1979 to 1986 Mercury Capri: The American Pony Car Sophisticate

1986 Mercury Capri 5.0

As Fox bodied cars go, to most Ford pony car fans, the ’79-’86 Mercury Capri will forever take a back seat to the Mustang. The 3rd generation Mustang, always the poster child for Ford’s every man performance car, was the brash Clint Eastwood of pony cars, despite having some design roots inspired by Europe. The Capri on the other hand could be just as much a bruit, but like Jason Statham in The Mechanic, it aspired to more refined European ways, or at least that would be what Mercury would have us to believe.

1987 Ford Capri (UK version)

Remember in 1979, most sporty cars in America claimed to offer European styling and performance (as if that were an attribute everyone wanted). The actual European styling went away as the Capri MkII continued on in Europe, staying competitive and amazingly fresh through the ’80s despite its roots in the mid ’70s. The new Capri really was all new. Small external differences aside, the Fox Mustang and Capri were essentially the same car, but what a difference a squared off front end and tinted tail lights made.

I think I gravitated towards the Capri when I was a child because of it’s more European inspired packaging. I was always a big fan of the small European based MkII car. The one that caught my eye first was the black and gold ones. That became a popular color scheme, thanks to the success of Smokey and the Bandit and the ’77 Trans-Am that co starred in the film. Mercury had it’s share of black and gold Capris, as early as 1976. The Black Magic models with gold accents were especially attractive and continued their allure into the 1979 (and beyond) model years. The color scheme was unique to the Capri (although I suspect that you could order a black Mustang with gold dealer applied pin stripes). The Capri really came into its own with the addition of a fully formed chin spoiler in 1984 and a bubble window hatch design the year before. It’s debatable if the bubble back helped with aerodynamics, but it was certainly different from the Mustang.

1982 Mercury Capri advertisement

By then the RS model joined the Black Magic (essentially a RS in black and gold) as my favorite models. The engines, 2.3 liter OHC four, 3.8 liter straight six and the legendary 5.0 V8 were similar to what the Mustang was offering. That meant that you could have your L trimmed 88 hp four cylinder coupe or go all the way up to the 140 hp 5.0 V8 RS hatch in 1979. By 1983 the V8 had reached 175 hp and made the Capri one of the fastest cars in America to 60 mph- an impressive feat considering it was still using a four speed manual.

Mercury Capri RS interior

The interiors were once again carbon copies of what the Mustang offered. The Capri might have been more optioned on average, being that the cost more than the typical Mustang, otherwise they were a splitting image down to the switch gear controls and speedometer font. The possible exception was the steering wheel which always seemed more sporting in the Capri.

Like the Mustang, the Capri also flirted with turbo power. For the ’84 model year, the top Capri was the 2.3 liter turbocharged four cylinder fitted with a 5 speed manual transmission. At 7.3 seconds to 60 mph, it was faster than the heavier V8 powered car that year and had more hp at 175.

1983 Mercury Capri L (left) and GS (right)

In keeping with the image of Mercury as a near premium brand above Ford, Capris were more optioned and usually featured better interiors like Recaro-like seats. While a convertible prepped by American American Specialty Cars (commonly known as ASC or American Sunroof Company) was available, it was rare next to the more common Mustang factory drop top. Ford never bother to differentiate the 15′ TRX style wheels on top models from those of the Mustang initially, but you could have it in gold on the Black Magic models.

1982 Mercury Capri 5.0 Black Magic

By 1986 the top Capri now called just Capri 5.0 sported a chin spoiler similar to the Mustang Cobra. The simplified model line up now included just two variants the GS and 5.0. GS models could be ordered with 4 or 6 cylinder power, while the 5.0 was an option on the more subdued looking GS. The 5.0 now reached 200 hp while offering a 5 speed manual as opposed to the 4 speed manual transmission of earlier model years.

1984 ASC McLaren Capri

For those wanting more Capri than the factory offered, there was a McLaren prepped version that was the fastest Ford you could buy. With a 0 to 60 time well under 6 seconds thanks to a special racing camshaft, it used a modified version of the standard 5.0 V8, bringing it to 210 hp. The most rare of all Capri were ASC McLaren convertibles. All ASC McLaren cars got special wheels and ground effects that foreshadowed the Mustang GT of 1987.

Sales of the Capri would shrink every year after peaking in 1984. While the Mustang would get a major refreshing for the 1987 model year, the Capri would quietly fade out of production – only to be replaced years later with a small Australian built convertible hastily badged as a Capri.

It’s too bad that the Fox bodied pony car that’s least remembered was the best version of the platform. The Capri was faster, handled better and arguable looked better than the Mustang. Ford must have agreed because the Mustang in Mexico was nothing more than a Mustang with a Capri front end. Europe might have had a smaller more nimble car, but the American Fox bodied Capri was still the best of the breed.

I wonder if there will ever be a new Ford Capri, based on the current Mustang. There’s a strong business case. It would justify Mustang production at Flat Rock by extending manufacturing at the only factory churning out Ford’s pony car. It would also give Ford the chance to polish up its pony car and make it more appealing to those who might look to BMW, Audi or Lexus.

1984 Mercury Capri RS Turbo