Ford's 50th Birthday celebration of the Capri

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Daz-RSK
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Ford's 50th Birthday celebration of the Capri

Post by Daz-RSK »

Hello Forum members,

I make my apologies for the abrupt entrance here. I haven't even introduced myself. I will do.

But when you get to the bottom of this post, you'll see that this is all about you, the Capri owner, not about me. :D

Sorry, I am going to have to make this bold to stress the importance of this:--

FORD HAS NEVER DONE ANYTHING FOR THE CAPRI SINCE ITS DEPARTURE IN 1986. WE NOW HAVE BEEN GIVEN SOMETHING BACK BY FORD.

WE ARE ALLOWED TO SHOW OUR CAPRI'S NEXT YEAR ON FORD GROUNDS, UNDER THE FORD OVAL, AT THE DUNTON RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT CENTRE ON THE TEST TRACK THEY USED TO TEST OUR MOTORS.

THIS IS AN UNUSUAL EVENT, AS YOU KNOW! IT'S NEVER BEEN IN THE CALENDAR TO MARK OUR MOTORS! IT IS NOT SOMEWHERE WHERE YOU USUALLY MEET OR HAVE HISTORICALLY MET! WE CAN HAVE AS MANY AS 400 CARS. 100 CAPRI'S GETS US ON THE TRACK (PARKED, NOT RACING, UNFORTUNATELY) AND THAT EXCLUSIVITY IS SOMETHING ELSE.

IT IS NOW DOWN TO YOU, TO US, TO MAKE A SUCCESS OF THIS NOW WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN THIS OPPORTUNITY BY FORD.

The provisional date is Sun 1st Sept 2019. There are some I's and T's to be dotted & crossed still and this will be firmed up in Jan/Feb 2019. All I wanted to do at this stage is find out what success of a show you would like to make of the manufacturer of your car allowing us to display the vehicles on their proving track ?


As a stretch, I am going to enquire to see if there are any engineers that worked with the Capri who could talk to us about the R&D. It is a stretch and probably only the Mk3 development, maybe Mk2, as they would be pushing on in age.

So is there any interest in showing your car at the ground it was proven on ? Just indicatively at this stage ?

Thank you for reading, people.
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Andrew 2.8i
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Re: Ford's 50th Birthday celebration of the Capri

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

Sounds great!
I reckon that's one I will try to be at.

Welcome to the forum, by the way! :welcome:

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Re: Ford's 50th Birthday celebration of the Capri

Post by Caprifan Rob »

Andrew 2.8i wrote:Sounds great!
I reckon that's one I will try to be at.
:agree: Put me down for some of that please, nice of you to bring it to our attention :cheers:
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Re: Ford's 50th Birthday celebration of the Capri

Post by Jasonmarie »

Looks like we will all be clocking up the miles nextyear ...... yes not be to Dunton for a time use to go a lot as a kid .
Ford Capri 2.0 Laser 1987 Mercury Grey ....... :beer:
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Re: Ford's 50th Birthday celebration of the Capri

Post by D366Y »

Nothing in my diary, I'll try to bring one down, if I can find a co-pilot I'll bring the second one along too!
A wise man once said... "you can never have too many capris - buy another" :beer:
It's me, I'm the wise man.
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Re: Ford's 50th Birthday celebration of the Capri

Post by Peter-S »

D366Y wrote:Nothing in my diary, I'll try to bring one down, if I can find a co-pilot I'll bring the second one along too!
Yep, I'm thinking the same
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Re: Ford's 50th Birthday celebration of the Capri

Post by 2litreScapri »

Blimey, there is going to be so much to do! If that goes ahead than just the following weekend is the 50th anniversary at Brooklands. I hope you dedicated Capri nutcases have got the petrol & the maintenance covered to be able to do all the miles required from show to show!

It does sound great, although timing could be better?!

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Re: Ford's 50th Birthday celebration of the Capri

Post by Not_Anumber »

Please include me in your plans. Dunton is quite a short run for me.
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Re: Ford's 50th Birthday celebration of the Capri

Post by andyd »

2litreScapri wrote:Blimey, there is going to be so much to do! If that goes ahead than just the following weekend is the 50th anniversary at Brooklands. I hope you dedicated Capri nutcases have got the petrol & the maintenance covered to be able to do all the miles required from show to show!

It does sound great, although timing could be better?!

Kris
Too close together, so just Brooklands for me.
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Re: Ford's 50th Birthday celebration of the Capri

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

I forgot about Brooklands for a moment... :doh:
I think it will be one or the other for me, although with both shows being in September, the final decision of which to attend may well depend on which show has the better weather forecast.
The Brooklands show could well have the better attendance, as the planning has been underway for years and has a proven show organiser who we all know, like and respect. With respect to the OP of this thread, except for the location and provisional date, we don't know anything about this newly organised show.

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Re: Ford's 50th Birthday celebration of the Capri

Post by Daz-RSK »

Thank you to all who have responded so far to this thread. Please keep on coming with comments - I am all ears. I am not sure what chains I can pull but I welcome the comments, the interest etc.

Let me bring some more colour to the madness that I have posted.

I am a Ford employee and as I mentioned to the admin team here, there is, unfortunately, no one in Ford really raising the flag for our motors. I think I read on here that someone thought there was some flyer / publication stating Ford will do a 50th for Escort one year and Capri the following year. Internally I have seen nothing. There wasn't even an Escort one this year and 50 yrs on from 1968 is running out, fast.

I've tried to push the Capri birthday along and Ford were not willing to entertain a bespoke Capri event. If they did, it would probably be a miserable Wednesday in May some time, anyway.

But that's enough of that.

I think what I have got is better. It's still at Ford, it's still at Dunton, the home of Ford R&D and we can park the cars on the track they used for the R&D of them. The difference is this - the grounds are hosted by Ford, the event is hosted by St Francis Hospice.

Now I bet you are thinking - "WHAT!".

So did I!

When Ford threw it out about them doing to whole thing, they offered me this charity. So, a little disappointed, I thought I would investigate. I went to Frankie's Classic Car show (as they call themselves) at Dunton this Sept 2018 to see if it was a flier for us.

My God - talk about car shows. You're thinking, sounds like a charity. I am telling you that this knocks anything you have seen in terms of a classic car show! There were so many RS Fords there. I work at Ford and have never seen so many in one gathering. Then through the range of Ford models into other brands of classic cars. There's probably, all in all, 500 - 700, maybe more, classic motors turn up. This is no meek charity event with cars at the back of the field. This is enormous!

They even have a Youtube clip I'll post here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gitcuoEu5pw


So why is this better than what Ford can do and why did Ford throw it out ?

Ford threw it out because of security issues. They tend to be better in hosting something like a limited run of motors. So if the Brooklands Capri set said they might want an event to celebrate 40 years since Brooklands was made, Ford are better at this. It would be a weekday when 20 or 30 cars would make the event and they would have the Ford grounds to themselves - probably on a Weds in April or whatever. Ford can accommodate this. I think I frightened them that there could be over 100 motors descending on their track.

So this is better because it is a weekend day. Ford would probably only entertain us in the week, like they have done with the Puma Racing club and there was one other (I forget now). They go home at the weekend and don't want to be involved with car shows.

Also, this Frankie show is a proper organised classic car set up as you see from the clip. It has all of the facilities, food, disco, band, things for the kids. A proper classic car set up, much bigger and greater than Ford could ever put together. This is a well oiled machine


So why 1st Sep and why so close to Brooklands ?

Well, the 1st weekend is only when they can get their slot at Ford. Because this takes over most of Dunton, Ford can't just have a free for all date for this charity. Further, this Frankie Car Show has been running quite a few years and it seems to suit everyone for the 1st weekend of September. So changing the date might be difficult. They are geared up for themed events and did a Mustang event this year, a Mk1 RS Focus event a couple of years back. So they know the drill.

But I hear what you are saying. Brooklands event, an established event (I have been to that as well and will be there next year as well, so I know what you mean) and the organisation there - it is something else. It is known, you know what you are getting and what you have seen there. I get it! If I was coming 200 miles to an event, do I want to do that same distance on 2 weekends running ?

I looked at it from both angles, not that I could do anything about it. I was just glad the dates didn't clash, to start - in that the 1st weekend of Sept when this charity do this at Dunton was not the 8th. Then I started questioning would 2 big events together be a blessing or a hindrance ?

I am torn here chaps. I hear what some of you are saying. All I can do is reach out to all of the Capri owners, as much as I can, in this land and on the continent and see who would like to attend what. For people in the south / south east, this works better. Can I sell the Frankie car event as better than Brooklands. No, I can't. It is a bespoke Capri event there vs the home of the production of your car. They compliment each other, I feel. But I recognise some of you will have to make the decision maybe one of the other.


As someone above said, there is a bit to do. It isn't sealed yet. But once it is, all the fine details will be placed into the "Events" area of the board.


Please keep on coming with the comments. I am meeting the St Francis Hospice charity people regularly and I will gather these to pass to them - along with the date proximity to Brooklands that some of you are concerned with.
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Re: Ford's 50th Birthday celebration of the Capri

Post by Peter-S »

Consecutive weekends is perhaps a pity but if it can't be helped so be it. My main reservation is being fair to Brooklands and not trying to compete but you seem to have that in mind.
Whenever you pick a date there will always be someone who says they are away or the event clashes with something else. Hopefully if the events are distinct then people will be prepared to do both, after all, its not going to happen again!
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Re: Ford's 50th Birthday celebration of the Capri

Post by 2litreScapri »

Daz-RSK, I would be happy to chat to you about it, the Brooklands event is dear to my heart but I'm all for collaboration with others where possible, so if you're happy to discuss, please PM me.

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Re: Ford's 50th Birthday celebration of the Capri

Post by andyd »

Dunton; 215 miles and 4 hours each way is too far for me in one day.
Brooklands; 157 and 3 hours each way is just bearable, so that's the one I hope to attend weather permitting.....

Hopefully both days are a success especially for more local Capri owners :)

If you could do Haynes Museum count me in for both :D Weather permitting :lol:
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Re: Ford's 50th Birthday celebration of the Capri

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

andyd wrote:Hopefully both days are a success especially for more local Capri owners :)
:agree:
I haven't got a clue how much goes into organising a show of this scale, but I imagine that it's quite time intensive.
So, fair play to the guys for actually getting something organised, I wish I had the wherewithal to do something like that myself.
I'm sure they will both be great days if the weather is in their favour.

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Re: Ford's 50th Birthday celebration of the Capri

Post by Daz-RSK »

Hi Kris - PM sent
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Re: Ford's 50th Birthday celebration of the Capri

Post by ESSEXV6ESSEX »

Hi, welcome.

Sounds great. Count me in.
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