Good for Ford!

Sir,

In these days of increasing sales of foreign cars in this country it has been particularly satisfying for me to have owned and experienced during the past six months a British car which has no rival—the Ford Capri 3.0S. Naturally, when I took delivery of it in February 1976, my expectations were high—I would not have ordered it otherwise. Those expectations have been amply fulfilled. It is a car that provides exceptional comfort for two and reasonable comfort for four with considerable load carrying capacity with two up and fairly generous stowage space with four. It has shattering performance combined with very useful torque throughout the gears; these attributes are matched by the roadholding (greatly improved since the Mark I 3-litre), brakes and excellent handling which is assisted by superb power steering. The gearbox is up to the usual high Ford standards and fuel economy has been surprising—a regular 25 m.p.g. I must also record, albeit with some apprehension, that the car has been completely reliable after six months and 8,000 miles. My only criticism concerns the paintwork which was by no means perfect but, regrettably, this seems to be a fault common to most new cars today.

The fact that this outstanding motor car can still be bought for under £3,000 makes it completely unrivalled in this country at the moment. There are a number of cars available with similar attributes at prices in excess of £5,000-I am thinking in particular of the Reliant Scimitar—but there is nothing at a price lower than that. The Triumph Dolomite Sprint, BMW 320, Lancia Beta HPE and Renault 17 all cost substantially more despite the Ford’s superiority in almost every department.

I have never written to any magazine before; I do hope, however, that your excellent publication will show the manufacturers what a winner they are now marketing, not only by publishing this letter but also by carrying out a road-test which I am confident will support much of what I have said.

Unfortunately, the patriotic note I endeavoured to strike in the first sentence of this letter has been slightly upset by the recent news that production of all S-types has moved to Germany!

Balsall Common KEVIN MARTIN

[I have been unable to get hold of a Capri for test since 1969, although a colleague tested the Capri Ghia 3-litre in 1974—Ed.]