New Member to the group
Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 9:15 am
Hello Fellow Capri Owners,
After a bit of a loud bang that you may have seen me enter in the forum with, I thought I ought to introduce myself more properly. I did say I would on the other post/thread.
So me personally - well, I have quite a bit of motoring history as I am approaching the half century very early next year (ironically, my birthday is within spitting distance of the Mk1 Capri to enter our roads). I have drifted through different motors over the years. Probably had more of an interest with coupe style motors when 4 doors weren't quite so much required in my later teens and early 20s.
My motors - So I started out in a Mk1 Escort and then into a Mk5 Cortina. These were motors of convenience and cheapness just to get me into the motoring world on a budget. Remember those days when you used to buy 10+ yr old motors at 18 yrs old, not buy them brand new, on the tick.
I had those for the 1st 2 years of my driving career and then, aged 19, this was where we suddenly had lift off. 3 x Opel Mantas, 2.8i Capri, Opel Monza, Nissan 200SX and the turbocharged Datsun 280ZX. No, not all at the same time - but what a flock of motors, if I do say so myself. What surprises me now is that all of those motors, even the 1st 2 Ford motors I had - how much are they today ?
Of the bunch that I should never have sold - easily the Manta GT/E, Monza and Datsun. The Capri, unfortunately, started to show signs of age and it was time. But the Manta was sold to buy my 1st house, the Monza was a beaut of a motor - a real sleeper and very modern looking - but I had invested a lot of money restoring it to be a daily runner and I just felt it was time to move on.
The Datsun, 21 yrs old when I bought it in yr 2000, 44,000 miles and needed a full resto. It was passed from a friend's Dad to a friend to a friend and then another friend and then me. One of those types of motor. BUT I knew 10/12 years of history of the motor and that was why I decided to give it a go.
My god, that shifted. Much like the turbo technics 2.8i Capri, also a 2.8i lump in the Datsun was pumping 210bhp with the charger on it. Beautiful 6 pot lump as well. A real peach!
Again, it had to go as we were moving house. I still had intent on it coming to the new house and just as I was about to start packing it all up ready for the move a few months ahead of the date, the turbo blew on it, smoke everywhere. It was the calling sign. There was quite a bit of work required to the body and with now the turbo letting go, it seemed we were going backwards.
I know - small fry compared to the restoration. But there were a lot of things going on at the time with the house move and everything else, so I sold it for £500 to a guy in Ireland, who flew over to Stansted (£500!!!!). I picked him up and he drove all the way back to Cork in Ireland. No MOT, no tax, turbo blown (although I bypassed the oil feed so that there was no oil loss), not been run in anger for 8 years and then, the phone call at 10/11pm that night - I am home and the car now is in Cork. Those were the days you could do this with limited chance of being caught!. Amazing motor. It had come off the road in 1994 and never been driven much distance since then other than up and down the road. The hole in the floor prevented it passing an MOT, so it was garage bound until someone (was going to be me) put it back on the road. And then, bang - journey to the other side of Ireland.
In between all of these years leading up to the Datsun, I had other motors as well, at the same time. I learnt from a young age that the only way to keep a car nice is to keep it as a 2nd car away from all the grime of the daily shunt. So I have hoarded motors for years.
In the 2000's I moved into Japanese stuff more. I think the Datsun being sold gave me a bit of confidence to move east for my motors. I descended into Subarus. It was the McRae itch as I had been a rally fan for years and they just looked a bit different and sounded different on the stage, from all of the rest of the stuff out there. But I did not go for the Impreza. The Legacy! And fast ones at that. Proper 175mph stuff!
That doesn't sound like your average Legacy ??
No, these were twin turbo JDM's. I still have one today - the wagon (GTB). But my 1st was an RSK saloon that I bought soon after we moved in 2003 and I had that until late 2016. A garage queen, saw 30k miles in that period under my ownership. Lovely motor and one of the few that you could sit at 140/150mph all day but it didn't seem that you were going that fast. Obviously German Autobahns were where I used sit like this and actually it was just great sat there behind a big German 6/8 pot and him topping out at 155mph (250kmh) due to the limiter - a German bruiser getting in the way of the pesky Jap.
Now, I have replaced that with the latest WRX STi and that's now the latest garage queen, along with the GTB Legacy I mentioned. I can't lose the flat 4 rumble and the style those twin turbo Legacies drive like. So I hope to keep that one.
BUT anyway - not a lot about Capri's above other than if you didn't blink when you read the monologue above, you would have seen I had one in the past.
The one I have today is my parents. They bought it as a 2yr old in 1987 - a March 1985 2.8i. It 's one of those that stayed with us. My Mum drove it as a daily until 2001, when she bought the Cougar (a spiritual successor but seems now, nowhere near the kudos of the Capri). Then when we moved house, along with my buying the banzai Legacy RSK, they gave me the Capri to store, as they were also moving (downsizing) and less room around.
So I have had this thing, albeit in my parents name, for 15 years and it's been one of those summer / dry day runners since my Mum gave it up as a daily driver. It's presentable and has all of the hallmarks of a car that was run through all weather for the 1st 15 years of its life and then, in the last 18, has done every little. Back in 2004/2005, I thought it might be worth selling as it wasn't really for me. I was now sucked into the East and the Subaru world more.
It was worth £1000 back then and that would help the bank o/draft. Well not mine!.But you get my point. My parents didn't want it back and whilst in their name, they would have supported me selling it. So I was lumbered with a car that I didn't mind having but could quite easily sell or it just sit about. So it sat about! And sat about! And then 10 more years, still sat about!
And now, it seems that, that same car worth £1000 to clear my bank o/draft could be worth 5 times that money today, to the right buyer. And people like to see you on the road. And they stop to talk to me about it such that a trip down the road, my wife is wondering why it's taken all morning.
So having now completed 90,000 miles in total, I suppose that in the last 3 to 5 years I guess, I am seeing the richness of keeping it and next year, finally, some money is being thrown at it. It is in for a restoration - not fully and not to the condition of some of your cars, for sure. But it is worth now tidying up, now I have the Capri buzz back around me.
The thing that is completely without challenge is that when you have owned or know a car for over 30 years, it takes on a whole new chapter of ownership, knowing everything that has been replaced by my hand, my Dad's hand or a garage at some stage. You can't buy 30 years ownership. It is a slog through that time to rack that duration up.
When I sold the Legacy RSK I mentioned above - the German car basher - I could have sold the Capri instead and got my latest banzai thing. But someone caught me cold. He said, when I was growing up, what did the Capri mean to me ? I said The Professionals, The Sweeney, Minder etc and the memory of them being on every street in the 1970s / 80s.
What did the Legacy RSK mean to me in that time ? I said, nothing - they didn't exists and there were few Jap branded cars here.
Does that solve the questions as to which should be sold then - he asked ?
He was a fellow Subaru Legacy owner.
There you go. Sorry for the monologue - but it gives you a bit more understanding of the latest member to join.
After a bit of a loud bang that you may have seen me enter in the forum with, I thought I ought to introduce myself more properly. I did say I would on the other post/thread.
So me personally - well, I have quite a bit of motoring history as I am approaching the half century very early next year (ironically, my birthday is within spitting distance of the Mk1 Capri to enter our roads). I have drifted through different motors over the years. Probably had more of an interest with coupe style motors when 4 doors weren't quite so much required in my later teens and early 20s.
My motors - So I started out in a Mk1 Escort and then into a Mk5 Cortina. These were motors of convenience and cheapness just to get me into the motoring world on a budget. Remember those days when you used to buy 10+ yr old motors at 18 yrs old, not buy them brand new, on the tick.
I had those for the 1st 2 years of my driving career and then, aged 19, this was where we suddenly had lift off. 3 x Opel Mantas, 2.8i Capri, Opel Monza, Nissan 200SX and the turbocharged Datsun 280ZX. No, not all at the same time - but what a flock of motors, if I do say so myself. What surprises me now is that all of those motors, even the 1st 2 Ford motors I had - how much are they today ?
Of the bunch that I should never have sold - easily the Manta GT/E, Monza and Datsun. The Capri, unfortunately, started to show signs of age and it was time. But the Manta was sold to buy my 1st house, the Monza was a beaut of a motor - a real sleeper and very modern looking - but I had invested a lot of money restoring it to be a daily runner and I just felt it was time to move on.
The Datsun, 21 yrs old when I bought it in yr 2000, 44,000 miles and needed a full resto. It was passed from a friend's Dad to a friend to a friend and then another friend and then me. One of those types of motor. BUT I knew 10/12 years of history of the motor and that was why I decided to give it a go.
My god, that shifted. Much like the turbo technics 2.8i Capri, also a 2.8i lump in the Datsun was pumping 210bhp with the charger on it. Beautiful 6 pot lump as well. A real peach!
Again, it had to go as we were moving house. I still had intent on it coming to the new house and just as I was about to start packing it all up ready for the move a few months ahead of the date, the turbo blew on it, smoke everywhere. It was the calling sign. There was quite a bit of work required to the body and with now the turbo letting go, it seemed we were going backwards.
I know - small fry compared to the restoration. But there were a lot of things going on at the time with the house move and everything else, so I sold it for £500 to a guy in Ireland, who flew over to Stansted (£500!!!!). I picked him up and he drove all the way back to Cork in Ireland. No MOT, no tax, turbo blown (although I bypassed the oil feed so that there was no oil loss), not been run in anger for 8 years and then, the phone call at 10/11pm that night - I am home and the car now is in Cork. Those were the days you could do this with limited chance of being caught!. Amazing motor. It had come off the road in 1994 and never been driven much distance since then other than up and down the road. The hole in the floor prevented it passing an MOT, so it was garage bound until someone (was going to be me) put it back on the road. And then, bang - journey to the other side of Ireland.
In between all of these years leading up to the Datsun, I had other motors as well, at the same time. I learnt from a young age that the only way to keep a car nice is to keep it as a 2nd car away from all the grime of the daily shunt. So I have hoarded motors for years.
In the 2000's I moved into Japanese stuff more. I think the Datsun being sold gave me a bit of confidence to move east for my motors. I descended into Subarus. It was the McRae itch as I had been a rally fan for years and they just looked a bit different and sounded different on the stage, from all of the rest of the stuff out there. But I did not go for the Impreza. The Legacy! And fast ones at that. Proper 175mph stuff!
That doesn't sound like your average Legacy ??
No, these were twin turbo JDM's. I still have one today - the wagon (GTB). But my 1st was an RSK saloon that I bought soon after we moved in 2003 and I had that until late 2016. A garage queen, saw 30k miles in that period under my ownership. Lovely motor and one of the few that you could sit at 140/150mph all day but it didn't seem that you were going that fast. Obviously German Autobahns were where I used sit like this and actually it was just great sat there behind a big German 6/8 pot and him topping out at 155mph (250kmh) due to the limiter - a German bruiser getting in the way of the pesky Jap.
Now, I have replaced that with the latest WRX STi and that's now the latest garage queen, along with the GTB Legacy I mentioned. I can't lose the flat 4 rumble and the style those twin turbo Legacies drive like. So I hope to keep that one.
BUT anyway - not a lot about Capri's above other than if you didn't blink when you read the monologue above, you would have seen I had one in the past.
The one I have today is my parents. They bought it as a 2yr old in 1987 - a March 1985 2.8i. It 's one of those that stayed with us. My Mum drove it as a daily until 2001, when she bought the Cougar (a spiritual successor but seems now, nowhere near the kudos of the Capri). Then when we moved house, along with my buying the banzai Legacy RSK, they gave me the Capri to store, as they were also moving (downsizing) and less room around.
So I have had this thing, albeit in my parents name, for 15 years and it's been one of those summer / dry day runners since my Mum gave it up as a daily driver. It's presentable and has all of the hallmarks of a car that was run through all weather for the 1st 15 years of its life and then, in the last 18, has done every little. Back in 2004/2005, I thought it might be worth selling as it wasn't really for me. I was now sucked into the East and the Subaru world more.
It was worth £1000 back then and that would help the bank o/draft. Well not mine!.But you get my point. My parents didn't want it back and whilst in their name, they would have supported me selling it. So I was lumbered with a car that I didn't mind having but could quite easily sell or it just sit about. So it sat about! And sat about! And then 10 more years, still sat about!
And now, it seems that, that same car worth £1000 to clear my bank o/draft could be worth 5 times that money today, to the right buyer. And people like to see you on the road. And they stop to talk to me about it such that a trip down the road, my wife is wondering why it's taken all morning.
So having now completed 90,000 miles in total, I suppose that in the last 3 to 5 years I guess, I am seeing the richness of keeping it and next year, finally, some money is being thrown at it. It is in for a restoration - not fully and not to the condition of some of your cars, for sure. But it is worth now tidying up, now I have the Capri buzz back around me.
The thing that is completely without challenge is that when you have owned or know a car for over 30 years, it takes on a whole new chapter of ownership, knowing everything that has been replaced by my hand, my Dad's hand or a garage at some stage. You can't buy 30 years ownership. It is a slog through that time to rack that duration up.
When I sold the Legacy RSK I mentioned above - the German car basher - I could have sold the Capri instead and got my latest banzai thing. But someone caught me cold. He said, when I was growing up, what did the Capri mean to me ? I said The Professionals, The Sweeney, Minder etc and the memory of them being on every street in the 1970s / 80s.
What did the Legacy RSK mean to me in that time ? I said, nothing - they didn't exists and there were few Jap branded cars here.
Does that solve the questions as to which should be sold then - he asked ?
He was a fellow Subaru Legacy owner.
There you go. Sorry for the monologue - but it gives you a bit more understanding of the latest member to join.