The Fox-body generation of Mustang is great, but sometimes you want something a little different. With this 1983 Mercury Capri 5.0 you can have your cake and eat it too! The second-generation Mercury Capri is simply a restyled and rebadged Mustang, so you get the same great car but with enough differences to make it stand out in a crowd. The only problem is that you rarely find these Capri alternatives, especially 5.0 models. So, if you want something a bit different, you will want to bid on Reader Jason V’s Capri!
To ensure the Capri was different enough to draw in buyers, these cars received quite a few visual tweaks, such as a fully redesigned front end, revised wheel openings, and different tail lights. The rear hatch was given a bubble-back design for ’83, but this one appears to have the earlier style hatch. It might be a late ’82 that was sold as an ’83ck or it’s possible that the glass got damaged and it was cheaper to install a Mustang hatch with glass than buying just the replacement Mercury glass. Jason has documents from the past two owners, so perhaps one of them can provide more of the car’s history?
While it looks different on the outside, the inside is pretty much unchanged from the Mustang. This example appears to have seats from a later Mustang GT currently installed, but they look great in there and have to be more supportive than the originals. It appears the rest of the interior is original and in usable shape. Jason states that it could use some cosmetic work to take it to the next level.
Under the Capri specific hood is the beloved 5.0 HO V8. It’s been completely rebuilt and was beefed up a bit while it was out. The car is showing 94k miles, but the engine has covered less than 500 miles since the engine rebuild. In stock form, this engine was good for about 175 horsepower, but Jason isn’t sure how much power it has now. He does know that it’s a beast now and is very fast. The 5-speed is said to be in good shape, but there’s no word on if it has been rebuilt as well.
We come across Fox-body Mustangs every day, but we rarely see these Capris. This one could be cleaned up a bit, but is a decent driver as-is. It sounds like a fun machine to drive and will definitely get lots of attention everywhere it goes. So, if you’d love to hit the street in this foxy Capri, be sure to cast your high bid. And if you have any questions about it, please leave them in the comments section below! Also, be sure to take a look at his other auction here.
- Location: Milford, CT
- Title: Clean
- Mileage: 94,000
- Engine: 5.0 Liter H.O. V8
- Transmission: 5-Speed Manual
Bid On This Auction
Harvey9095 bid $900.00 2019-11-07 17:47:35
YellowB4Z bid $750.00 2019-11-07 07:24:51
Saabman bid $500.00 2019-11-07 04:47:42
Gotgas bid $250.00 2019-11-06 09:14:26
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I would have preferred stock engine, but I am sure this is very nice in its own right.
I would like to see under car shots. And info on how hard the front end was hit.
What makes you say the front end was hit??
Because the hood doesn’t fit right, and the whole nose looks out of plumb. I love Capri’s, had one as a teenager but this one looks like a recently completed garage project that’s… close. It’s wearing ’86 Mustang wheels too, likely from the same car the hatch and seats came from.
Strut tops, nuts & plates are painted. Fender bolts are rusty but no rust on fenders. 5.0 emblems in wrong place. The hood scoop is not correct.
The front end was never hit it’s all original. If you wanna see it for yourself come on down and take a look but it hasn’t been hit.
Well, wrong rear hatch and spoiler. 5.0 badges are placed wrong. Not a OEM color for a Capri. Seats are wrong. Wondering if it was in a horrible accident and these are the replacement parts. I generally like 79-86 Capri’s. Especially V8’s. But this one I think has some issues.
Nothing appears correct here…Tail lights and grill are 1983-86, Steering wheel is Ghia style 79-82 as is that flat window rear hatch. Not to insult the seller, because it’s certainly a nice car overall. What is it ? Does it even matter ? I love those Kevin Marti reports on Ford cars…They provide pretty nice history.
Looks like a Frankinstang with capri front and rear..possibly a cars and coffee wreck fix..but I still like it
Looks like a Frankinstang with capri front and rear..possibly a cars and coffee wreck fix..but I still like it and yeah what’s with the 5.0 badges
Original parts of not, this is a neat ride. A driver not a show car, unfortunately the sight of that air cleaner alone would have the tree huggers here in California looking to hang me. Never pass the dreaded smog test.
There used to be ways around that illegally here as well as everywhere else I guess.
I never liked it when Mercury switched to that bubble back rear, it’s different alright but I prefer the look of this one.
Mercury switched to the bubble-back when Jack Rousch designed it… for racing. It’s more aerodynamic & also puts more weight over that light rear end. I get that it’s a love/hate thing…
This is the start of a “black and white world” inside of cars.
& today’s cars with their “amazing exterior colors”(few exceptions) make sure it looks like a black & white world on the outside too.
Chopped roof post ’78 stang
https://www.allfordmustangs.com/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/87853/ppuser/55898
Needs frameless side glass & ’78 racing mirrors. Imagine how many more ford would have sold like this.
I wold like to know the history of this car. That rear end stands out like crazy.
Either they changed the rear panel for the bubble back tail lights, or they changed the hatch.
Either way those two parts do not look right together. That is easily fixed though.
The door panels/trims are from an 87-93 mustang. The seats look like they are from a t-bird or cougar. The bottom is close but the back and headrests are different. 83 had the fishnet halos for sport interior. I have an 83 RS so I should know.
I had an 83 RS back in the day, the only mod was a front spoiler the previous owner installed. It had the same hood and the flat rear window, but I don’t remember which taillights it had. The description says these are not the original seats and I am pretty sure the steering wheel is not either. Still, I would enjoy restoring this one.
Frankenstang
This car was just on ebay twice in last couple of weeks. Something like an owner abandoned car or similar. Is Jason the garage owner or a really fast flipper?
Man. this one savagely picked apart here
My first car in 1986-7 was a 1980 capri 4 cyl 4 speed. It was a base but I really fixed it up. I put the TRX wheels on it tinted the windows, louvers, put a rear spoiler on it painted it black. I also put a console in it, home made smoke headlight light cover out of a found broken piece of plexy glass that was just enough to cut out 2 covers. Cut a coil off the front springs, boomin stereo with my first amp and a (4) 10″ cheap excalibur speaker box. Oh yeah I got a 85 5.0 full dual rear exhaust and put it on. It lined right up because of the single hump cross member and only need a little piece of flex pipe to connect it. I clamped it to the 4 cyl ex and slid about 1-2 feet into the 5.0 part. I always wanted that hood scoop though. I LOVED the fender bulges and rear finned tail lights. These cars were way under appreciated in the day. I was watchin jack roush cars tear up the tracks in trans am and SCCA racing. Aww the memories.