Home Introduction Buyers Guide Dreams Latest Fame For Sale Capri Forum History Jobs My Capris News Archive Pictures Q & A Rant & Rave 2016 Restoration Service Technical

News Archive 2025

Latest News 2025

For personal reasons my Capri has remained on SORN under her weatherproof cover for most of 2025.  But as the end of August approached I got the itch to driver her again and decided to prepare her for and MOT with the view to getting her back on the road again.

Although she still looks in amazing condition and started up on the third turn of the key (thanks to using a trickle charger) I did encounter a few small issues.  At least the electric aerial behaved itself and is going up and down normally!

First problem was the heater blower had packed in yet again.  This seems to be an ongoing problem with Capris and meant pulling the entire dashboard apart yet again to get the heater box out.  This is a long and tricky job as many of you will know.  It goes to say that once it was out it just needed a flick and a squirt of WD40 and it was fine again.  However the resistor and terminal had pretty much rotted away so I took the decision to bypass this completely.  So for the time being anyway the heater now works only on high speed no matter the position of the switch.  That is all fine by me as the car is never used in the winter months any more.

With the dash all back together which involved re-building the hazard light switch that had managed to disintegrate, it was time for a pre-MOT test.  To my horror coolant started pouting out of the bottom of the engine and it turned out one of the water hoses on the carburettor had perished due to age.  So I managed to patch it up by cutting a couple of inches off and refit it and duly ordered a set of nice black SPAX silicone hoses for the entire car with a set of new stainless steel hose clips.  These arrived from Burton Power and were fitted in a morning.  All looks nice again and the new hoses should outlive the rest of the car hopefully.

With everything looking OK again she went off for an MOT - and passed without any advisories which was very nice.  I now have her taxed for two months and have been driving round enjoying her once again.  After a few hundred mikes on the clock she seems to run very well and everything seems nice and smooth.  No strange noises coming from anywhere.  It has been a joy to drive her after such a long time and I forgot just how much other motorists love seeing a Capri on the road.  I always get let out of junctions as well!

Now it is time for a service and I have a work colleague’s boyfriend who has asked me if he can do it cos he loves Capris.  So we will change the oil, brake fluid, plugs and filters as they are all a few years old now (still on very low mileage) and once that is done it will be time to wait for a break in the weather and give her a polish before she is put to be for the winter again.  Getting close to the magic forty soon!

Latest News November 2025

As the clocks change and winter is upon us, it is time to get the Capri ready for its winter sleep once again.  I have enjoyed driving her for a few months in late summer and she seems in pretty good health.  I recently replaced all the water hoses in the engine bay with nice silicone black ones form Samco.  Together with new stainless clips all looks nice again and there are no more water leaks caused by ancient rotten hoses.

The Capri has received a service before winter which included changing all the fluids (oil, water & brake) as well as new plugs, air filter & oil filter.

Before putting the cover on she was given a good warm up followed by a thorough clean inside and out, light T-cut and polish.  The tyres have been pumped up to 35psi for storage and the electric aerial has been soaked in WD40.  The car has been put on the trickle charger for the winter which seems to keep the battery nice and healthy.  I just hope the heater blower works next time.

With all that completed the car has had its quality storage cover applied, strapped down tight and cable padlocked.  Having seen this flap around precariously in previous storms, it is always worth making sure the straps are adjusted nice and tight!

After taking most of the day to clean her I was feeling pretty sore but happy with how nice she looked.  It is always worth it to be able to unwrap a super clean car in a few months time.

My Capri is fast approaching 40 years old and will one day become tax free, which I guess all Capris will achieve by December 2026 as this was definitely the last date of the production.  I believe that although she is a 1987 D-plate her chassis was manufactured in in 1986 which is the date to use assuming you can prove it.  I’m sure there will be lots of talk about this next year and I think it wont apply to my car until April 6th 2027 anyway.  Still there is plenty of talk of that Rachel Reeves stopping it before then.  We’ll know sooner rather than later about that.

This web page is owned

and operated by Mark Swetnam

Last updated 4/5/26
©1995 to 2025

E-mail: Mark@Swetnam.co.uk

Keeping 'The Legend Alive' on the World Wide Web since 1995!