1970-1974 Mercury Capri: Ford’s Other Pony Car

1974 Mercury Capri

Small cars were once considered penalty boxes because they were crude, rough riding and saddled with wheezy little engines. As the ‘70s begun, the Big Three had begun to offer them as affordable stripped down versions of their larger cars. Part of the strip down process included engine displacement and cylinder count. Cars like the Maverick, Colt and Vega had sporting potential, but the ideal of a sporting small car really took off with Ford’s Capri in 1970.

Room For One More
Ford already had what it call a small car (by American standards) with the Maverick and Comet, but they left a void in Ford’s overall car portfolio for America. Its Mercury division, already associated with upscale performance and near-luxury needed a product that would be not much smaller but more stylish than the Comet while being performance oriented from the start. Since Mercury already had a version of the Mustang in the form of the ever growing Cougar, Ford would resurrect the Capri name and attach it to what was being called Europe’s answer to the Mustang.  To have the real Mustang and Europe’s version of it was a win-win for American buyers. To be clear the Mustang and Capri had very little in common besides being pony cars and sharing design work from Philip T. Clark.

Ford’s First World Car?
The Capri was truly a world car (maybe Ford’s first) with factories in Europe, Australia and South Africa. Europeans often refer to the first generation Capri as MK I. American bound cars came mostly from Germany as did the 1.4 liter Kent inline four cylinder engine (also used in the Pinto). Ford’s own advertising skipped over the fact that some Capri’s were made in Britain, causing many to think they were exclusively a German product. The 1.4 liter engine was exclusively a German thing and would eventually grow to 2.8 liters by the mid ‘70s. Even with a SOHC, emission regulations stifled power to of the larger engines to about 105 hp.

1971 Ford Capri 1600 GT (Europe)

Other than big American bumpers, the differences between European and American versions were minor, with headlights (square in Europe, round in America) being the primary exterior difference. A four speed manual was standard with a three speed auto a popular option in America. In true European tradition, the Capri interior was simple and straight forward with easy to read dials often inserted behind a woodgrain dash panel. Interior amenities were spartan with AM radios being a common feature.

Modest Beginnings
The Capri would be based on the underpinnings of the modest Ford Cortina which meant that it could offer buyers a wide range of configurations that ranged from small sporty economy car at just over $2,000 to high performance GT car. Its versatility increased as its handsome coupe profile incorporated a stealthy hatchback. Like the Buick Opel, the Capri would redefine many Americans concept of what a small car could be capable of. In addition to literally saving Mercury with healthy sales, the Capri also launched a long run of captive imports that would serve to give Mercury a bit of European flair amongst Ford’s U.S. offerings.

1973 Mercury Capri interior

Technically Sophisticated
Most four cylinder versions had anywhere from 71 to 100 hp which was impressive for any fuel crisis era four banger from the ’70s. An added bonus of having a powerful, yet light weight engine in a rear wheel drive car (often less than 2,500 lbs) was fun. Already a hit in Europe where it was sold for two years before arriving in America, the Capri began to generate sales and traffic in Mercury’s otherwise sleepy showrooms. Even as the Capri moved to larger six cylinder engines, it retained the light weight that made it fun to drive.

Media Star
The American automotive media sang it’s praises with various best of honors. Road Test magazine even called it The Import car of the Year after Ford added a larger more powerful 2.0 SOHC engine in 1971. Performance wise, 2 liter Capris could make easy work of cars like the Fiat 124 and Porsche’s 914, but it also offered bigger less efficient American pony cars while competing with a growing crop of Japanese performance cars like the new Celica from Toyota.

1974 Mercury Capri

Inflationary Pressures
Ultimately it was U.S. inflation that would cause “The Sexy European” to retreat to its homeland. As the economy worsen and inflation grew steadily each year, the Capri’s price would jump in relation to Mercury’s other compact the Bobcat. Although it’s hard to imagine a Capri buyer cross shopping the Capri and Bobcat, Mercury’s Pinto clone did have a similar mission as the Capri in its sportiest versions.

Eventually there was not enough room in Mercury’s showroom or account books for the expense of importing the Capri.  After a major revision and dwindling sales the Capri moved to the new Fox platform to become a Mustang clone. Even with the new Mustang form factor, the Capri managed to retain some European influenced style.

1972 Mercury Capri 2.0