1984 Ford Capri 2.0 S (MkIII)

Description

Time-warp example from a private collection showing just 1,938 miles from new; garaged by its 1st owner for 30 years; as close to a 'new' Capri 2.0 S as you could ever hope to find

Supplied new by Central Motor Co Ltd of Leicester in August 1984, this late model MkIII Ford Capri 2.0 S is finished in Black and sits on its original 13” four-spoke alloy wheels and is likely as close to a 'new' Capri as you could ever hope to find these days. The reason being that it has covered a mere 1,938 miles from new.

The car was originally bought by a Mr Pick of Leicester in August 1984 who took delivery of the car with some 86 miles on the clock.  And thus began this owner’s distaste for Ford – he believed the car had been used as a demonstrator and was not clean enough or of high enough build quality for his expectations of a new car.

These thoughts, and many other associated disgruntlements, are documented in (draft) letters on file which we gather were sent to the supplying dealer and also to Ford’s then MD, Mr Toy.  As a result of the first owner's dissatisfaction with Ford and his new Capri, he refused to use the car any more after just 598 miles, shutting it away in his garage until his demise 30 years later when it passed to its second owner, another family member, in 2014.

An April 2016 copy of Classic & Sports Car on file includes the car in a 'One to Buy' feature when it was offered for sale by a dealer (LE Autos) showing 1,922 miles with three images and a brief description.  The feature states that it's as if 'the car has been abducted by Aliens' so original is it, referring to it as ‘not mint, but dead straight’ inferring that it may have had corrective paint by Ford when new and had the engine painted red (as noted by the first owner) suggesting it may have originally been a show car used by Ford for marketing purposes (this has since been corrected by our vendor).

The car has been with our vendor since purchase in 2018 and has been kept in a bubble with just 16 miles added since the C&SC article in 2016.

The history file includes the V5C showing just two former owners, a laminated old V5C showing just one former owner, the original service booklet showing two stamps, the first Free Service in September 1984 by the supplying dealer and the second in June 2015 by BMC Ford of Windsor. 

In addition we also find the original owner’s booklets, period sales brochure, two old MOTs (2014 and 2021) plus the current, valid until October 2024 recording no advisories, one bill for sundry items including tail gate struts, a cam belt and carb service kit dated May 2018 and Warranty booklet with one stamp for Protectol rust proofing applied in August 1985.

An astounding opportunity with an interesting back-story, they don’t come along like this very often and it's no surprise it has caused something of a stir since arriving on site with both Octane and Kelsey Media running articles on it along with a few other news agencies picking up on the story online.

Also featured on BBC Hereford & Worcester radio, here-with a link to the article on BBC Sounds  - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0gx0vvl

For more information contact - will.daniels@brightwells.com