[THE INSIDERS]
When manufacturers dare reprise great car names of the past for new models, they really should be a little more choosy about how appropriate they are
The island of Capri banned day-trippers recently because of a water shortage. An aqueduct stopped ducting aqua, and water had to be shipped in on tankers just to keep residents and hotel guests hydrated.
Strangely, Ford kept very quiet while this Capri-based drama was unfolding, in spite of trying to launch a car called Capri at the time.
Given the avalanche of vitriol directed at Ford for resurrecting the hallowed Capri name, it could’ve scored a PR coup by towing water tanks down to the island behind a fleet of new Capris.
Back in 1969, Capri was the picturesque Mediterranean playground of Hollywood stars like Sophia Loren, Clark Gable and, well, Gracie Fields. But any perceived glamour that rubbed off on the Ford Capri quickly faded and soon Capri just meant Ford’s affordable coupé. The same happened with the name Cortina, an attempt to borrow some of the glamour of the upmarket Italian ski resort. The word soon lost its power and Cortina became shorthand for ubiquitous three-box saloon.
Using aspirational places for car names isn’t just a Ford tactic. Vauxhall tried it with its Viva HC-based coupé, the Firenza, which I realised only recently references Firenze, the word Italians use for Florence.
Lancia didn’t use Italian place names, but the Appia, Fulvia, Flavia and Flaminia were named after Roman roads. Its other cars usually used letters of the Greek alphabet, though so far it has avoided ‘Alpha’ – a Lancia Alpha would be too confusing. The only non-Italian location used is Montecarlo for the mid-engined Lancia Beta, to remind people that Lancia’s other mid-engined car, the Stratos, kept winning the Monte ‐Carlo Rally.
Motorsport references work especially well with cars like the Fraser Nash Le Mans Replica and Aston Martin Ulster, because the road cars were so closely related to the successful racers.
Most people expected the 1968 Ferrari 275GTB replacement to be called Daytona after Ferrari’s dominant victory in the 1967 24hr race. When it was actually named 365GTB/4 it made no difference, everyone – except Ferrari – called it Daytona anyway.
Ferrari made several cars in the Fifties and Sixties aimed specifically at American buyers, hence America, Superamerica and California. Austin copied, naming the US-spec 1100 the Austin America. The idea for Renault’s Dauphine-based coupé and convertible was cooked up at a meeting of American Renault distributors in Florida. In tribute, the resulting car was called Floride, the French word for Florida. But the same distributors were frightened the name would hamper sales in the other 49 states, so Renault renamed it Caravelle after the aircraft.
The new Capri isn’t the first time Ford has recycled the name, but no-one complained back in 1969. Its predecessor, the Consul Capri, launched in 1961, and was an attractive coupé version of the Consul Classic with its backwards-sloping rear window. That Capri was a flop, lasting only three years, but it was a coupé.
And that’s the problem. Whatever you think of the Capri, it was always a coupé, a more stylish but still reasonably practical alternative to the Cortina. By calling a five-door electric SUV ‘Capri’, the name becomes meaningless. If Ford wanted a familiar name from the back catalogue, then it should’ve called it the Cortina. Or maybe Sierra because it’s a hatch. But we shouldn’t be surprised – after all, Ford already sells a five-door electric SUV called Mustang.
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