Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Posted ImageWelcome to the all new Geo Metro Forum. We hope you enjoy your visit.

You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are features you can't use and images you can't see. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Join our community!




Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Mercury Capri; Any fans?
Topic Started: Feb 3 2016, 09:55 AM (1,170 Views)
scratchpaddy
Member Avatar
Not so fast

Not the Mustang, but the '90's version, designed by Mazda and imported from Australia. One of the guys I cut grass for as a teenager had one slowly sinking into the dirt in his backyard. I thought it was pretty cool.

Is anybody a fan? I thought some people here might have a soft spot for some other oddball convertibles. A guy here has been trying to sell a super nice '92 XR2 Turbo for a few months. The price is too high, but I'm halfway interested.

1992 low mileage mercury capri convertibleXR2

Posted Image

Clearly, the seller is a fan. I spy two more Capris in the background. :lol
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
MarkZ28


They must not have been that great, they didnt make them very long. FWD cars suck for sports cars. The original Capri was an European rwd car, had its own styling, was a decent fun car. The second version was a fox body based on the Fairmont body, same as the Mustang. They were the fastest of the three with the 5.0 V8. The newest ones are better for gas mileage Im sure.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
scratchpaddy
Member Avatar
Not so fast

They were made just as long as the Metro Convertible ('89 to '94), but weren't imported here until '91. Build quality was terrible, I've read. Australia wasn't the greatest back then. But the Mazda 323 drivetrain they run on is solid, once people fixed all the trim pieces that were falling off. :rasp

Get this: the bodies were designed by Ghia in Italy, the drivetrain by Mazda in Japan, they were assembled by Ford in Australia, and sold by Mercury in the U.S. That's four continents! :O And we thought our Metro's heritage was complicated.

They were supposed to be a Miata killer. Ironic, considering that this car is also basically a Mazda. They just didn't hit the right notes, though. Front-wheel-drive, like you said. It's not really a sports car.

The main reason I'd want one over a Miata, or a Metro 'vert, is the back "seat." It's not a real seat, but it would be a good space for the dogs. ^o)
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Rondawg
Member Avatar


I really wanted one of these back in the day.
http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2013/06/10/lost-cars-of-the-1980s-merkur-xr4ti/
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
scratchpaddy
Member Avatar
Not so fast

My uncle and I found a Merkur (Scorpio) in a desert junkyard once. We were both like, "what the hell is a Merkur?" :lol

Posted Image

Those were German cars, though. A different, strange chapter in Ford's history.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Johnny Mullet
Member Avatar
Fear the Mullet

Me and the wife had a 92 Mercury Capri XR2 turbo. It was a cool car, but not comfortable. The only thing that said "Ford" on it was the radio and it broke.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
scratchpaddy
Member Avatar
Not so fast

Oh good, I thought I had seen somebody saying they had one once. What exactly wasn't comfortable about it? The seats? Road noise? Handling? What happened to it, in the end?

Thanks for the input. :thumb
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
68custom


Rondawg
Feb 3 2016, 11:57 AM
XR4Ti's were pretty cool. my buddy had one and I could not believe how hard that 2.3 litre motor pulled. it was fast!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
MarkZ28


Merkurs had the turbo 2.3 if it was the performance option. Fast in its day, good handling(rwd), all wheel disc brakes. It was similar to the Euro Escort that was sold in the non US markets, US got stuck with a fwd turd. Ford wouldnt bring it here.
Edited by MarkZ28, Feb 3 2016, 02:59 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
68custom


Pretty Sure all XR4Ti's were RWD, and turbo charged with an intercooler but some got slushboxes. my friends had a 5 speed, fun car to hammer! and I don't even like Fords!
EDIT sorry no intercooler, my bad!
Edited by 68custom, Feb 3 2016, 07:58 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
punkozuna
Member Avatar


I can't get too excited about the FWD Capris. They were OK cars for a time when there weren't many convertibles available BUT they had the misfortune of coming to the US market just after the Miata was introduced. For the kind of money he's asking, I'd look for a first gen Miata and have some actual fun in the car.

Now a fox body v8 Capri I could get behind,
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
doviatt
Member Avatar


I'm a distant fan. Probably the first car I ever drove before I got my drivers license. My older sister (by 14 years) purchased a new Mercury Capri I think in '76. Manual transmission, White Shadow package (stickers, trim, louvers, etc.). She encouraged me to drive and threw me the keys often to drive to the store for her. She always said "don't tell mom and dad".
I remember it being a fun, quick car. The car was probably a few years old when I drove it; looking at the dates I just listed.
Edited by doviatt, Feb 3 2016, 11:20 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Cobrajet25
Member Avatar


I had a '92 XR2 Turbo. Found a factory hardtop for it...even had the hardtop cover and the little cart to wheel it around on.

I really kinda regret selling it. Bought it for $1100 and sold it for $2750 a few years later to some kid. The ironic part was that Mazda was forced to let Ford use the engine from the Miata in the Capri, which they feared would be a competitor.

It was a fun little 'vert, and would really scoot with the turbo motor. But FWD and four seats meant that it really wasn't much of a competitor for the Miata. The drivetrain is all Mazda...lifted from the 323. So maintenance parts are pretty easy to come by.

Fun fact: The Capri was actually supposed to be introduced before the Miata, but production delays in Australia (problems changing from RHD to LHD and adding airbags) prevented that from happening. So the Miata made the big splash, which really hurt the Capri. The interior door handles were prone to breaking due to a poor design, and I actually think I still have a set of spares! Other than that, not a bad little car at all.

Here is mine shortly after I brought it home.

Posted Image
Edited by Cobrajet25, Feb 4 2016, 05:49 AM.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Cobrajet25
Member Avatar


68custom
Feb 3 2016, 02:42 PM
Rondawg
Feb 3 2016, 11:57 AM
XR4Ti's were pretty cool. my buddy had one and I could not believe how hard that 2.3 litre motor pulled. it was fast!
I had an XR4Ti. It was a fun car, but mine was the automatic. Also had TWO Scorpios. First car I had ever seen with reclining rear seats.

Merkur was intended to be a BMW-fighter for Ford, and it failed here because of an odd name, bad advertising, and what turned out to be a very poor deutsche mark-to-dollar ratio in the late 1980s which made the cars cost much more than Ford intended.

But they were nice. The 2.3 turbo made the XR4Ti quick, but the Scorpios only had Ford's 2.9L pushrod V6 and were heavy and underpowered. I only ever saw one manual Scorpio, and oddly it belonged to the real estate agent my parents went through when we first moved to the Pacific Northwest.
Edited by Cobrajet25, Feb 4 2016, 05:42 AM.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
scratchpaddy
Member Avatar
Not so fast

Punkozuna, I wouldn't argue with anyone saying the Miata is a better car. It absolutely is, but it doesn't have a back seat. I couldn't use a car without a back seat.

Cobrajet, wow! :drool Beautiful car. Thanks for the input. That's good to hear about parts availability, because actual Capris are just about impossible to find. Do you remember what sort of mileage you got? I would expect high 20's, low 30's in the turbo.

The Truth About Cars had a really good article on the Capri a few years ago. The original concept was based on the Fiesta, but it had no backseat, and no trunk. That was in 1983. Market researchers decided that the Mustang left no room in the product lineup for it. Much later, the compromises started. This is a quote from Bob Lutz (who was an executive at Ford, not GM, at the time):

Quote:
 
When Alex went back to the states, he got [the program] going again. It was carefully researched, so it was decided that front wheel drive is OK, but we don’t like the front end. So, OK, the front end got more conventional. Then, “it’s no good with no back seat. People won’t buy a car with no back seat.” Well, OK, we can add a back seat. And then, “oh, there’s no trunk space.” Alright, add a trunk. And so it became that misbegotten little Mercury [Capri], remember that? What a horrible thing.
Cars Only Bob Lutz Remembers: The 1983 Ford Ghia Barchetta Concept

The car was way too late for the market. Like you said, the Miata had already filled the niche the original concept was for, and now it was too compromised to compete anyway. But hey, if it wasn't for those compromises, I wouldn't be interested. :deal

I don't think I'm ready for a new car yet, but I do want to get a convertible sometime before I get to the age where people see me and think, "oh, he's having a midlife crisis." :(
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
Create a free forum in seconds.
Learn More · Register Now
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · The Geo Metro Lounge · Next Topic »
Add Reply