My Thoughts on the new Ford Capri & Honda Prelude


So, motoring fans have been fuming as of late as Ford revealed “the legend returns” in the form of the new Ford Capri.

Now this is something Ford has been trying since the original Capri coupe went out of production in Europe in 1984 and the UK/Ireland in 1986. We got the Probe (which was the first US Ford since the Model T sold in the UK) in ‘94, followed by the Cougar in ’98 and the Puma the year prior. But the Probe had a silly name and had been around in the US for several years, the Cougar wasn’t much of a driver’s car and the Puma whilst an excellent car sadly was never replaced. There has been no Ford coupe in the UK since 2002. And no the Mustang doesn’t count!

It’s hard to get across just how important this new Capri is, but when asked “what kind of car is it?” it’s actually quite hard to describe, because as you can probably tell, this new version is not a 2-door coupe. It’s an electric 4-door hatch/SUV.

Since the Capri concept was spotted a couple of months ago, fans have been fuming because of both the styling and the fact it’s not a coupe. So where do I stand on the matter? Well, the best way of thinking about it that this isn’t a return of the Capri car but a return of the Capri name. Whilst I can seem some echos of the original, mainly in the rear, it isn't a very pretty car in my book, even in bright yellow, it's too tall and has 4-doors not 2, it's not hideous but crucially it isn't anywhere near as good as the original 60s car which really was a small piece of exotica on your drive. Richard Porter (ex-Top Gear script writer & EVO columnist) pointed out, the use of the name means Ford have a recognisable name already on a new car, as let’s face it, Capri is more enticing than say E-Crossover which will naturally boost sales though if anything it only proves Ford made this car for financial reasons and not out of passion and a genuine desire to bring back a legend of the motoring world.

I think it’s fair to say that this new Capri won’t live up to the old one, the old one was all things to all people, a TV star and a well-proven racing car. Chances are this new one will simply fall into Fords ever confusing range and do nothing of any importance, unless it appears in Line of Duty I guess.

But, if you think resurrecting old names is purely for marketing purposes then think again. As Honda has revealed the new Prelude coupe concept.

Now whilst it is a concept, it’s basically production ready, and I must say it's quite a good looking car, definitely harks back to the 4th generation model, especially the grille.

Now the Prelude wasn’t the greatest of coupes on offer in the UK, the last model (1997-2001) wasn’t as stylish as an Alfa GTV or Peugeot 406, or as fast as a Fiat Coupe or Nissan 200SX and didn’t have the premium badge and feel of a BMW 3-Series or Audi TT. All it really had going was excellent build and reliability, but so did the Toyota Celica and that was a rallying superstar.

This new Prelude has primarily been designed as a young driver’s car. Hence the 1.8 litre hybrid engine from the Civic along with most of the interior and the chassis, said engine makes 181 BHP, offers 56.5 MPG and should get it to 60 in around 7 seconds, expect top speed to be over 140 MPH. The aforementioned interior is centred around Honda’s “man-maximum/machine-minimum” approach, so you still get knobs and buttons for air-con and the radio, no mention of gearbox, but I’m hoping and expecting a manual, 6-speed probably. Price? probably around £40,000 or what would have been roughly £25,000 20 years ago, so keep that in mind.

I’m very excited about this car, the coupe market in this country has dried up after the Audi TT, VW Sirocco and Hyundai Veloster left, meaning this new Prelude has basically got the affordable coupe market all to itself, though Toyota has got a new Celica on the way, so it will have some tough competition soon.

It's clear that this new Prelude was built with passion and drive to make a genuinely good car, and whilst that doesn't necessarily translate to great sales, it does mean that this new model will likely be remembered fondly for providing a bit of variety and challenging the status quo, it's a car type that enthusiasts like, just look at the Mazda RX-7 and anything made by TVR, they're not perfect but they stand out and show that they are those in the high ranks of motor manufacturers who know what the enthusiasts want. Anyways, point being: expect this new Prelude to be a future classic.

So, if you are feeling a bit disheartened about the new Ford Capri not being what you hoped/expected, don’t worry because the Japanese are here to help.

 

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