Building the Ultimate Capri for a Soccer Legend

Being a designer is all about finding elegant solutions to everyday problems.

But this wasn't an everyday problem. This was creating the ultimate Capri for a unique soccer legend - one who is known for being bold.

It was an honor to spend time with my fellow countryman Eric Cantona - who is better known in France for his funny, outspoken character than football - as we reinvented Capri as an electric family sports car, and I was excited when I heard the news he was to be the face of the Capri reveal.

In some ways. he was exactly as I had imagined him. So much charisma. Playful and fun. A true maverick.

Cantona loves the essence of Capri, but we wanted a car that was totally him. The gauntlet was thrown down - to fuse two huge personalities into one incredible car.

Bringing a vision to life

We invited him to the Ford Design Studio, in Cologne, Germany, and showed him the original Capri drawings that had so inspired the team.

Eric is a very thoughtful man, deeply interested in the world around him. He is very humble, genuine and approachable, and listened attentively as we explained how we work in the design studio.

Then, over a coffee, we got to work - exploring what makes Eric tick. What he loves. What he hates. Who he is.

We captured everything on a mood board - bringing to life themes, colors and inspirations.

Eric was animated. We worked hard to keep up as he spoke with passion about art in all its forms - and his rebellious side. He told us that with his first salary as a professional soccer player he bought a piece of art, which shows how different he is to his contemporaries.

When it came to turning these thoughts into something more tangible we turned to virtual reality, immersing Eric in a series of concepts based on everything we knew and everything that he had told us.

We created a concept that reflected the duality of his personality. On the outside, his soccer career and his reputation. But on the inside, his humor and his more expressive side.

The number 7. The kung fu kick. The things that Eric would say that no one else would even think of.

His input was critical. Some ideas, he thought didn't work. Others, he wanted us to dial up to 11.

"It has to be orange!"

And who couldn't have predicted a curve ball, right at the end?

We showed Eric the finished designs. He loved everything that we had done.

There was just one change that we had to make.

"It has to be orange!" he said. He had traveled in an orange Transit during a Ford event at his hometown of Marseille, so I showed him images on his phone of Mk II Capris in Signal Orange, a color woven into the new Capri's heritage.

We built Eric's Capri from the ground up. Then applied the details first dreamed up from that initial meeting, months earlier, in Cologne.

• A segmented number seven graphic in gloss black on each side
  
  
• The 3D crown on the rear pillars is a fitting homage to his nickname, "King Eric"
  
  
• A pair of racing stripes in gloss black

All, bearing Eric's signature - and our logo.

…and here's the kicker

Of course, It wouldn't have been Eric's car without some reference to that infamous kick.

When we handed over the car, in Paris, I saw him look for it, and smile.

A moment in football history hand-stitched into the headrest.

The final word? That of course goes to Eric, his memorable phrase from the launch…

"When a goat follows his hero in his car, it's because the ruler on the racetrack returns. The Legend is back."

…created in Plexiglas and illuminated, inside a car that we hope he enjoys for a very long time to come.

Designing any car is a privilege.

Designing a car with Eric Cantona?

It's a story I'll be telling for the rest of my life.

Thomas Morel is exterior design manager, passenger vehicles, Ford in Europe.