In the early 1970s, the Mercury Cougar was already moving away from its roots as a pony car and was becoming a personal luxury car. And the Comet was being revived as a Ford Maverick derivative in 1971. With the advent of the subcompact, Mercury decided to go the captive import route and began bringing in the Capri built by Ford of Europe. It has pony car-like dimensions, though a tad smaller than the original Ford Mustang. The seller has owned this 1972 Capri was some time, and it has a V6 engine, though the overall car is a project. Located in Van Alstyne, Texas, this mini-Merc is available here on eBay, where a single bid of $1,750 has been cast.
The first generation of the imported Capri was devoid of Mercury branding, much like the initial Comets were a decade earlier. These European cars were something of a preview of what the 1974 Mustang II would be as a subcompact with an inline-4 for power. A V6 engine was available as an option in 1972, and that should have made the Capri quite perky and a good handler. With a redesign in the mid-1970s, the Capri would wrap up its original run in 1978 as the car became a Foxbody Mustang derivative after that.
We’re told by the seller that maybe 25% of all 1972 Capris had the 2.6-liter V6 engine as in this car. It has a 4-speed manual transmission in order to take full advantage of the car’s ability to be nimble. The seller’s first experience with a Capri was in 1973 when he was a child and spent a lot of time in the back seat of his father’s Capri. As an adult, he already owned 1971 and 1973 CCapris so it made sense to add this 1972 as a project. But the other cars have consumed the time that might otherwise go to this car, so off it must go.
The Capri once wore Medium Brown Metallic paint, but primer grey seems to dominate now. It may have been off the road since the late 1990s and isn’t yet ready to join the ranks of the living. Rust is present, but apparently far from terminal, and the interior is ready for a makeover, too. This Capri is begging for a restoration, but will the cost of doing so exceed the vehicle’s future resale value? Not everyone considers this important when a labor of love is involved, but projects do have to make financial sense, too, right? The seller has provided a bunch of photos but decided to group them rather than upload them individually.
With a third pedal, these were fun with the Cologne.
I’ve mentioned this before: an early Capri, V6 4-speed, was on my “really really want it” list, back then. Never came to be. They were cool little cars. Still like them today.
Good ad. I hope someone can bring it back to life.
Eep, another BFs exclusive,,I had this exact car, only a ’73. Not sure why I bought it, I did like the car, but had several shortcomings I didn’t care for. The 4 speed was out of a Pinto, and a big hole between 1st& 2nd and sorely needed a 5 speed. No room for back passengers, terrible in snow, and that gas filler, I remember more than once before auto shutoffs, a river of gas down the side. Then there was the dealer support, or lack of it. L-M dealers put Capri owners on the back shelf, so as to attend to the much more important Lincoln owners. Opel had a similar deal. These were okay cars, I don’t see much hope here, I’d take the offer.
I’d be willing to bet that it was in a really bad flood at one time. Hard pass. Quirky? Sure. Special enough to invest… nope.
My Brother had one of these back in the day, he drove it like a robber running from the police! That car was impressive in handling, speed and bark the tires in all 4. It was a blast!!! We would listen to the police scanner, and “ally rat it” and be parked about 1 block away before they showed on scene. Fun times…