Early 70s Mercury Capri

[ia-k]

Was at a private salvage yard getting some parts and the owner and I went into one of his buildings. 

 

Sitting there was an early 70s Mercury Capri. Car looks, without doing an under/over/in/out comprehensive inspection to be a very solid and complete car. Mileage was in the 40,000 range and "ran when parked" maybe 30+ years ago from what he remembers. The building has a lime chip floor and the tires still hold air so not too worried about rust underneath, but will obviously check if I get serious about buying it. Inquired about a price as he had mentioned everything is for sale but he said "make an offer".

 

I have alway wanted a HPOF car and I think this would be an ideal candidate. The biggest demerit for me is that is a nasty shade of brown used during that era.

 

A couple of questions, first and foremost how hard is it to get parts for these cars?  Any trouble areas to pay special attention to when looking it over? 

[dustycrusty]

 Body parts are extremely tough to find in the U.S., but it shared a common engine with the early Pinto (1.4L) so you can get mechanical parts, including some performance bits!

 The example you found was probably built in Cologne, Germany, but a few built in England made it to the U.S. as well- the first generation Capris (ultimately there were  3 versions) were based on the  Euro-centric Ford Cortina. Got any gear-head , scrap-yard scrounging friends 6+ time zones ahead of the Newfoundland?

 

That nasty hue of brown paint is nothing a gallon of "Safety  Yellow" Rustoleum and a couple of brushes couldnt cure!

 

 

https://autopolis.wordpress.com/2018/06/24/1970-1974-mercury-capri-fords-other-pony-car/

[TerryB]

A v6 was offered during the US run of Capri too.  Hemmings Classic Car magazine recently featured a story on the Capri.

[1912Staver]

They are quite popular today , and as dustycrusty says few survivors.  I think most of the North American cars had the 2000 SOHC engine or the V6. The 1.4 was more of a European market choice.

And the V6 from a slightly later car is a bolt in . Capri's in nice condition are definitely becoming reasonably sought after. N.O.S. trim, interior parts etc is rare and expensive.

But well worth buying if the price isn't too outrageous. The 1970's brown isn't that bad , it was very popular at the time. Most desirable are the early cars with the small bumpers.

 

Greg in Canada

Edited May 2, 2020 by 1912Staver (see edit history)

[joe_padavano]

1 hour ago, ia-k said:

The biggest demerit for me is that is a nasty shade of brown used during that era.

 

And here I thought every single Capri of that vintage was painted yellow. 😉

[TerryB]

9 minutes ago, joe_padavano said:

 

And here I thought every single Capri of that vintage was painted yellow. 😉

My cousin had the v6 in brown with buckskin interior.  I thought they were all brown😀

[keithb7]

My second car was this Capri seen here. This is the only pic I have of it. I believe it was about a 1973 model year. Mine was the V6. 2.3L if I recall. 4 speed manual. I rebuilt the engine when I was about 17. The power to weight ratio was really good! I'd rev it, shift and chirp the tires. Even from 3rd into 4th. All my buddies were impressed. The thing was like a little muscle car. I street raced several larger V8 cars and kick some butt!  I had dual exhaust with no rear or tail pipes. I just had turn downs right at the muffler out. It was cheaper that way and I was broke all the time. The mufflers were about right under the front seats. It would resonate and make your teeth shake. LOL. It was fun. I'd like to have one again today. Would be a fun resto and project. It'd be tough to walk away if I saw one for sale locally.

 

 

Edited May 2, 2020 by keithb7 (see edit history)

[28 Chrysler]

I had a brown V6 at I sold after a knock started. Nice handling little car with comfortable seats.

A buddy had a red one that had somehow rolled up on it's roof then a couple of months later slid into a power pole.

[TerryB]

May Hemming Classic cars magazine

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/ford-mercury-capri-rare

[padgett]

Had a posting but seems to have disappeared:

1) Always liked the Capri just was not in market cor a coupe. Can be great road cars.

2) Both have issues. 4 cyl has a timing belt, V6 has a weak bottom end, all tend to rust.

3) Always liked the JPS version.

 

OTOH have never had a Ford or a pick-up.

[frededwarrds]

Also made in Aussie as ckd basically, like the Escort. And reasonably popular ,most were 1,6  pushrod and 3.2litre v6. When the v6 got a little tired it was commonly ‘repaired’ with a 302 v8. I think it was actually lighter than the v6. That made it into a nice car!   The belt drive 2 litre motor was a bit confusing to the average Joe Blow. You actually needed to change the timing belt sometimes! It was quite reliable. Nowadays with modern engines, changing a timing belt is considered routine. Different times I guess. They last a lot longer than they use to between services now which shows how long it has taken the engineers to perfect them. Better materials as well, but I feel rubber belts are still an unnecessary cost to a routine service. 

[1939_Buick]

Around the world a popular car, with many different trim & engine combinations depending on market sold in

Now very collectable ~ uncommon, as often thrashed by young second/third owners, as the post above of car vs pole .

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Capri

[Buffalowed Bill]

Pardon my ignorance but are HPOF supposed to be as produced, or does stock alteration meet the accepted criteria for judging?

[padgett]

HPOF (Vehicles in the HPOF class will not be point judged but will be authenticated to confirm significant original features.)

 

So an original JPS Capri would be eligible (but should be documented).

[JFranklin]

I loved my '72 v6 Capri. I added koni struts and had a real sporty, road handling car, It was yellow. I also had a '71 4 cyl capri that I couldn't stand. the gear shift lever always came off in my hand. the engine I believe was used in the Pinto car also. Traded it in for the '72

Edited May 2, 2020 by JFranklin (see edit history)

[1912Staver]

The dreaded molded plastic shifter cap. Not one of Fords better cost saving ideas. These days metal replacements are available aftermarket . Back in the 70's the only option was to make something yourself out of metal or buy another short lived plastic replacement from Ford parts dept.

A decent enough gear box otherwise. It is still popular with Cortina and Capri fans, referred to as the "single rail ". 

Both of the common 4 Cyl. Ford engines ; 1600 pushrod " Kent " engine and the 2000 SOHC engine are very popular in vintage road racing.  There is a formula car class for both. Formula Ford and Formula Continental respectively. Put either of the engines in a race chassis with a all up 

weight of around 1000 lbs and the performance is quite decent.

A few Cortina's in my past ; and several friends who at one time had Capri's.

 

 Greg in Canada

Edited May 3, 2020 by 1912Staver (see edit history)

[Ed Luddy]

They sold well in Canada, but didn't hold up well to the heavy road salting in Ontario and east coast. I haven't seen one on the road or at a show for decades. 

[padgett]

Just one on CL https://tampa.craigslist.org/hdo/cto/d/brooksville-1973-ford-capri/7108921229.html

[dustycrusty]

2 hours ago, padgett said:

Just one on CL https://tampa.craigslist.org/hdo/cto/d/brooksville-1973-ford-capri/7108921229.html

 Sweet! With a 289 shoe-horned in no less.....

[JACK M]

13 hours ago, dustycrusty said:

 Sweet! With a 289 shoe-horned in no less.....

But no transmission?

[dustycrusty]

drop an AOD in it and you'd have quite the sleeper!  Too bad it isnt set up for a stick- a T-5 be a slick set up too

8 hours ago, JACK M said:

But no transmission?

 

[Pilgrim65]

This is the first time I’ve seen a post regarding a cars  I actually had 

Ive had two capris , first was best a bright apple green 3.0s , very fast for the time and would leave most cars of its day in its wake 

it had great deck chair striped seats and was quite outrageous, liked them so much bought another,  my first new car in 1980 a metallic dark blue 2.0 gl , good looking but no comparison in the driving to 3.0 s

 

[ia-k]

 

Went back and took a closer look under better lighting conditions, no electricity in the outbuilding.

 

Interior looked great, engine looked clean and complete.  

 

However - rust bubbles above the headlights and on top of the rear wheel arches. Due to the car color being brown it blended in when I first looked at it. Previous posts mentioned the difficulty in getting body parts. Still no price (make an offer!) so I passed. 

 

 

 

 

[frededwarrds]

Rust over wherever! Sounds like a very original 1970s build. You could win a lot car shows , particularly if the doors and windows don’t fit right! Ahh yes the1970s......