts I encountered queued up to pass maine astir the model’s endemic tail-happiness, but I recognize this was mostly restricted to the V6s.

I recovered you could transportation the 1.6 into bends, admittedly warring the rim effort that built truthful overmuch with speed, and astonishment galore a modern.

I’d telephone this Capri a amusive car alternatively than a sporty one, though I ideate much powerful, much costly and later-built Capris person driving qualities that amended lucifer their looks.

And truthful to the large question: would it beryllium imaginable to unrecorded with this car arsenic a daily? In galore ways, the reply is yes. At nary signifier did the 1.6L consciousness arsenic if it wouldn’t commencement oregon grip modern postulation (putting speech beauteous sluggish 20-50mph acceleration) oregon header with modern roads, adjacent successful the streaming bedewed that dogged astir of our days with it.

It comes from a shaper whose spare parts are casual to find, and which insurers cognize well. Body deterioration is thing an proprietor would beryllium omniscient to defender against (cars of this epoch rusted acold much than they bash now) but it’s besides imaginable to support them good with modern coatings. Undoubtedly, the Capri would beryllium a rewarding car to beryllium seen in.

It would beryllium acold simpler to ain than, say, an aged Ferrari oregon Porsche, and mightiness besides beryllium much liked by those admiring it from the kerbside. Then there’s the price: they alteration wide but you tin bargain the champion for astir £20,000 and prime up resto projects for nether £10,000.

My ain main preservation would beryllium the dynamics. Today’s basal Fiesta, Clio oregon Yaris has acold nicer brakes, steering and assemblage control.

I thrust cars mostly to bask that worldly and fishy you bash too. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t speculate earnestly astir however a Capri similar this 1 would acceptable my ain stable.

I fishy its relation would beryllium arsenic a classical that’s uncommonly casual to own, gets a bully reception wherever it goes, and is sufficiently practical/cheap/reliable to beryllium utilized often. Besides the ocular impact, honesty is its large trait, arsenic with astir Fords.