During most of the 1970s, the Capri was a subcompact import from Ford of Europe that looked like a pony car and was sold by Mercury. But it was never badged as such. In 1979, when the Ford Mustang was redesigned using the new Foxbody platform, the Capri also went that route, giving Mercury its first pony since the 1970 Cougar. The seller, a dealer, has a gently used survivor from 1982, an RS edition (Rallye Sport). It may be as nice as they came and has a 302-cubic-inch V8. Located in a showroom in Plainfield, Indiana, this nice survivor is available here on eBay for $20,900 OBO.
Now officially a Mercury, the Foxbody Capri ran between 1979 and 1986, while the Mustang version soldiered on through 1993 before the next rework. The Capri was only sold as a hatchback and had some styling cues that were different than the Mustang, but you had to park them next to one another to find out. The RS was one of many trim/performance options, with the 302 engine being the top powerplant. This Capri has a 4-speed manual transmission, as the 5-speed wasn’t that common yet. The Capri sold at a fraction of the number of Mustangs, 36,000 copies in 1982 vs. 130,000 of its Ford cousins.
Because a dealer is involved with the sale of this Capri, we don’t know a lot about its history other than someone (or someone’s) only drove 34,000 miles in 44 years. But documentation will be provided for your perusal. This copy of “Mercury’s Hidden Muscle Car” presents quite well, although you’ll find a few little scratches and scrapes which are typical with original paint (red). It’s a well-equipped hot rod with power steering and front disc brakes, factory air conditioning, and Recaro seats for maximum support and comfort.
The tough-guy appearance of the car is enhanced by factory TRX wheels that we assume wear tires with lots of life left. We’re told it’s always been in a garage when not in use and its oil changes have been with strictly full synthetic fluids. A plus with the purchase of this machine is that it comes with a service contract for the next three months (but only 500 miles). The car comes with a spare transmission in the event you ever need one. Foxbody Mustangs are not uncommon, but when was the last time you saw a 1980s Capri?
Synthetic oil its whole life? What was he, an Amzoil dealer? Man were they annoying. Fox Capris were very beautiful during certain years. TRX tires do not come cheap. A truly dumb idea on Fords part to go metric, though the whole of America was supposed to. Remember speed signs in MPH and Kilometers? Americans were dumb to not adopt the more logical system. I feel in the 80s it was used as a political wedge issue to please small minded voters. If you had TRX wheels and tires on your 308, no big deal, you got deep pockets, obviously, but Ford was feeling elistist I guess.
LOVE it!
I bet the last time I saw a Capri, I never gave it a thought, believing it to be a Mustang.
That is a beautiful car. I owned a 1983 Capri RS, blue and blue, 5.0 with a 4-speed. One of the best cars I ever owned, until it got T-boned in a parking lot in the passenger door. This 1982 does not have the bubble rear glass which is a huge plus. The $20k price tag is just about right IMHO. I wish I had room for one more car.