FPA289J - 1600XL - Son's ambition turns to Dad's passion
Doug from Wiltshire had never owned a Capri. In his younger days his
now ex brother-in-law had owned a 3000E which he'd been fortunate enough to put
through its paces more than once but ownership of one had never been on Doug's
agenda. Back in 2006 though his youngest son - then just 16 - had the
ambition to own and drive a Mk1 Capri as his first car. Father and son
studied the small ads and finally found what appeared to be a very promising car
which didn't appear to need too much work. They beat the seller down to
£2,000 after seeing the car in the flesh in Cambridgeshire. The drive home
provided the first evidence that perhaps more work than had been planned would
be necessary. A replacement gearbox was just the first of a long line of
items needing attention to bring the car up to Doug's exacting standards for his
young son. Trouble was that like so many teenagers, his enthusiasm waned
when the level of work became apparent and the level of expenditure. Doug
ended up doing much of the prep work himself to keep costs down at his chosen
restorers in his local town. Even so the bill soon reached £3,000 and by
this time - with son needing more practical transport and Doug having fallen in
love with the car to the extent that he "didn't want the work done to be ruined
by seeing the car driven daily" - the only logical solution was for Dad to take
on ownership. So far he hasn't regretted it and has been fortunate enough
to see the car featured in several magazine articles.
Photos courtesy of Richard Dredge at
www.magiccarpics.co.uk
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