Mercury Capri

The first generation of the Capri was a captive import produced by Ford of Europe in Cologne, Germany. Introduced in Europe for 1968 (and designed by Ford of Britain using locally sourced components from the Cortina MkII and Escort with plans dating back to 1964 when the development of a European variant of the Mustang commenced), the Ford Capri was marketed by the Lincoln-Mercury Division starting in April 1970. While marketed as part of the Mercury model line, the Capri did not carry any divisional identification.[1] Priced at $2,300 at the time of its launch, or $15142 in 2020, the Capri was marketed as an economical sporty coupe (with no upscale trim levels unlike its European market variants e.g. the GT, RS, L, XL, and XLR which were trim levels), far smaller than the Mercury Cougar and Montego.[1]

In its adaptation to the American market, the Capri saw several minor revisions, with the two rectangular headlights of the Ford Capri replaced by four circular headlamps (shared with some upscale Capri models sold for the European market eg the RS or GT - the rectangular lighting did not meet FMVSS 108), grille-mounted turn signals, and side marker lights; Rostyle wheels were fitted as standard equipment. While produced in Germany as a variant of the Ford Cortina, the Capri adopted powertrain commonality with the newly introduced Ford Pinto. Originally powered by a 1.6L Kent "crossflow" inline-four, the Capri received a 2.0L "OHC" inline-4 for 1971. As an option, for 1972, Mercury introduced a 2.6L Cologne V6, becoming the first American-market vehicle marketed by Ford Motor Company with a V6 engine. For 1974, the V6 was enlarged to 2.8L, as Ford revised castings for both the engine block and cylinder heads.

For 1973, the front bumper underwent a revision to comply with 5-mph bumper standards. The previous chrome bumper was reinforced with a steel tube and attached to the frame with shock absorbers (extending the length of the body several inches). As part of the change, the Capri saw revisions to the grille, taillamps, and its rear quarter trim grilles. As part of an interior revision, the Capri was given a new steering wheel, dashboard, and seat trim along with a redesigned wiring harness. For 1974, 5 mph bumpers were fitted to both front and rear, replacing the previous chrome tube bumpers with reinforced body-colored plastic bumpers.

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  Train car of Mercury Capris in Baltimore ship port.
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  1973 Capri
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  1974 Capri 2800

After the 1974 redesign of the Ford Capri, Lincoln-Mercury commenced American sales of the Capri Mk II in 1975 as an early 1976 model. Skipping the 1975 model year entirely, Lincoln-Mercury renamed the Capri to the Capri II, again omitting any formal divisional identification from the vehicle.[1] While sharing similar styling to its predecessor, the Capri II adopted a hatchback roofline. As with the 1970–1974 Capri, to adapt to the American market, the Capri II was fitted with quad sealed-beam headlamps, grille-mounted turn signals, 5-mph bumpers, and body-color side-view mirror(s).

Again maintaining powertrain commonality with the Ford Pinto, Ford Mustang II and Mercury Bobcat, the Capri II was fitted with the 2.3L OHC engine, offering a 2.8L V6 as an option.

After the 1977 model year, Lincoln-Mercury ended imports of the Capri II from Ford of Europe, with unsold examples sold during the 1978 model year. In total, 513,500 Capri/Capri IIs were sold from 1970 to 1978 by Lincoln-Mercury. At its peak, yearly Capri sales in North America were the highest for any import vehicle (except for the Volkswagen Beetle). Ford of Europe continued production of the Capri for another generation, through the end of 1986.

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  1977 Capri II Ghia
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  Capri II interior
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  Capri II S
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  Capri II S

Lincoln-Mercury advertisement-1971

Road & Track magazine on the 1970 Capri 1600: "...But styling and image sells cars, right? And if that's true, then it's our opinion that Lincoln-Mercury has a real winner in the Capri."[3]

R&T on the Capri 2000 in February 1971: "The Capri has a lot to recommend it. It's a solidly built, sporty compact car and (especially with the 2-liter engine) fun to drive."[4]

R&T on the Capri 2600 V6 in March 1972: "...the Capri 2600 V6 is an outstanding car. We'll bet Lincoln-Mercury dealers won't be able to get enough of them to satisfy the demand."[5]

R&T on the Capri 2800 V6: "...the V6 Capri remains a very attractive sporting car. It's solid as a Mercedes, still compact and light in the context of 1974 barrier busters, fast, reasonably economical of fuel, precise-handling, and quick-stopping: its engine and drivetrain are both sporty and refined. It's no wonder Lincoln-Mercury sold nearly 120,000 of them in 1973..."[6]

R&T on the Capri II 2.8 V6: "Once again we can report that the Capri V6 is an attractive, competent, and enjoyable car at a reasonable price. It goes, stops, and handles, it's well built and it has that sturdy, precise European character that makes it something special for Americans and Canadians. On top of all this, it's a more practical car because of its new hatchback body. A quality, European car at a realistic price-what more could one want."[7]

1976–1977 JPS Capri II, Capri II S - Black or white car body with gold striping, "black chrome" trim, gold and black styled steel wheels and gold badging and grille surround.

In Europe, the JPS Capri II celebrated the success of the John Player Special-sponsored Team Lotus Formula 1 team and emulated its black and gold livery. In the US, anti-tobacco advertising laws required a name change to Capri II S. The interior received special seats and door panels: black with gold cloth inserts.

1981–1983 Black Magic - Black cars with gold striping, gold metric TRX wheels and a gold cat's head on each side of the front valance. The interior received special black seats with sand-colored inserts (code YA), with Recaro seating optional in 1982 (code TA) and Sport Performance seating optional in 1983 (code HA). In the 1981 and 1982 models years the Black Magic option could be ordered with polar white (code 9D) paint but otherwise had the same exterior appointments as the black cars (gold striping, gold TRX wheels, and gold cat's heads). Magazine ads for the 9D Black Magic used the term "white lightning" but the name of the package was still Black Magic. The 1983 model is extremely rare and the only Black Magic to receive the compound rear window.

1983 Crimson Cat - Bright red (code 27) paint with gold striping and Cougar XR-7 TRX wheels set this car apart. Crimson Cat received black sport performance seating with red inserts (code KA).

1984 Charcoal Turbo RS - A Capri RS Turbo that was only available in charcoal upper-silver lower exterior paint with light grey striped rub moldings, Garrett 60 trim turbocharger, enhanced multiport EFI four-cylinder engine, Michelin TRX package, 5.0 HO Sway bars, 3.45:1 limited-slip rear axle, hood scoop, and orange and red lettering and striping. Sun- and T-top roofs were optional.

1985 Mercury Motorsport Capri - Built as pace car replicas to commemorate the 1985 Detroit Grand Prix & Motorcity 100. These were also cosmetically modified by American Sunroof Company for Mercury and are highly sought after for their low production of >55 total units (44 replicas, 4 track cars, 6 festival cars and 1 prototype) and availability in only Michigan & Ohio.

• 1979–1986 Mercury Capri
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  1979–1982 Mercury Capri RS
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  1980 Mercury Capri RS Turbo
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  1980 Mercury Capri (Mustang SVO wheels)
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  1983 Mercury Capri (base trim)
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  1979–1982 Mercury Capri RS

This particular generation was successful in the Trans Am Series, winning the championship from 1984-1985 with an aftermarket V8 engine. The Mercury Capri 5.0L was the car used by the Jack Roush team with Wally Dallenbach Jr. driving to win the 1985 Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Trans AM championship.

1986 Mercury Capri ASC McLaren 5.0 SC Convertible

ASC (American Sunroof Corporation, now known as American Specialty Cars) produced several conversions of Mercury Capris from 1984 to 1986. Along with convertible conversions, hatchbacks were restyled (renamed as coupes by the company).

The coupes were tuned and enhanced with several suspension and visual upgrades including striping, a built-in radar detector, ground effects, Hella fog lights, headlight and taillight covers and Italian Campagnolo honeycomb-style wheels.

For 1984, coupes (25 produced) were all painted midnight blue. The 1985-1986 coupes (150 produced in 1985) were either painted blue or white. In 1986 (115 made), the last year for the coupes, customers had an even larger choice of colors, including smoke charcoal grey and raven black, joining the Oxford white and midnight blue, as well as silver metallic. http://www.ascmclaren.com/capripics.htm

ASC McLaren Convertible rear view

In comparison to the coupes, convertibles were a far more involved project, as the conversion required the redesign of the unibody chassis. As part of the conversion, the convertible top replaced the rear seats. The manual top design is specific to the vehicle, requiring design-specific equipment (such as seals, weatherstripping, and windshield moldings). Fabrication required a replacement rear deck lid, floor reinforcements, quarter panel caps, tonneau cover and a windshield that was raked back an extra 10 degrees

In total, 557 convertibles were built during its 1984-1986 production run.[9]

ASC McLaren coupes were equipped with the Ford Motorsport B303 camshaft,[10] creating significantly more power than the rated 200 bhp (149 kW)/210 bhp (157 kW) of the standard 5.0L motors. Additionally, all coupes were shod with BFGoodrich Comp T/A radials. The 225/50/15 low profile size of these tires (as opposed to the standard 5.0L Capri's 225/60/15) raised the ASC/McLaren Coupe's effective gear ratio from 3.08:1 to approximately 3.35:1.

These were the quickest cars produced by Ford in 1985 and 1986 with zero to sixty times well under six seconds and quarter-mile times in the mid-13 second range.

1982 Ford Mustang coupé, Mexican market version

The third-generation Ford Mustang was manufactured in the Ford Cuautitlán Itzcalli plant (located in Mexico City) from 1979 to 1984. Produced for sale in Mexico, the vehicles were produced in both hatchback and notchback coupe body configurations.

From 1981 to 1984, Cuautitlán Assembly produced the Mustang using components from both the Mustang and Mercury Capri. Along with the taillights of the Capri, the Mustangs were produced using the front fascia of the Capri (with Ford badging) from 1982 to 1983. From 1983 to 1984, the facility produced the Mustang hatchback with front and rear fenders of the Capri, along with its "bubble-back" rear hatch.