I did a double-take when checking out this original paint Mercury Capri for sale in sunny Los Gatos, California. I recently discovered a small repair shop in my neck of the woods that had a similar green Capri parked on its lot, but it was hard to tell if it was for sale. What’s surprising is that this West coast car has far more rust than the example I spotted, but its old-school Washington State license plate may provide some clues as to why. Find it here on eBay with just over two days left and bidding well under $1,000.
Vehicles like this Capri and others, such as the Lotus Cortina, always make me wish Ford did more to bring its European market models stateside. Sure, the new Focus and the RS derivatives are a giant step forward, but there were a ton of cool 70s and 80s-era vehicles that never made it to our shores and were far better driver’s cars than the likes of the Escort GT and Mercury LN7. This particular Capri looks pretty good from far away, and the paint does appear to be largely original.
The Capri is said to retain its original interior, from the seats to the headliner. The dash pad is un-cracked and it is the desirable four-speed model. If the driver’s seat looks as good as the passenger seat, the interior shouldn’t need much work at all, though the rear parcel shelf looks like it might be sporting some sun damage. The seller discloses that there are some mechanical issues, citing the brakes and clutch as areas needing attention. No further details are offered, but there are a few parts included in the sale that might help with repairs.
This is where it gets ugly: wheel arch rust. It appears every corner suffers from this issue, and I can also see some rust perforations in the passenger side fender. Though there are said to be replacement panels readily available, bodywork will certainly have to factor into your total budget and it also effectively eliminates the appeal of original paint. Still, there aren’t too many of these cars running around and a manual transmission example is the one you want. Would you restore this one or use it for parts?
I think I hear a crusher winding up. I’m sorry, some liked these, mine was a miserable POS. I had a ’73 2.6, 4 speed, it used coolant right from the get go, Pinto trans, needed a 5 speed, handled poorly, no hatchback, lousy heat, uncomfortable, I just don’t have anything good to say about these cars, except, I liked the way they looked, which is why I bought it in the 1st place. I got rid of it within a year. The Capri ll addressed all those issues, but too late.
Looking at the letter sequence (IAH) that’s likely the original WA plate given that car when it was new, and indicates its from King County (Seattle/Bellevue area). And while cars that lived on the west side of the Washington Cascades (which is where Seattle is), particularly those close to the salt air of the Puget Sound (Seattle is on the Puget Sound) may be prone to rust, the perforations on this Capri are atyipical for local Seattle cars of this vintage, and as lifelong suburban Seattle resident looks much more severe that nearly every 40 y.o. local car I’ve ever seen, and looks more like salt-induced midwest rust belt damage or perhaps California beach city rust, because there’s not much in the way salt used on the roads in Metro Puget Sound Basin due to infrequent bouts of significant snowfall
I have a soft spot for the European Fords of the ’70’s. I owned an Escort (picture attached) with the two litre Pinto engine and four speed. These handle quite well when you did some work to the suspension. The Pinto engine did have some issues, and were prone to wiping the lobes off the rear of the camshaft. Mine did it twice before I found out what caused it. If you look after them they are usually fairly bullet-proof. The early Capris are becoming increasingly rare. Anyone who buys this would be well advised to strip it to a bare shell and have it soda blasted. That way repairs can be done properly, otherwise history will repeat itself. I think that this one would be a worthwhile buy.
Nice Mk 2 !
Thanks for that. I loved it. Wish I’d never sold it!
Or – you could fix the brakes & “klutz” and drive it as is. There are a LOT of cars on the road with worse body rust and it would be decent beater for leaving at the Park & Ride lot on your daily commute.
Driving around Germany with a friend one weekend we spotted one of these. The car was worked over with a wide body type design.Wide fenders and some other work. Interior had a roll cage in it, racing type buckets and harnesses. We notice the dash seemed to be set back a bit too. After the owner came out to see what we were doing we found the reason for the set back. A 289 with the 4 Weber set up. Asked whether the car was fast he smiled and asked if we wanted a beer!LOL Great chat with a fellow motorhead. Enjoyed being stationed there!
Definitely worth saving. While the body needs attention, the limiting factor for a Capri is the interior. A crack free dash is important, as is good interior panels. You can get replacement panels and seat covers from Aldridge trimming in the U.K. The rear parcel shelf and most other parts are available from Team Blitzkrieg in Ohio. I have owned many Capri’s in the past and presently own 6 and know the in’s and Out’s of them well. A little history. They dominated Group 2 in the early 70’s in Europe. Light weight and good power made them grid frontrunners, So much so that BMW hired the top two managers of Ford’s German race team to start the M division. The Capri won almost every race in 1972 including class wins at Le Mans and Spa. The legendary BMW CSL Batmobile was created to break Ford’s dominance in Group 2. This Capri does need work but the possibility’s are endless. If you went the restomod route engine choices include the 302, 3.7 V6 , Duratec 4 cylinder …… They are a great crusing car in stock trim too. With a little research, you will find there is a huge market for spares in Europe, Australia and North America. Someone save this car. You won’t regret it.
Did’ like em when they were new, don’t feel any different now. I alway thought Mercury would have been better off doing a badge engineering job on the Mustang. These cars were noisy, the 4cyl was under powered, the V6 was troublesome ( head gaskets ) among other things. They rusted rapidly, interior parts fell off at alarming rates. Not for me. Maybe someone will give it a good home though.
While I agree they had issues, Time has provided many solutions. If you use Victor head gaskets and drill the additional water passages in the heads, with stronger bolts the gaskets are less of a problem. This mod also helps the valve stem seals and guides last. Alloy timing gears and a higher volume oil pump help with the other issues. My mildest engine with a 252° comp cam, ranger pistons and intake with a 350 cfm Holley carb and porting makes 125 whp. You can use a ranger 5speed with clutch and flywheel to help with longevity and mileage. The ranger engine is stronger too. 2.8, 2.9 and 4.0 all come from the same family and bolt in. If you want a distinctive car with style and build options this is a great pick. As far as build quality goes, for its time it was rated as a very well built car. It’s contemporaries were really no better. They can also be more money to repair. Subjectivity, the Capri is a great entry classic that you can actually use and enjoy with few worries.
I wanted one as my first new car. My first choice was this color with a V6. There were none to be had in Columbus Ohio. I found a red over black 2 1/2 hours away. Just as i was planning the trip, the V6’s arrived.
I got a green one with a small discount. I had it one year and someone else just had to have it. I sold it for just about what I paid.
I LOVED mine, I especially liked all of the people trying to guess what is was at car shows. Some thought it was a Mustang prototype, lol. I made a rear deck spoiler and used a 1969 Mach1 front spoiler to try and dress it up a bit. Wish I still had it.
Another
Love a Capri! We had a few in the family way back in the day. Remember my sister pulling in the driveway in a brand new ’74 Capri V6. A steel blue four speed with rust colored interior and sunroof. That Capri and a neighbor’s Javelin were my first favorite cars.
When I was married in 1973, my wife had graduated the year before from Nursing school. Her dad bought her a new 1972 Capri, red with a manual transmission. We drove it for a couple of years, had lots of issues with heating and cooling both. By the time it was 4-5 years old, we bought something else (1978 Thunderbird, another good decision). The Capri went to my wife’s brother and he drove it a long time …don’t remember now what happened to it. It was fun to drive as long as it wasn’t having problems.
I’m sorry, but in it’s current configuration and condition …. IMHO it’s a parts car.
Oh boy! I owned a MkI 1600cc auto, in a rather startling shade of orange, then 2 MkII’s. The MkI was my first serious car and was OK until it toasted the engine – I had a replacement swapped in – the mechanic couldn’t believe the original was still running quietly up until it died, as apparently it had virtually no cam lobes left!
The MkII’s were great. A beautiful 1600cc red ‘Laser’, which I loved, followed by a Metallic blue 2000cc HC version. That was a fun car, especially in the wet, where it had the power to unstick the rear end (solid axle on leaf springs), at the press of the throttle. I bought it for $150, bought some rally alloys and new tires ($500), ran them into the ground, and sold it for $150. Apart from rust, no issues with the MkII’s at all, over about 4 years of ownership. I miss them.
The Capri prices here in the UK are heading upwards at quite a rate. If only I had enough to import, do it up and make a decent profit…
My first car was a Pinto, my 2nd a turbo pinto wagon, but man I wish could have afforded a Capri. These cars were the s**t……A couple of years ago, before I left California, I was lucky enough to find a 76 Capri II, V6 4-speed that was parked in the desert in 1987 lol……..Took a couple of days of tinkering to get the engine to fire……Now here’s where I pulled a rabbit out of my hat, my Capri is a 1976 model year, which in California requires emissions testing. The title was lost years, heck decades ago, but I did buy it from the original owner with a legit bill of sale. The Capri’s were built in Germany, and even though it was a 76 model, it was produced in 75 and carried a 75 VIN…..I went to AAA instead of DMV and had them verify the VIN, and VIOLA, I now have the only 1975 titled Capri II (i.e. smog exempt in CA)…….If mine wasn’t a V6, I would love to d a 2.3 eco-boost into one….imagine 300+ hp in one of these
Knew of a number of them growing up, One kid drove the beejesus out of his, had a bit of body lean while drifting the back wheels thru sweeping corners, but he wrung the maximum out of that poor thing. Another guy had wealthy parents and outfitted his with a full upgrade, Turbo kit, full suspension upgrade, air dam, side skirts and a whale tail. Done by a local company called ROKSTOK and in old Road & Track magazines you can still see ads for the company, but not a lot of details out there now.
But MAN O’ MAN,, Did I admire that car! It introduced me to the European style sports car culture and that was a sweet ride. Handled like on rails and tons of speed. It must of been worth it because he ended up with the hottest girl who was a dead ringer for Lonnie Anderson. His brother had a Datsun Z car and was also redone by that company with similar fittings. (Suspension, Body styling kit, and Turbo) and it was cool as well. I thought they were in a class of their own compared to all the typical American hot rods and trucks i grew up with in the 70s.
As to those Ford motors, Theres a race class in the sports cars that use these engines and well documented that they do well. Theres a local engine builder thats still around that is the GO-TO guy for these. Loyning Engine Service.
” The Company was founded in 1976 by Arnie Loyning. Arnie has been building
engines for over 30 years. His engines have won 27 National Championships at
the SCCA Runoffs. He has also been a driver since 1965. In 2005 Arnie drove his CSR to a 1st place victory at the National SCCA Runoffs.
See: http://www.loynings.com/
This brings back memories! In the ’80s, I drove a ’77 capri II from detroit to california…somewhere in Iowa, the rear end went out…I slept in the car for 2 days while a service station sent to Demoine for a junk yard replacement…ist one installed was bad also, then they got another one, but it must have been from an earlier model and was quite a few inches narrower…anyhow, it worked and I was back on my way, although it had a nasty whine. Otherwise, a really great car, super fast with the 2.8 v6 and 4 speed.
These cars were hugely popular in their day. Rokstock, Dobi and others offered many speed parts for both body styles. The Capri II had a 2″ wider axle with a taller ratio. An option to help out the bodywork on this car is to use fender flares like the group 2 cars. Team Bliz and possibly Capri parts USA can help there. If you need inspiration, google Ford Capri rs 2600. Or RS 3100, or Zakspeed , or Perana…. My favourite car memory is of my rusty Daytona yellow 74 V6 pulling well into the redline in fourth year racing a guy in a Trans am GTA. 145 mph at 6500 rpm….. With a few simple mods, no heavy bumpers that car was a rocket. I put over 300 thousand miles on that car before I sold it. Solid where it counts, covered in surface rust where tree sap wrecked the paint, 10 hole mustang rims with sticky tires that car was my absolute favorite. I sold it to a kid who bugged me for months to buy it. I still have a picture of that car on my toolbox. Good times….
These were quite trendy when they initially appeared. Never real enthusiastic myself, although the later V6 sort of attracted my attention. All considered, I was fortunate to miss out on the whole experience.
Mercuryman gets my upvote today. I cross posted this discussion to some nutters I know that discuss Capris (Aka Crappies) I figured they would get a laugh out of the comments.
One of them is in New Zealand, and builds some interesting vehicles. Here is his website and other Capri and performance builds.
See: http://www.retrotech.co.nz/Projects/V8-Capri.php
Thanks Doug. Awesome page! While the cars I like number in the hundreds, the Capri will always be my favorite. The best part of the six I own is that I am building each one to be completely different. My 71 will be flared with wide BBS wheels in blue and silver like the car that won the 24hours of Spa. 300 HP 2.9 V6 with a t5. One 72 will be a track car, the other is a GT. It will be restored to factory save for some engine mods to the 2.6. My 73 sunroof car will have a euro 2.8 and an aod trans and a good stereo. A cruiser. My 74 will be box flaired with a 3.7 and six speed from a new mustang. My 75 Capri II will have euro chrome bumpers and a 3.8 / 5speed combo to begin with…. I hope someone saves this one.
With all due respect to Doug and Mercuryman, I believe we’re talking about 2 different types of Capri’s. You guys are talking about engine mods and suspension upgrades, I’m sure they were good performers. I, however, am talking about the unmaintained, unloved cars that the masses drove. There were better cars in 1972. Matter of fact, I’d bet, many people switched to Asian cars after having one of these.
Tried to send ebay seller a question but his email doesn’t work….
Used to dream about owning one back in the day. Knew this autobody teacher that would rebuild these from totaled wrecks of which there were a lot of them in the day. He would take one with a good front half and one with a good rear half and cut and weld them back together. By the time he got dome with them you would never know what had been done. Being poor I bought a rebuilt ’69 Toyota Corolla from him that I actually made money on in the 4 years I owned it besides being one of the most trouble free cars I ever have owned. One of the few cars I ever have done this with.
Howard, where do you think I got my 20 plus cars from? Ordinary people with different views on them. However, more than 1/3 of them were from single families who were glad to sell their cars to someone who would restore them. Many more were from people who enjoyed owning them but were moving on. I only bought two from people with bad things to say about them. Over the years I have been stopped many times by people who wanted to talk about “their” Capri. They are my favorite car for a reason. They look good, feel good and are quite reliable. If they were not, they would have made several lemon lists and Ford would not have been able to sell 1.9 million of them world wide. As far as modifying talk, in my opinion sites like this are to inform and reminiscing about cars past. I am trying to build enthusiasm for saving this car. Regardless of my opinion of a car, if someone wants to save one and I can help in any way I will. I believe this is a hobby to enjoy with others. I am not in it to make big money. I dislike Barret Jackson and the people who speculate on a cars value. There are too many classics that are priced out of reach from the people who would truly enjoy them. I will help save as many affordable classics as I can. P.S. There is a beautiful orange 74 on eBay right now…..
I cant believe I am coming on here to defend a Ford product, but here goes, Once again Mercury man gets my upvote. Howard Just because you had a bad apple dont condemn the whole tree. I remember a lot of these cars while growing up and truth is I NEVER heard anyone say they were junk. Robert Eber thrashed his so badly it was amazing that car kept going. He wrecked it multiple times. I rode in it over several years and it was a marvel to me that any car could take the abuse he heaped on it. As I said,, The one that really got me going WAS a modified one, and it opened my eyes quite a bit to cars other than traditional american hot rods. (Impressionable young guy) So YES,,, Am I nostalgic about them? You bet. But despite that I never got the overwhelming urge to buy one and I have literally owned over 180 cars that I can count and I know i missed a few on my list. I also lived in the middle east and in Europe so learned a bit about Europeans cars while there as well as grey market and US Spec imports. I have a number of friends in Australia and New Zealand, and all these guys are serious gear heads. Check out NismoCapri’s website (Retrotech) Simon has extensive experience of many of the variants that these Mecury capris also used. I have known Arnie Loyning locally for 30 years and while not well, Find me a grid of racers at any west coast sports car race who dont know him. If these powertrains were total junk, why is there such a following in racing circles?
After all that ranting… I am a chevy guy. Before going into the military I worked at a local wrecking yard. We had more Ford Pintos than any other car and we only accepted more if they were free, and close by or the customer brought it in. We wouldnt drive very far with the wrecker for even another free one. I hated some of the things Ford did, and from my perspectives working there is why I grew into loving Chevys, Not Fords, (Certain Chrysler products are cool but they had a weird way of building stuff. Work on enough of them and you understand).
I think the key here is these capri’s (Crappies some call them) were German built mostly and while an economy car (Built to a price) for their time they were pretty decent. If you really want to get technical bring up some period car comparisons and I am betting they fared pretty well in testing compared to other cars both foreign and domestic in the mid 70s. They were NOT a luxury car, they were mostly a economy box in the mid 70s.
Man, spend some time in Europe or mediterannian countries. On one deployment I spent a lot of time with a captain with a degree in engineering and you should have heard him rant about Fiats and Italians in general. One of his best ones was going off that the true Italians and Romans who built and empire, the coliseum, and all the roads and infrastructure still in use today but there was NO WAY that there is any biological or DNA left in the same people who build Fiats. (Many people find that offensive and I will point out he was equally critical about just about every culture and ethnic background based on engineering principles an concepts. I wished I would have recorded him as it would make a best selling book)
The rust that is visible is a bad sign. Working on bringing one back that was wrecked and put away since 1983. Have another as a parts car. Had one new. May take a while but looking forward to driving again. Curious about the comments on Ranger V-6 engines. This would be a nice upgrade if not too tall with modrrn injection
I see a lot of people on this site like to keep them stock and thats great if thats what your into some of us like to improve our cars and make them our own.I have never left any of my cars stock and loved them all weather new or old love for all.I think this car is just right to build a weekend racer you have to cut it up any way so just keep going.the stock cars are great if thats your way but some of us like to make them better not all the same thats what I love about cars we all fit somewhere in this great hobby.Love this car but no room hope some body builds a corvette killer with it would love to see that.
Why would someone selling on ebay have is ebay account linked to an email that doesn’t work. I am out.
Thanks Doug. I hope defending a Ford didn’t hurt too much. I have been working on cars for 35 years and the biggest thing I have learned is that every manufacturer has built both good and bad cars. I agree about the Italian comments. I recently finished restoring am Alfa GTV6 with a friend. Omg what a car! The engineering is amazing, and so unfortunately is the execution. If only the Japanese had the same passion and flair! While I am not a GM guy I have also commented on the Citation X11. I love that car. My problem with GM is death by committee. They had some revolutionary ideas but cannot match with quality. Remember the Vega engine? The Cadillac 4100? The quad 4? All amazing design ideas but turned out poorly built. As for the pinto, the hot Rod industry owes that car much. I guess my point is, new cars suck. Individuality has been lost. Find an old car that makes your soul smile, keep it up for future generations to enjoy. While new cars might be safer and be less harmful to the environment very few of them will ever be really collectable. Keep this hobby going!
The car sold for $1475. A good price for all concerned. I hope the restoration doesn’t take too long. Enjoy the drive!
Well I bought a Capri V6 in 1973 and it was my first brand new car. Have great memories of that car and I would love to find one today. Found this link too late. Not saying I didn’t have problems with mine. Clutch cable 4 or 5 times in the 5 years I owned it. Broken driver seat, snapped the gear shift shaft 3 times. All of these things I received recall notices for….after I’d sold it. Still, I, especially looking for one I can afford and enjoy.
If this were on the East Coast I’d have stopped by the bank and hit the road with trailer in tow before the computer could shut down,
Yes they fit. The 2.9 Merkur Scorpio intake is lower and makes more power but the ranger engine fits. The 4.0 fits no problem. Tom Morana Motorsport makes engine parts for all the Cologne V6. Check it out. The nice thing about the ranger engine is the wiring is relatively simple to swap over. Have fun with your Capri!
Thank you very much for the information about other V-6 options, my 1973 Capri has almost 76,000 miles on it and ran when put away (water drained, waterpump removed) so with a new timing gear now installed from Blitz I’m hoping it will fire up and run, while still fixing dash wiring and replacing interior. Pain to push around. While apart, it had very very little rust, just inside the rear wheel arches – replaced. Door bottoms, lower fender, around windows were still clean. The 2.9 Merkur Scorpio is very rare here in the US and especially in Idaho.
A less rare and far better engine is the ford ecoboost 2.7. Unfortunately it was introduced in 2015 so best way to acquire one at reasonable cost would likely be from a wreck. New would be way too expensive…it is a modern engine so you will need computer, complete wiring harness, etc.
Here are some wrecks to look for:
325 hp (242 kW) @ 5750 rpm, 375 lb·ft (508 N·m) @ 3000 rpm
2015- Ford F-150
335 hp (250 kW) @ 5500 rpm, 380 lb·ft (515 N·m) @ 3000 rpm[48]
2016- Lincoln MKX
2017- Lincoln Continental
310 hp (231 kW) @ 4,750 rpm, 350 lb·ft (475 N·m) @ 2,750 rpm
2015- Ford Edge Sport
325 hp (242 kW) @ 5500 rpm, 380 lb·ft (515 N·m) @ 3500 rpm
2017- Ford Fusion Sport
I love the dark grey! What paint colour is that?
In 1973 a one year only color of medium gray poly or sometimes listed as medium gray metallic was used. PPG code 33053. These faded fast when new and the original paint on my hood was extremely thin. Lots of metallic that makes it look dark unless in the sun. I was going to change color but glad I didn’t as it has been growing on me. Lots of clear coat on this re-paint. Couldn’t go with the black interior, too bland.
That Interior almost looks like leather? Nice job on those cars Thumbs up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The best thing about the Capri is the variety of options. I will be building a 3.7 V6 version soon. Engine and manual trans from a Mustang. The 3.0 Duratec from a Lincoln LS will also fit. The 2.8 can also make great power. Would love to know what you decide on.
If, I get the gray car running and it doesn’t smoke I’ll start with the original 2.6 while collecting parts. Also have a “parts car” Copper Capri that originally had a Ford air conditioner. Don’t have the brackets or compressor, its a V-6 stick. That one will get the Ranger engine now that I know it fits.
Omg! My very first Capri was that colour. Have never seen another one, especially nice to see what it was supposed to look like.
Don, we have got to talk. Need to figure out the best way to get in contact. You have some nice Capri’s!
Use the Idaho area code and this number: 830-9887 It’s my cell. MST.
I drove a 1971 Capri during high school. Enjoyed working on it and had a lot of fun.
I often wish I would have kept it. If I could find a good one for sale I would be really tempted to pick it up.
I had a 1971 , it was off white with a dark metallic red (same color as my 68 Mustang) interior , the rear body panel and lower body were satin black , had the styled steel wheels with trim rings ,no rust whatsoever and.the chrome was excellent , yes it was underpowered and for a 4 cylinder the gas mileage wasn’t all that great , as I recall it got around 20 mpg . but it was fun to drive and handled like a sports car , l got the car in 1982 and drove it for a work car ,although you’d never know it , I kept it immaculate . I ended up having a long time family friend beg me to sell him the car , I finally caved and sold it to him , I don’t think I ever saw him drive it though , he just parked it in the garage and there it sat , to this day I regret selling the car and always kept looking for one like it , it’s too late now , my driving days are over and I live in a nursing home , a stroke did that for me . The memory of my Capri is still there and even 30 years later its one of the few cars I truly miss .
Ronny, I am sorry about your circumstances. That must be hard. I hope friends and family keep you busy. As for Capri’s, time changes all. I have to revise my plans somewhat. I have decided to keep only 2 of my Capri’s. I can no longer justify all of them. I’m going to restore the remainder with period mods and introduce others to the joy of classic car ownership. My Dad and Mum passed within months of each other last year and it changed my perspective. Take care, and I wish you well