The decade performance
went mainstream.

The deep Brooklands Green metallic 1987 Ford Capri 280 we have here is the absolute sunset of a legend. When the Capri finally finished production in '87, this special edition was the send-off — leather seats, limited-slip diff, and 15-inch alloy wheels. It was the end of a long line of working-class coupes.

I remember the mood in the late eighties. Everything was becoming terrace-casual knit jumpers and designer labels, and the Capri started to look like it belonged to a different age. But polishing one of these final 280 models in a clean studio set... it still holds its own. The sweeping fastback lines and that long nose have an unmistakable presence.

The eighties performance went mainstream, but the Capri was the old guard saying goodbye. A bucket of warm water, a high-quality polish, and some respect for a car that had kept Britain dreaming for nearly twenty years.

The 205 GTi is the one that proved the hot hatch wasn't a fad. A French firm came along, made something light and sharp and cheeky, and embarrassed cars costing three times as much. This is the 1.6 — the sweet one, before everyone argued about whether the 1.9 was better. It weighed nothing, the steering told you everything, and on the right road it'd put a grin on a vicar. In the Eighties every town had a few, usually red, usually polished to within an inch of their lives by a lad who couldn't quite afford the insurance but found a way. Crouch down to buff the wing of one and you remember why people fell for them. Daft, brilliant fun — and now, finally, the classic it always deserved to be.