But when that coupe was as cool as the Ford Capri, Stuart Milne says it was a dead cert to become an icon.

In the early 1990s, my dad was shopping around for a cheap car to hack to the railway station in the mornings.

To my horror he came back with a nasty A-reg Metro in an evil shade of chocolate brown. Fortunately it lasted about six weeks before it lunched its own gearbox.

This time I tagged along with him, scouring cheap used car lots – the kind that smell of stale cigarette smoke and greasy bacon butties. He had his heart set on a Volvo estate which smelt like a dead dog, mainly to irritate the neighbours by parking the rusting piece of pig iron outside their houses.

Once again the middle finger of fate raised itself to thwart this purchase in the form of it being wholly incapable of getting to an MOT test station, let alone passing one.

Raising the budget by a few hundred pounds uncovered a veritable Aladdin's Cave of goodies, especially a silver dream machine in the corner.

About an hour later, dad was explaining to mum why he'd bought a Mk3 Capri, rather than a sensible replacement for the Metro, and I was climbing all over it, investigating every nook and cranny.

I remember sitting in the driver's seat, peering down out of the windscreen and seeing the enormous power bulge in the middle of the bonnet.

Not that our 1.6 LS version had much of that. Just 88 brake horsepower would have cantered from the engine when new, but by the time 'Silver Bullet' arrived in our household, most of them had been sent to the knacker's yard.

No matter, since dad bolted on a lairy Weber carburettor because, as far as mum was concerned, it would give him a manual choke and cut his fuel bills.

It would not however, under any circumstances improve the driveability of the engine in any way, he said. Yeah, right.

But on the road it was a lively thing – not least because of its complete lack of roadholding in the wet. It could get to 60mph in about 12.5 seconds, which wasn't bad for a big car with a small engine.

That got me hooked was the looks. Most say it's got shades of Del Boy in its eighties excess styling, but I love the square, aggressive front and long bonnet, and adore the long, sloping tailgate, with curved rear side windows.

As for that black rubber boot spoiler; it might have looked naff a few years ago but it looks like its there only to keep the back of the car nailed to the road, and I love the functional feel of it.

Eventually the car was traded in for something boring and forgettable, but the fond memories remain – I can still hear the engine note fifteen years on.

Ever since I passed my test, I've been looking for a fast one, preferably with the huge, fuel injected 2.8 V6 engine, but most fall into one of two categories: broken or expensive.

While I don't mind doing a few running repairs, I haven't the time or the talent to do major work, and unlike my dad, I'm not sure I could convince my girlfriend it's just a car to get to the station in.

It is, however, a firm fixture in my fantasy garage.

Today a 2.8 injection can be had for about a grand, but investing in a cared-for or restored model can easily cost five times as much.