Blast from the past.

Byline: By Ian Johnson 

Some cars are magic. Take the Ford Capri, the king of the coupes that came out in 1969.

Billed as The Car You Always Promised Yourself it offered a route to driving something a little exotic for people who could only afford family saloons or estates.

Here was the 2+2 sporty number that could jazz up the lives of those trapped in wheeled mediocrity ( it sold like hot cakes.

Many cars claim to have been legends in their own lifetimes, the Capri undoubtedly was.

Capri exemplified the golden age when Ford was on top. It enjoyed 17 years of success with 1.9 million sold in the UK and Europe.

The Capri developed and one of the most tasty models was the six-cylinder three-litre, which entered the fray in the early 70s and was hailed as the fastest production line car to be sold in the UK. And fast it was!

This week I was lucky enough to be able to retrace my steps back to those wonderful days when cars were really cars.

And it was even better because the chosen car was the very last of the Capris to be built, a 280 made at the Cologne plant in 1986, just before the Capri line closed.

It had a pricetag of pounds 11,999 when new and has run up only a tiny mileage, being an exhibit at the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon, although owned by the Ford Motor Company.

Ford oiled the wheels to enable me to take this motoring icon for a spin around the villages of Warwickshire.

Although it would have been inappropriate to redline the V6 2,792cc 138bhp engine, I just could not resist letting it have its head.

It was like hurtling back in history ( evoking memories of the Capri which crashes through a wall of boxes at the start of the TV series The Professionals.

Exhilaration is the name of the game with this car which has a driving position that is still streets ahead of many more modern cars.

The steering has so much feel and it almost begs to be let loose to shake itself down and roar off into the sunset. And roar it does because this engine has a real throaty beat.

Yesterday's car it may be, but here is a vehicle that has vast power and can hit 127mph when allowed.

But it demands old fashioned driving skills when you do let it go.

There are still many Capris on the road and I can understand why they have become almost a religion with owners.