Ford Capri: new electric suv debuts with a name that causes much debate

Capri. The beautiful island in the Gulf of Naples bathed by the Tyrrhenian Sea but also Ford-branded four-wheeled memories. Memories that come to mind with the Blue Oval's announcement of the unveiling of the Ford Capri. Yes, but don't imagine the legendary (and much-loved) coupé produced in three series from 1969 to 1986, considered the European Mustang. In fact, Ford has already accustomed us to reclaiming model names from the past and reproposing them on bodies that have nothing to do with history, see the Puma that was a small coupe in the second half of the 1990s and became an urban-sized SUV. OK, it was the Puma and offending its memory was no big deal, but instead it seems distasteful to reclaim a name as mythical and iconic as Capri and put it on a big, electric suv coupe. The name has also already been the subject of Italian sounding, which led Alfa Romeo to change the name of its baby suv from Milano to Junior in order to silence the naming controversy triggered by Adolfo Urso, the minister for enterprise and Italian products, who claimed that "a car called 'Milano' cannot be produced in Poland". And this on the basis of a 2003 law on Italian Sounding, a regulation that prohibits the use of indications that mislead the consumer about the origin of a product. And to now see the debut of a German car in the DNA and factory in Cologne with an American mark on the bonnet and a very Italian name, makes one smile. And we believe it angers Alfa Romeo's managers.

The new Ford Capri is an electric suv based on the Volkswagen group's Meb platform also used for the Explorer. Aesthetically, the link with its sister is strong, given by the slim headlights at the front and the small grille. Obviously, both are high-wheelers and what differentiates them, apart from the 17 cm difference in favour of the Capri, is the rear, where Capri shows a coupé style: and here one should not slowly think of the real coupé of the seventies and eighties, despite the proclamations of Ford marketing that launched the slogan: "The Mito is back". It doesn't seem to be back at all.

In this way, the Ford Capri positions itself in a very crowded and, above all, competitive segment: we find Tesla Model X and Audi Q4 sportback e-tron. And it will not be an easy challenge, also in relation to the brand image that certainly does not shine for premiumness. Ford's values have always been those of accessibility and concreteness, values that now seem to have been forgotten and erased even by recent, bizarre operations such as the Vignale sub-brand.

There is some bitterness in Ford's evolution and destiny when one thinks of its past, made up of iconic models that have been forgotten by the Blue Oval's management but have made four-wheeler history, such as the Ford Fiesta, which was taken out of production even though it remained a popular model, to offer suv after suv that cannibalise each other and that continue to push the electric car although market numbers are still very small, in Europe as in the world. And competing with Tesla, you know, is difficult.

The dimensions of the Ford Capri are generous, with a length of 4634 mm, a width of 1872 mm and a height of 1626 mm. It can load up to 527 litres in the boot, which increases to 1510 by lowering the backrests of the second row of seats.