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mrollingthunder -> RE: New Capri 2012 (8/26/2008 9:55:37 AM)
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I''ve seen all sorts of renderings and supposed spy photos of the proposed Capri. Some good, some not so good. Unfortunately, athey all share the same shortcoming that will result in failure: Front wheel drive. When will Ford learn? The EXP, Probe, Aussie Capri, "new" Cougar, etc. weren''t enough to have Ford learn their lesson about the lack of consumer enthusiasm for a front wheel drive car with "sporting" pretensions? I have owned five European Capri''s, including my current daily driver, a 1973 v6 2600. And of course, and endless number of Mustangs, Torino''s Fairlaines, Jaguars, MGB, Spitfires and even a couple of BMW''s, including an un-federalized Grey Market 528i. I''ve also had the misfortune of drivine all of the above mentioned Ford front wheel drive failures, as well as actually having the misfortune to have owned a GM front wheel drive vehicle. I will never own another front wheel drive car by choice, no matter how loyal I am to Ford, and no matter how much I love my Capri''s. Ford already has the Focus for an international fwd platform. Buyers who want the car have an ample supply of these cars. What ford doesn''t have is a lightweight, international platform rwd wheel car that can be ordered in a full range of buyer options that range from economy (such as the original Capri 1600) to the performance (Capri RS or 2.8i models). What Ford is missing is the lesson that should have been learned through the original US Mustang and Euro Capri: Build a platform that can transformed by the buyer to meet their needsm from mild to wild, while maintaining a sporty body that allows even the buyer of the economy version to believe they have a true "sports car." The comparison between the rwd Miata and the fwd Aussie Capri should be example enough for Ford. They took esssentially the same motor and transmission, and produced a car in the same price range as the Miata, and yet the fwd Capri died of lack of interest (don''t give me any corporate excuses about the need to redesign the car to satisfy airbag installation causing the car to fail on the market) while the rwd Miata continues to sell well into it''s 18th year! Sound familiar? How about the Capri that also served well, from 1969 to 1987, with very few actual modifications (and therefore very little cost of retooling) and lived well into the era of fwd. It''s rwd successor also sold very well for years (Sierra in Europe, Merkur Xr4 over here). My advice to Ford is to forget the fwd concept and build a lightweight, rwd niche car with subtle retro styling, akin to the current mustang, and I (and I''m sure many others who have loved Euro Fords) will line up to buy it. In the meantime...my "concept" Ford is already underway, with the parts being assembled to build my own Ford "Perana", a V8 powered Capri Mk1. To borrow from Ford''s original US marketing slogan for the Capri..."The car "I" always promised myself!" Don Murphy Geneva, NY USA
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