By 1970-71, all the domestic automakers offered some version of a sub-compact car. Ford had the Pinto, Chevy had the Vega, and AMC lopped off part of the Hornet to come up with the Gremlin. Mercury went a different route, importing the German-built Ford Capri (hence the term “captive”) and rebadging it as their own. It wasn’t a sub-compact per se, but it was close enough. The Capri was more of what the Mustang II would become in 1974, a small sporty pony car. This ’71 Capri appears to live outdoors in Riverside, California and will need some TLC to get going again. It’s available here on eBay where the no reserve auction has reached $1,625.
When it was introduced in mid-1970, the Capri was a product of Ford of Europe. The Capri and Capri II would run as a sporty sub-compact through 1978. After that, it was a rebadged as a pony car on the Mustang platform. At first, it would not have a direct Ford-branded counterpart in North America. The name was derived from the namesake Italian island and would be used by Mercury in the 1950s on a posh Lincoln. For the U.S. market, the early ‘70s Capri’s saw minor revisions from their European donor, with the two rectangular headlights used abroad being replaced by four circular headlamps.
The earlier Capri’s were not barn-burners in terms of power, utilizing a 1.6-iter Kent “crossflow” inline-4 that produced just 71 horsepower. The engine would be upgraded with a 2.0-liter in 1971 and a V6 in 1972, which then helped nicely to propel the 2,100-lb. car. As it’s a ’71 model, the seller’s car should have the larger 4-cylinder under the hood with a 4-speed manual transmission. This Capri is said to have not run in a while, but the engine will try to crank over. It’s slightly over-filled with oil, which the buyer will likely change anyway before trying to get it to seriously fire. If the odometer reading is correct, the car only has 34,000 miles on it.
For a car that appears to have resided outdoors for some time, the body and (what may be) original paint aren’t too bad. There’s no major sheet metal damage another than what might be a small dent in the roof. The chrome and glass are in generally good condition. I’d throw some elbow grease and rubbing compound on it first before resorting to a new paint job. The interior needs a good cleaning, and the seat fabric may be okay except the passenger side bucket seat looks to either have problems or has a cover over it. It’s usually the driver’s seat that gets the most wear.
Serious buyers should check the lights and tire air pressure on their trailer before coming after this one as its listed as PNO with the DMV and can’t go on the road before that’s changed. The trunk is full of spare parts that will come with the car. We couldn’t find any production numbers for the 1971 Capri, but it seems that 513,000 of them were imported to the U.S. through 1975 before it morphed into the Capri II. Hagerty doesn’t seem to place on premium value on these autos, with the nicest one around not worth much more than $10,000. We’re not sure about the pipeline for parts for these 50-year-old cars, but the Capri Club of North America might be a good resource for suggestions.
I always loved the styling of these early Capris. This one looks to be a great candidate for a fixer upper.
My late older brother and I took a road trip to FL in his brand new 1976 Capri II. Against my attempts to discourage him due to a lot of beach goers around plus it was not Daytona Beach, he decided to try it anyway. Well he got about 10 feet on to the beach much to the amazement of the beach goers when the car just started burying itself in the sand. Just as I was thinking we’re screwed, four muscle beach guys observed our plight and decided to come to our rescue. The bumpers were paint matched to the color of the car and each grabbed a corner and picked the car up and moved it to where my brother could gain traction. They just laughed and trotted away and my brother drove away embarrassed as all get out. I never mentioned “I told you so” as public humiliation was enough.
Shortly after buying our house in Roanoke,VA,
I walked around the neighborhood.I saw a car covered
up with a plastic tarp,& thought “That looks like something-
interesting”.A few weeks later,I walked by again,& one of
the wheels was visible – it was a ’72 Capri!.
Got to know the owner,George,who told me he bought
it new,& was planning on restoring it,& driving it again.A while
after that,he told me that he’d decided that it was time to part
with it.
I put it out there,& a guy,Bruce,who lives in NZ bought
it & had it shipped there.I regret seeing it go,but it will get put
back on the road & enjoyed.
I had a 74, V6, 4-speed, bigger Weber carb, and headers with duel exhaust. My absolute favorite car that I have ever owned. Loud, raw, and a hoot to drive; a boisterous close talker who didn’t mind spitting in your face.
The 2.0 “pinto” engine in this one is a gem of a motor, better heads than the restrictive 2.3 Lima that was breathing through a partially collapsed straw.
This particular car I see rust, rust, and rust on top of that.
The engine in this Capri IS the 2 liter/Pinto engine, as you can see the cam drive cover on the front.
I once owned a 73 “facelift” Capri, mine was also a 4 cylinder but with the C4 automatic transmission. It was avacodo green with a light brown interior and the optional full / GT-style instruments. A nice car that I eventually ” sold ” to pay past due storage bills.
Well, on the positive side.it has the original “blue” plates…..which as you know, out here, leads some of us to paroxyms of joy :)
I had THREE of ’em over a five year period of largely wasted youth. An Air Force two-striper in Florida getting transferred to Anchorage Alaska, hearing the tales of horrific $1-per-gallon gas, I sacrificed a neat ’66 Olds 4-4-2 to finance a previous rental ’71 Capri 2l. automatic with seriously retarded timing (and owner…) Drove it across the US to Seattle before getting the timing fixed and finding it a fun car.
In Sept. ’73 I was about to re-up in the AF so I got a new, Bullitt-Green, tan Decor Group, V6-4 gear with Pirellis, $3555, my first and to date only ‘new car’.
Loved it dearly, didn’t re-up, stayed in Ak. went to work on the Pipeline, later offloaded it during a long jobless stint. ’76 I found a blue ’74, a 2800/stick, went bonkers tricking it out. Sold it in’78 in Portland.
Neat cars, didn’t age well. This one looks good. I prefer the v6s but a good-running 2l tuned to within an inch of its life is maybe more fun if backed with the 4-speed.
Just checked. In the UK currently a 2.0Lt GT for sale at. £34,999 pounds. This one is basically for free.
My first Car was the 73 Capri V-6 4Spd.I wanted the Copper Met. color but took what my ex brother in law called the Crapi in met.Brown.Un assisted clutch that even my young legs would shake to hold it engaged. The dash pad cracked right where the vertical design was and I replaced the leaking water pump in a parking lot. No back seat to speak of or trunk storage and the Pirelli stock tires lasted a mere 19,000 miles but I still like the style. It was the last year of the chrome bumper too. just in time for the Energy Crisis and 55 Mph speed limit on the highways for the next 25 years.
Wow, the memories
My little town Charleston WV had a bunch of these running around and my buddy had a buimt 2liter painted orange with the panasport style wheels
Great looking and running car
I later found a copper v6-4speed car
i loved that car
Made lots of memories in it
There is only one Capri that count and that is the South African built Capri Peranna with a V8 engine. Super rare.
FORD Capri. Not Mercury.
I bought mine at Bill Ollinger LINCOLN-MERCURY in 1973 in 1973 so I KNOW where of I speak. Not sold at FORD dealers that I have ever seen.
Re-read the article
Ford built but badged mercury in US
Not sold in the U.S. as a Ford. It was advertised as the sexy European sports car.Ford sold the Pinto and Lincoln Mercury sold the Bobcat which was pretty much the same car.No parallel with the Mercury Capri in the U.S. though.I already knew where it came from and who made it when I bought it new. Still,and will always be A Mercury Capri here.
My dad bought a ’74 new, silver with black interior & sunroof, V6 & 4-speed. In 1976 I ended up putting in the FoMoCo dealer-installed A/C in it, that was a nasty job. I never liked the car, but the reason for my dislike was because of how my dad ended up with it.
Dad got rid of it when a local mechanic, trying to buy the Porsche cheap, told him both of the front body suspension supports had rusted away and the front suspension was about to fall out. I was in Europe at the time, and didn’t have the ability to check it myself. He traded a beautiful 1969 5-speed Porsche to the local L-M dealer for the Capri. They put the Porsche thru state inspection [it passed – no rust problems of course] and then put it on their used car lot.
Dad had promised to give me first refusal on the Porsche. So it’s easy to understand why I never liked the Capri!
Had a ’73 green Capri 2000 4spd just like this except black interior. Loved that car but not enough HP to take sking. Bought a new ’76 Ghia V6 4spd white w/ black interior…loved that car. Would love to find another, but few have survived😢 This one will be a good project for someone! Hope it stays in CA!!
The little 2 liter could produce pretty respectable performance. My best friend had a 72 Pinto and added a header, Offenhauser (I think) 4 barrel intake with a 390 cfm Holley, Racer Walsh cam, adjustable cam sprocket, Mallory Uni-lite, MSD, and a few other tweaks. The biggest issue was the shift to 3rd, the gear ratio’s were basically for an economy car, which the Pinto was. That thing revved easily, and sounded incredible at high RPM. Fun car with matching suspension work as well.
It was called a Ford Capri overseas.
I don’t think any were brought over here with the 1600 motor.
This one has no headrests or side marker lights …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT3GHBRrukI
Sorry, but the 1600 was the only engine available in the Capri for most of the 1st year it was sold in America. Then like the Pinto, the 2 liter became the optional engine, before it became the standard engine and the V6 was the optional engine.
If back issues of Road&Track and/or Car&Driver were accessible I would reference them here. I remember reading about the Capri with its standard1600 in 1 or both of those magazines, and remember the photo of the 1600 badge that illustrated the articles.
Author please note, the plural of Capri is Capris. You’re using an apostrophe, which would be the possessive, not the plural you intend.
SOLD for $2,325.
Just looking at the brake and clutch pedals seems like a lot more than 34k miles
http://www.speedhunters.com/2020/08/perana-the-ford-capri-with-v8-bite/
Christo,
Thanks for the link to the Capri Perana, I’d heard rumors about a Ford authorized V8 Capri, and always assumed they must have been built in Germany.
I do find it interesting that the V8 emblems are from the Rover P6 alloy 3.5 liter V8 car.
In 1976 bought a Buick sunbird v6 and my close friend bought at a greater cost a Capri v6. That Buick roasted the Capri I every way for performance. But styling in that black and gold body with sunroof was top notch. I think the Capri engine had too much restrictions for smog .
This is a Ford Capri, not ever badged as a Mercury. Sold by Mercury dealerships as simply a Capri.
Tell that to the CA DMV who labeled all mine as Mercury Capris