Ford Capri Makes Lightning Strike Twice

Older Brits will have fond memories of the Ford Capri and its 20-year reign as one of the hotter cars on UK streets, a sporty classic that was driven by the coolest action stars on British TV. But by the 90s the Capri was out of production as newer models took its place. Now it’s back, as an all-electric vehicle with a retro-modern design.

And in a very clever move by Ford and Weiden+Kennedy, its ads are back too.

Our Ad Of The Week this week kicks off with images from an early 80s Ford Capri commercial, about a man driving along rain-slicked roads in a thunderstorm, with the bold central image of his car crackling with electricity after it’s struck by lightning. But then the 2025 ad takes a new turn. The lightning strike transforms the old Ford Capri into its brand new electric model, and the man’s drive is illuminated by more CGI thunderbolts as he drives this new version of an old favourite.

Whether you remember the original ad or not, the message is clear: this Capri is ultra-modern but still faithful to the car you remember. It’s a message designed to both excite and reassure a generation of older car buyers who trust Ford and may recall the Capri but aren’t quite on board yet with the EV revolution. There’s an opportunity for a big brand with a proud legacy to marry change and continuity and attract these buyers. Ford are seizing it.

On the Test Your Ad platform, viewers responded to the new Capri ad with excitement. It scores well over the car category average on all three key System1 metrics – long-term Star Rating, short-term Spike and Brand Fluency (speed and accuracy of recognition). It gets a very good 3.8-Star Rating, compared to the automotive UK average of 2.5. And it lands an exceptional Spike rating, showing it’s an intense and well branded ad, way over the usual mediocre Spike score car ads get.

Taking a classic ad and making it fresh again is also a fine example of creative consistency. As our recent Compound Creativity report makes clear, creative consistency is one of the biggest value-adds a business can access, paying off to a greater and greater degree the more time goes on. The report goes into a range of elements which contribute to consistency, ranging from long brand-agency relationships to a commitment to ideas and brand assets.

The Ford Capri lightning remake shows another element to creative consistency. A business like Ford has the branding equivalent of generational wealth newer electric vehicle brands can only dream of. It owns a host of former assets, campaigns, slogans and marques. It can reactivate these in the present day to draw on nostalgia and positive associations. And in this case, it can make lightning strike twice.