Carscoop 2011-2012: Ford Capri

For most of us -hopefully- the car pictured above is nothing more than a Honda Civic Si Coupe with Ford logos and decals. But somehow, the owner of the Blue-Oval-badged Civic, Roger Grenon, managed to pass it on as a "very rare 2007 European Ford Capri RS Mark IV Concept car" designed by none other than "Carrozzeria Ghia SpA" at a Ford-only car show.

"I was told that I was not allowed to enter my car into an 'All Ford' Car Show so I made this up," says Grenon. Basically, all he did is swap the 'H' logos with blue ovals and add some RS, SVT and Capri decals. And oh, he also came up with an amusing vehicle history sheet that he post on the "Carpi Concept's" window (read it after the jump).

"Some people were fooled, some were confused, some were downright angry," Grenon said. "The main guy that was sponsoring the show was pissed off [wonder why..]. I heard him say "we are not giving this car a f'ng award!"

[History sheet] 2007 EUROPEAN FORD CAPRI RS
What you are looking at is a very rare 2007 European Ford Capri RS Mark IV Concept car that debuted at the 2008 Salone dell'automobile di Torino (Turin Automobile Show). The car was commissioned by Ford of Europe and built by Carrozzeria Ghia SpA.
This motor is a new Cosworth FVA series 120 cu in DOHC (16V) inline 4 cylinder engine with 6-speed transaxle. The engine produces 275hp and 219ft-lbs. and redlines at 8,000 rpm. The car weighs 2,886lbs and can go zero to sixty in 5.5 seconds with a top speed of 157mph.
This vehicle design was planned for European and Asian markets and was never intended for North America. However Ford CEO Alan Mulally considered bringing the car into the U.S. and Canada markets as a modern Ford Comet.
It was displayed in numerous European and Asian auto shows until early 2009. The car was then purchased at BCA Europa Auto Auctions in Parma, Italy for 38,500 Euros (approx $47,000 US) in July of 2009 by a US importer. It was then re-sold for $41,500 US at the Barrett Jackson Las Vegas, Nevada in October 2009.
There were originally 4 of these cars built for the auto show circuit. Of the 3 other cars one was destroyed, one is part of the Ghia Concept Car collection In Turin Italy and the third is part of the Schlumpf collection in the "Musée Nationale de l'Automobile" in Mulhouse, France. So this is the only one in existence outside of Europe.
This car is now for sale so here is your chance to own a very rare Modern Capri RS Cosworth. For Sale – asking $45,000.

Source: 8th Civic , Via: Jalopnik

While photo galleries of recent models from the past decade or so isn't something noteworthy, when it comes to older vehicles such as the European Ford Capri coupe, it is extremely hard to find good photographic material in terms of quality and size. So when we stumbled upon this huge gallery of the Capri, we couldn't resist from sharing it with you. Concisely, the Capri was a rear-wheel drive compact coupe introduced in Europe in 1969 - think of it as Ford's affordable Euro 'pony car'.

Ford kept the Capri in production until 1986, having revised the coupe in 1974 (MK2) and 1977 (MK3). Various powertrains were offered on the Capri during its 17-year long run including a V4 in 1.3, 1.5 and 1.7-liter versions and a V6 with 2.0, 2.3, 2.8 and 3.0-liters. When the last Capri was made in December 1986, 1,900,678 units had rolled off Ford's production lines. Apart from Europe, the Capri was also sold -though not with the same success and only for a few years- in North America, Australia and South Africa.

Ford Capri MK1 1969-1972