Always a pleasure, spotting something special -to Dutch eyes- that has been here its entire life. August 1, 1980, is this Merc’s first date of registration. I saw plenty of Fox body Mustangs over the years, but a Capri not by Ford Europe? A true exotic!
Most likely, this Mercury was imported into the Netherlands and sold by Hessing De Bilt, a major Dutch importer and dealership of US-cars in those days.
A hatch often comes with a hitch. This 42 years old US-Capri is no exception to the rule.
A 1980 Hessing De Bilt ad (courtesy of hessingdebilt.nl – advertenties). Gasoline consumption 1:12.4 as headline. Second Oil Crisis, you know.
Reading further, that was the EPA-fuel economy rating of a Mercury Capri with the 3.3 liter inline-six, rolling down the road at 90 km/h. If I did all conversions correctly, that’s 29 mpg at a constant speed of 56 mph.
The tidy Capri on display does have a six-cylinder engine, by the way. Its displacement is not registered.
You must have noticed it’s sitting in a sea of other old rides. As you’ll understand, there’s much more to come.
Related article:
Curbside Capsule: 1980 Mercury Capri RS – The Fox Mustang’s Alter Ego by ES
Quite a find! Honestly, I’d forgotten this car existed!
I’ve always liked the 80s capri over the mustang. The subtle body differences are what makes this car look meaner than its cousin.
Looks pretty to me .
-Nate
Not completely original, as the rear spoiler appears to be a 1988 or newer Mustang GT part. The 1980 Capri RS offered a spoiler, but it was more angular ducktail style rather than a wing.
The attached photo shows the correct 1980 spoiler, but on a car with newer model wheels- Due to the mix and match nature of the Fox body, an unmolested car is becoming an increasingly rare find…
A Mustang that is more than 15 years old from any generation is extremely hard to find unmolested. I know when I went looking in 1984 for a 68 Mustang, then 16 years old, it was damn near impossible to find an unmolested coupe while every fastback was molested.
Owned a 1984 gunmetal blue Mercury Capri. It was fitted out as a luxury Mustang and that was not a bad thing. For it’s compact dimensions it was surprisingly roomy inside and the 3.8 liter V6 had enough torque for me. The 5.0 V8 version was reputed to be the fastest accelerating American car. The crazy bubble back rear glass acted like the world’s largest magnifying glass and overwhelmed the AC.
Those rims suggest some kind of a special tire package. Can’t remember what it was. Anybody?
TRX that used the special metric Michelins
Forged aluminum wheels with Michelin TRX tires.
16″w TRX-style wheels are available for owners and restorers who want to keep the TRX look but use lower-priced modern sized tires. (nothing describes modern chaos like tire size width in centimeters, section width given as proportion of width to length, and tire inner diameter measured in imperial inches. Plus maximum speed and load ability, which don’t correspond to anything but a chart needed to decipher the codes.
My Dad’s 1979 Capri came with the Michelin TRX tires. These tires, with their 390mm (15.35 inches) diameter, were almost always out-of-stock here in the U.S., and ridiculously expense when they were in stock, so a lot of folks fitted aftermarket 15″ or 16″ rims to replace them with American standard size tires, so they could buy tires without waiting for Michelin to ship some more tires over here on a slow boat from Europe, then charge “an arm and a leg” for them when they got to the local tire store or Mercury dealer!
I had nearly forgotten about that Mustang derivative. Now I’m remembering a coworker and her husband who had one. My coworker would get quite huffy if anyone confused her Capri with a Mustang. Not like the days of the early Cougars that really did look different from their Mustang siblings.
The sad part is there was an effort made to differentiate them, the quarter panels and fenders are unique designs, with a subtle coke bottle effect, but it’s so subtle most don’t even notice.
Mustangs sold in Mexico used the Capri front clip intermittently, even Ford themselves didn’t seem to take the Foxbody Capri identity that seriously
Oooo… that front end definitely begs for the fender bulges front and rear. I like the Fox Capri front header panel, but I can only wonder what a Capri notchback with the fender blisters would have looked like. This looks a little like a small Granada to me.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-capsule/curbside-capsule-1981-mercury-capri-rs-the-fox-mustangs-alter-ego/
A doppelganger to my college friend’s ’80 RS.
Hey there, I missed that one when searching for CC-Fox body Mercury Capri-articles. Fixed, there’s a link now at the bottom of the article. Thanks!
16″w TRX-style wheels are available for owners and restorers who want to keep the TRX look but use lower-priced modern sized tires. (nothing describes modern chaos like tire size width in centimeters, section width given as proportion of width to length, and tire inner diameter measured in imperial inches. Plus maximum speed and load ability, which don’t correspond to anything but a chart needed to decipher the codes.
When we met my wife had one of these. If it has a 6 and no callout then it is the 3.3 litre Falcon six. Originally the six was to be the 2.8 V6 but IIRC there weren’t enough to meet demand, the straight six was available and cost less. My biggest memory of it was the cruise control that would hold a speed +- 5 mph.
The 2.8 Liter V-6 engine was available as an option in the 1979 model year Mustang and the 1979 model year Mercury Capri. Initially it was available only with the automatic transmission, but a very small number of them came with the 4-speed manual transmission late in 1979. The high cost of the V-6 engine doomed it and it was replaced by the 3.3 liter inline 6 for the 1980 model year.
My Dad bought a used 1979 Capri as his car in 1980, it was a dealer demo model. My most vivid memories of that car were that it was a potentially good car held back by some bad design choices. This car was designed to meet fuel economy goals created by the 1979 Iranian Oil Embargo. Ford didn’t have a five-speed manual transmission available yet, so the four-speed gearbox was set up with the top gear as an overdrive. Unfortunately, that left a huge gap between third and fourth gears, so around town, at 35 mph, you were either screaming along at 4000 rpm in third gear, or lugging the engine at 1200 rpm in fourth gear. The 2.8L V6 wasn’t a bad engine, but of course we were wishing for the 302 (5.0L) V8, especially since the car always seemed to sit with the front end “nose high”. We finally replaced the V6 with a V8, before the car sat level! I think the wrong front springs may have been installed at the factory! Either that, or Ford used the same front springs for both engines as a cost-saving measure. Either way, the car’s stance never looked right until we installed the V8!
The car came with Michelin TRX tires, with their 390mm (15.35 inches) diameter, were almost always out-of-stock here in the U.S., and ridiculously expense when they were in stock, so a lot of folks fitted aftermarket 15″ or 16″ rims to replace them with American standard size tires.
Axle tramp in corners was an issue. Going over bumps in turns felt like a giant hand was picking up the entire back of the car and dropping it six inches to the outside of the turn! The Quadra-Shock rear end setup was a Band-Aid fix that helped, but a real fix wouldn’t come along until IRS replaced the live axle in the late 1990’s.