In the 1970s, Mercury dealers sold a sub-compact built by Ford of Europe. Named the Capri (later Capri II), the little car was akin to the early Ford Mustangs from the prior decade. It helped fill a product void created in part when the Mercury Cougar moved upstream as a mid-size personal luxury car. This 1976 Capri II has been sitting for several years and will need mechanical as well as cosmetic attention. It has a V6 engine and a sunroof that appears to have been partly and poorly covered over. From Chula Vista, California, this Mercury (though not badged as such) is available here on eBay where $1,020 is the price to beat.
The first and second generations of the Capri ran from 1970 to 1978 (skipping 1975). Though imported from Germany to be sold at Mercury dealers, there was no Mercury identification anywhere on the car. Becoming the Capri II in 1976, the car was a tad bigger than before and went from being a coupe with a trunk to a 3-door hatchback. The later cars came with a 2.3-liter inline-4 as standard with a 2.8-liter V6 optional (and the one in the seller’s vehicle). Importation ceased in 1978 with the final sales tally being 513,500 units across the decade. A sizeable number, yet you seldom see one running around today.
This Capri II is a Ghia model, which looks to be strictly a trim upgrade. The seller describes it as a barn find which is where he/she may have found it. It comes with an automatic transmission and the car is not running, though a rebuilt carburetor and tune-up kit are coming with the deal to help change that. The interior is in remarkable condition with little, if any, attention needed.
On the other hand, the body has rust in a few places (like the trunk lid) and someone did a bad job of trying to patch over the sunroof. However, the seller says if you turn the handle, the sunroof still works, so we don’t know what that’s all about (was it leaking?). If you’re looking for what might be a cheap wheels project to revive, this Mustang-like vehicle might be one. But they never really end up being cheap, do they?
That’s what you get when you sell bondo at Walmart. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sunroof bondoed over. Nice. I had a ’72 Capri (l?) and I liked the car, but had several shortcomings, mostly all rectified with the Capri ll. It was too late. The original Capri enjoyed success mainly because, there wasn’t much else in small sporty cars. What, an Opel? A Fiat? A Vega/Pinto? Asian cars were still these tin cans of no real concern. They sure changed that tune, and the Capri ll didn’t have a chance. Capris had a pretty good following, but today, it better have the plastic on the seats, as I doubt anyone would want this.
I disagree – the MKII was heavier (& I believe slower) than
the MKI.I had a ’73,& it was a well-built,comfortable driving car.
Wouldn’t mind having another one.
I liked my ’72 also, but the things I didn’t like, were the 4 speed was right out of the Pinto, with that big hole between 1st&2nd. I think the Capri ll had a 5 speed and then the rear hatch was a big improvement. The 2.8 was a slight improvement too, and the Ford automatic (C4?) shown here, was available. Again, a Capri specialist can correct me, but I thought the Capri ll was just a better car.
About 150lb heavier with the hatchback, and with a slightly numerically higher rear axle ratio. The rear track was a bit wider, but the cars were largely mechanically the same. One could even put the wider rear in the earlier body if one flared the fenders.
yep…..got my old gf’s Capri with the V6 and 4sp after the clutch went out and she let it get towed from the apartments. Put a clutch in it and drove the p out of it – it was one of the ones I ran 100LL from the airport in and never fazed it carb wise…..great car – and yes we are still good friends.
Yup,I bought a Fiat 124 Sport Coupe new in 73′ and after 30 k miles I had had enough of toggle switches failing,hose to the gas tank leaking,broken trunk lid and waiting a whole summer for a front fender ( after someone backed into it ) .Only foreign car I owned in my 70 years.
I wouldn’t call a 240z or a Toyota Celica “a tin box of no concern”
I always liked the Capris. For being basic economy cars, I thought they were attractive, sporty, and well-executed. A half million sold in the US was quite impressive given they were sold at Lincoln-Mercury dealers, who I suspect were way more interested in selling high-profit-margin Town Cars. My wife had a 1971, it was a fun car.
The interior on this example does look good, but otherwise it is fairly rusty. I wonder if the sunroof “plug” was one of those “I’ll fix that!!” moments, born out of frustration.
Hopefully they actually welded the sunroof panel (or a replacement section) to the roof and only used the Bondo to smooth-over the seams.
It’s widely misunderstood how these early sliding sunroofs were typically designed to handle water, so attempts to resolve any leaks are often ill-conceived. The edge “seal” isn’t meant to be an actual watertight seal but, rather, it’s just a bumper that protects the panel edges and fills the gap somewhat to limit (but not totally prevent) water intrusion, then any water getting past it is meant to drip into gutters around the edge that drain into tubes running down the A- or B-pillar(s).
As such, when these sunroofs start leaking to any significant degree, it’s usually because one or more drainage tube(s) became plugged up with debris, causing the edge gutters to back up and overflow. This can also lead to pillar rot if the blockage isn’t cleared, allowing water to stand in them for extended periods of time. The actual solution is to simply rod-out the blocked tube(s) with a flexible wire and/or blow them out with compressed air.
The giveaway was when the roof filled with water… and if it got bad enough, it would rush forward and come gushing down on your lap when you hit the brakes.
But yes, rodding out the tubes fixed the problem pronto.
The automatic will hurt the sale of this car but someone from across the Pond will still grab it. These are going for insane money in Britain.
Rented a ’73 with the 4 cylinder and 4 speed while we waited for our ’64 356C to arrive from the states. We were in Norway which is full of mountains and great mountain roads. The Capri was fun to drive and had good power and handling. According to the information we have the European Capri had the Ford T-Ford transmission which is the transmission we have in our race car but with a set of competition gears.
Make that Ford T4.
It looks like California is the only place left in the states that these Capri’s exist.
There’s some here in SW Virginia,& Northern North Carolina.
Are they ever 4 sale?
Pity it’s rusty and on the left coast. If it was in good condition, on the East coast, had a manual trans., and a V6- I would be bidding on it.
I bought a brand new one in early 1971 when they first came out. Home from my tour in Vietnam and with money saved wrote a check for $2601.93 as I recall — not bad for a 20 year old right!! At that time there was after market equipment available from a company in Sausilito,CA to give them more umph!! Fun car to drive and as an under 25 year old, single Marine I could afford the insurance.
That would have been Winklemann Racing.I have a couple
reprints of their catalog.
Last I heard,”Wink” was still very much alive.
The German Capris were great cars. I had a 74 with v6 and five speed. Lots of power for small cars of that period. The trouble was that the front end would wear out and the car would shimee violently. I had it to several suspension shops before giving up and selling the car.
I had. 76 Capri, 2.8 V6
I remember the SEVERE shimmy, especially when braking
The shame of it was that these were not hard to fix. As far as front suspensions went, I don’t thing they got any easier to work on than these.
The inner part of the control arm pivoted on an 8mm bolt, and sometimes the corresponding holes in the cross-member wore oblong. But even that was relatively easy to fix… I generally just drilled them out to 3/8 and used fatter bolts.
We never had a 2.3 four; it was the smallest V6. Was a nice engine, too.
The Cortina was always a better handler than the Capri (better balanced?), then Capri 2 and Cortina 3 (void bushes) came along and were more rubbery and less precise.
I had a ’72 Cortina MKIII,& looking under the hood it looked
very close to a Capri,except for the coil spring suspension.
I had a 72 with a V6 4 speed. Bright red with all steel fender flares welded on. Don’t know who did the work but it looked(even though it wasn’t) factory. Fat BFG 50 series tires all around with 10 inch deep set polished aluminum slotted wheels. It was a nice looking car but had a serious death wobble at about 35-40 mph that I just couldn’t get rid of. Was a shame. Really liked that one.
Had a72,Auto,4 cyl. Liked the little car except for the A/C .Took a trip to Las Vegas from Pecos Tx. in Jun.July. Hot,Hot. Loved Vegas but the trip was like a trip to Hell! Told wife take this to your Uncle in Abilene and come back with something usable.(Her Uncle was a car dealer there) She came back with a 72 Town Ca. Thought I has died and gone to Heaven.
The exchange rate between the dollar and the German Deutschemark is what killed the Capri. As related by one poster, when they arrived here, they were cheap, but by the time the II came off the boat, they were inching into Cougar pricing. No five speeds came in Capris sold as new cars in the States; the auto was the C-3 made in France. The front suspension was very simple, derived from the Cortina. New track control arms went a long way to taming the shimmy, but American mechanics weren’t familiar with the setup. DOBI and ROKSTOCK are the two aftermarket suppliers I remember. Team Blitz in Ohio can supply about any Capri part you may need, including type 9 five speeds Ford eventually installed in the Capri. Gotta love the moss growing out of the intake manifold – that engine is toast!
I believe that “moss” is a green towel, likely placed there to keep dirt and rodents out.
This was Ford’s attempt to compete with the Opel Manta/1900 sold by Buick dealers. I looked at the Capri I as a used car for my college ride, but the seating position could best be described as “challenging” for my 59.75 inch tall frame. The Opel fit me much better.
With that said, I liked the Capri II better, but the ever declining exchange rate between the dollar and the German Mark meant that both the Opel and the Capri would be priced out of the market and be gone from our shores by 1979.
Looks more akin to a pinto to me. Pretty good deal, it seems.
I agree with Billy1. I wish there were more on the east coast. I had a 73’ V6 w/4 spd and air conditioning from 76- 88. During that time, I put Michelin tires on Cragar wheels, ANSA dual exhaust, front spoiler, and rear window shades on it. It looked and drove great. I wish I kept it. I now have a 73’ V6 w/ 4 speed sitting in my back yard. I just need time to work on it.
With this Capri, I would be concerned about rust you cannot see. They were known to rust out in odd places. I owned a 74, 75 and 77 over the years and also a two door 72 cortina. The 74 was my personal favourite. The 74 was faster than the 77. (Both with v6). The 75 had the 2.3 4 cylinder. I drove a 72 with 2.6 and actually found it the fastest of all of them. The 2.8 in my 74 and 77 were much quicker and handled better than the v8 Mustang IIs that I had owned. All of the cars were a 4 speed except for the 75.
I’ve had a total of 4 Capris, 2 2.0 ’73 and 74, and 2 ’76 2.8. All had the 4 speed. I faced them all in Autocross. The V6 was nose heavy for the power output, the 2.0 had readily available parts for engine modifications that the 2.8 didn’t. Also the 2.8 if overheated cracked cylinder heads. The last one was seriously modified suspension wise, lowered enough that speed bumps were a challenge, scraping the front subframe when slowly going over, a larger sway bar up front and the front bar heim jointed in the rear and adjustable, high pressure gas struts and shocks. Good enough to beat a modified 2002tii in several events and clinching 1st places. My first was a 76 Ghia, two tone beige and cream interior, sunroof, no a/c. Purchased in 78, had Pirelli CN36 HR tires that stuck like glue. Definitely faster than the Mustang 2 with the V6. I miss them all. I replaced the last one with an Alfetta GT with twin DelOrtos, no that I REALLY miss.
Surprising how LONG that hood is on this small car! Compare that to the “hood” of the 2010 Honda Civic coupe.
Good engine protection in a minor front accident impact for the Merc even without 5 mph bumper, unlike the Honda.
I always thought the Capris had the Mustang II/Pinto front end – if they did, would there still be wear & shimmy issues?
I have this car at home. Odd trim, Ghia wheels, belt moldings (removed) but built as a decor group. Standard interior with 1/2 console and sunroof. No air. Was automatic but now a 4 speed. Brown paint and oxblood interior. Had power steering but since removed. I got it as a shell, engine and trans removed but included. Has 44k miles on it. The interior is good. Been trying to finish it but keep getting slapped silly by life. One day soon I hope. Then on to the next one…
I was a young SGT back from viet nam and went straight to Germany. Couldn’t afford one till Pres. Nixon (Know called Tricky Dick, but looks like a Prince compared to now) and gave is a great raise!! Making $282/month. Bought a 72 that had been damaged in delivery. Their law said had to fix, report it, and reduce price by amt of repairs. 2000 cc 4 cyl with a 5 speed. Broke it in on the Autobahn going to Spain on vacation. After that, it lived around 90 mph with no problems. Brought it back and embarrassed Vega’s as it would get adequate 2nd gear rubber and nothing but taillights. Unfortunately all good things come to an end. Decided I’d try and put a 289 w/4bbl and C6 automatic in it. Got it in but as no conversions around yet, cut and welding did not come out too pretty. But it did do 11:56 best times at the track. Sold for $300 and went back to europe. This time a MB. Would love to find another w/2.6 and 5 speed.
Good friend of mine had one with the 2.3 with a 5 speed we did some major front end work and dropped the suspension , I did a little trick work to the heart and we had a very fun rally car . If I didn’t already have a toy I might think about this one
Too bad this is soo rough😢 I had a ’73 2.0 L 4spd and a ’76 2.8L V6 4 spd, both brand new. The 2.0 was too slow on the SoCal mtn roads so I sold it after 3 yrs for $500 less than I paid new. My 2.8 was a Ghia also and was a great car, especially in the mtns. Never see any around, would love another Ghia 4 spd!!