Cliched, maybe, but rock music’s second-album syndrome tends to bite harder than even the sequel to a blockbuster movie. Can a new car ever capture the magic of its iconic first generation?
Perhaps not. Ford had already experienced an especially difficult follow-up to its phenomenal Mustang, when the Mustang II of September 1973 turned out to be more shopping trolley than muscle-bound brawler.
Yet the Blue Oval still played down sportiness for the second-generation Capri of January 1974, in part due to a worldwide fuel crisishad waded into the coupé battle: Opel’s Manta, Lancia’s Beta, Renault’s 15/17, Volkswagen’s Scirocco and even Reliant’s Capri-engined Scimitar GTE would soon all be fighting for the Mk2’s would-be buyers.
