Hemming's Sports & Exotic Car July 2012 issue.

[randyvr6]

Just wanted to put in a shameless plug

I submitted an article to Hemming's Sports & Exotic Car magazine that is published in the current issue (July 2012) Every month they have a reader submission page titled "My Car & Me" in which you discuss a memorable car you have owned and your adventures along with some old/new pictures.

My submission was about the 1971-74 German Ford Capri including a memorable trip to the Indy 500. My first car was a 1972 Capri I bought in 1978, and I currently have a 1973 that I have restored, so I am very passionate about these cars.

The magazine has a lime green Porsche 914 on the cover.

Here is a picture of my current 1973 Capri

[vwlarry]

I'll be picking up a copy soon. You know how I feel about your Capri, Randy. It's absolutely gorgeous. I've told my tale of unrequited love, Capri-style, several times here in TCL. The utter superiority of these cars, in particular the V6 model, to any competitive car when they were new is difficult to describe to an audience today that is conditioned to modern cars that are ALL basically excellent. I'll never forget taking a V6 Capri for a drive the first time. It was revelatory is all I can say. With these hot-selling cars and even a sprinkling of Panteras in showrooms in the early seventies, a Lincoln-Mercury dealer was a place for enthusiasts to gather. It's a shame they're gone now.

BTW, I sure do wish I could find a photo of my '71 Pinto (my first brand-new car). I had American Libre wheels on it just like yours, only with white-letter Firestones. All 4 rims developed hairline cracks around the center hub, and I eventually junked them. But they were perhaps the hottest-looking sport-compact rims on the market then. They made anything look terrific, including the Datsun 510 factory Trans-Am racers.

[barry2952]

Great job, Rand!

That's the car my wife wanted, but I didn't fit in it. We ended up with a new '76 Pacer, instead.

[randyvr6]

Thanks, Larry & Barry.

Nice to receive positive comments from my two favorite TCL friends. You two, among a handful of others, is what makes this forum worthwhile for me.

Rand

[vwlarry]

While searching for interesting Corvair stuff, I bumped into this; a design proposal for the to-be Capri. Looks so odd with its nearly-finished silouhette, but the odd windowline. Just wrong. While not a "classic" design, I feel that Ford did an excellent job in producing a design that accomplished what the Mustang did a few years earlier, and that was to come out of the gate a smash-hit with consumers. The Capri, like the Mustang, just somehow looked RIGHT. This clay, not so much.

[randyvr6]

That particular concept was given the code name "GBX" and was intended to be the production design. The Capri was one of the first cars to have the design shown in front of several consumer clinics, and there was universal complaints about the rear seat passengers feeling claustraphobic due to the C pillar design.

The change to the "D" shaped rear quarter window was a last minute change before the styling was frozen. That feature kind of became known as one of the iconic Capri styling cues and was carried over the the Capri II. After extensive research by members of the Capri Club of North America, the styling design was attributed to Phil Clark who was also responsible for some of the original Mustang design including the well known galloping horse logo.

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2...ery-no-longer/

In an interesting footnote, the car was intended to be named "Colt". Considering that the Capri was intended to follow up the success of the Mustang. but in a smaller version for the European market, you can see how the Colt name was chosen. The product planning team found out that the Colt name was trademarked by what they called a "Japanese tractor company" (Mitsubishi) and was changed to Capri.

It was the very first car to be introduced after the stand alone divisions Ford of Germany and Ford England were combined under the Ford Europe umbrella. The Capri design was actually performed under both countries with styling assistance from Ford USA. The cars were built in both the UK and Germany with a variety of powertrains sourced from either or both countries.

Here is another link with some Capri history.

http://ateupwithmotor.com/sports-car...i-history.html

[epbrown]

Just wanted to put in a shameless plug

I submitted an article to Hemming's Sports & Exotic Car magazine that is published in the current issue (July 2012) Every month they have a reader submission page titled "My Car & Me" in which you discuss a memorable car you have owned and your adventures along with some old/new pictures.

The magazine has a lime green Porsche 914 on the cover.

Nice, I picked up this issue yesterday, but I haven't read past the cover story on affordable mid-engined cars. Look forward to it. This sort of thing is the strong point of the Hemmings mags - the owner's stories.

[randyvr6]

Nice, I picked up this issue yesterday, but I haven't read past the cover story on affordable mid-engined cars. Look forward to it. This sort of thing is the strong point of the Hemmings mags - the owner's stories.

It is one of my favorite magazines; I would love to have a feature on my current car someday, but for the reader submission, I was limited to 600 words. It was quite a challenge to keep it down to so few words while still making it interesting and entertaining.

I would appreciate any comments you might have.

Thanks, Rand

[Sepp]

Very nice!!

I've had a subscription to the mag, ever since it first came out!

I think I've kept nearly every issue as well.

Lovely Capri. I've loved those cars since I was a little boy, back in the '70's when they were a much more common sight on the streets.
I've seen pics of your car on here before, and I am impressed.

[barry2952]

Very nice!!

I've had a subscription to the mag, ever since it first came out!

I think I've kept nearly every issue as well.

Lovely Capri. I've loved those cars since I was a little boy, back in the '70's when they were a much more common sight on the streets.
I've seen pics of your car on here before, and I am impressed.

Mine hasn't shown up yet. I, too, have been a subscriber since day one. One of their editors, Dan Strohl, was 18 years old and on his first assignment when I met him at the Glenmoor Gathering nearly 10 years ago. He has since done articles on both the Mark II and the Porsche.

[Sepp]

Mine hasn't shown up yet. I, too, have been a subscriber since day one. One of their editors, Dan Strohl, was 18 years old and on his first assignment when I met him at the Glenmoor Gathering nearly 10 years ago. He has since done articles on both the Mark II and the Porsche.

I cannot believe it's been that long.....

[epbrown]

I would appreciate any comments you might have.

I thought it was well-written, and I liked the symmetry of it, the way you came back around to a car you started with. It was a good read.

[randyvr6]

Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate you taking the time to respond.

The most difficult part of writing stuff like this for me is keeping it under the 600 word limit while still capturing all the key details and making it flow well.

[epbrown]

Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate you taking the time to respond.

The most difficult part of writing stuff like this for me is keeping it under the 600 word limit while still capturing all the key details and making it flow well.

Any professional writer will tell you how hard it is to write short. There's even a quote by Pascal: "Sorry this is so long, I didn't have time to write a shorter letter."

[vwlarry]

Even before I started writing, people called me the "master of making a short story long". I think Shakespeare, or was it Harpo Marx, said; "Brevity is the soul of wit.".

[wolfsburgfanatic]

My dad just gave me that issue the other day; I will have to check out the article tonight

[VadGTI]

Congrats, Randy. I began subscribing in the bery beginning but let my subscription lapse. I really need to subscribe again.

Sent from a rotary-dial phone using Edna the Small Town Operator

[alfafan]

Went to Barnes & Noble and could not find it, just the other two Hemmings magazines.:mad

The Capri is on my list of affordable cars to own before I die.

Update. Just went to the Hemmings site and they will send you an issue for free. Free!!
So I ordered it.

[barry2952]

Here's a rare one. A RHD Capri in Berkley,Rand.

http://bringatrailer.com/2012/06/09/...ction-special/

[randyvr6]

Yea, That car has been a topic of discusssion on the Capri list yahoo group this week. I would love to buy it, but it's just not the time I really need another car. I am curious to see how high it goes for on e bay.