Mercury · 1970–present

Mercury Capri

Capri (later Mercury Capri) is a nameplate marketed by the Lincoln-Mercury division of Ford Motor Company over three generations between 1970 and 1994. From 1970 to 1978, the Capri was a sport compact marketed in North America by the Lincoln-Mercury division without any Ford or Mercury divisional branding; it was a captive import, manufactured by Ford of Europe and sold simply as the Capri. From 1979 to 1986, the second generation Capri became part of the Mercury model line as a U.S. built pony car, a badge engineered variant of the contemporary Ford Mustang. Ford Australia produced the third-generation Mercury Capri roadster from 1991 to 1994, which Ford marketed as the Ford Capri outside of North America. In North America, the first and third generations of the Capri were marketed without a direct Ford-brand counterpart but were sold in other markets under the Ford brand. The name derives from the Italian island of Capri, and has been used by all three Ford divisions. The 1952 Lincoln Capri marked the first use of the nameplate, serving as a trim level through 1959. From 1962 to 1964, Ford of Britain introduced a Ford Consul Capri two-door hardtop coupe. For 1966 and 1967, the Capri name was first used by Mercury to denote the standard trim of the Mercury Comet. For 1968, Ford of Europe developed the Ford Capri two-door coupé as its European counterpart to the Mustang. Like the Mustang, the Capri was styled with a long hood and a short deck, with a fastback-style roofline.

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First generation (1970–1978)

=== Capri (1970–1975) === The first generation of the Capri was a captive import produced by Ford of Europe in Cologne, Germany. Introduced in Europe for 1968 (and designed by Ford of Britain using locally sourced components from the Cortina MkII and Escort with plans dating back to 1964, when the development of a European variant of the Mustang commenced), the Ford Capri was marketed by the Lincoln-Mercury Division starting in April 1970. While sold through Mercury dealers, the Capri did not carry any divisional identification. Priced at $2,300 at the time of its launch, ($19,068 in 2025 dollars ) the Capri was marketed as an economical sporty coupe (with no upscale trim levels, unlike its European-market variants e.g. the GT, RS, L, XL, and XLR which were trim levels), far smaller than the Mercury Cougar and Montego. In its adaptation to the American market, the Capri saw several minor revisions, with the two rectangular headlights of the Ford Capri replaced by four circular headlamps (shared with some upscale Capri models sold for the European market e.g. the RS or GT - the rectangular lighting did not meet FMVSS 108), grille-mounted turn signals, and side marker lights; Rostyle wheels were fitted as standard equipment. While produced in Germany as a variant of the Ford Cortina, the Capri adopted powertrain commonality with the newly introduced Ford Pinto. Originally powered by a 1.6 L Kent "crossflow" inline-four, the Capri received a 2.0 L "OHC" inline-four for 1971. As an option, for 1972, Mercury introduced a 2.6 L Cologne V6, becoming the first American-market vehicle marketed by Ford Motor Company with a V6 engine. For 1974, the V6 was enlarged to 2.8 L, as Ford revised castings for both the engine block and cylinder heads. For 1973, the front bumper was revise

Second generation (1979–1986)

For the 1979 model year, a second generation of the Capri was introduced. As part of several changes over its predecessor, the Capri was officially part of the Mercury model line as Lincoln-Mercury ended captive imports of the Ford Capri in favor of creating a Mercury counterpart of the 1979 Ford Mustang. Sharing the Fox platform with the Mustang, the 1979 Mercury Capri marked the first Mercury "pony car" since the 1970 Mercury Cougar. While visually similar to the Mustang, the second-generation Capri was offered solely in the three-door hatchback configuration. The Capri was styled with its own front fascia, a vertically mounted grille, and dark-tinted tail light with horizontally ribbed lenses. In place of the widely flared wheel openings of the Mustang, the Capri was styled with slightly flared wheel openings and widened front and rear fenders. For 1983, the Capri received a redesign of the rear hatchback, distinguished with a large compound-curve "bubble-back" rear window. Along with that revision came newly styled tail lights, rear bumper cover and front end grille. For 1984, the front fascia of the Capri RS was fitted with a front air dam with fog lamps similar to the one used on Mustang Cobras and GTs from 1980 to 1982, with the same exterior continuing through 1986. The 1986 Capri received the federally mandated high mounted center brake lamp. Along with the base-trim Capri, Mercury offered the Capri Ghia (shared with the Mustang), Capri L, Capri GS, Capri RS, and Capri Turbo RS. The Capri RS/Turbo RS was believed to be the equivalent of the GT and in most instances it was. However early RS Capris could have the base 4 cylinder or even 6 cylinder option. During its production, the second-generation Capri maintained powertrain commonality with the Ford Mustang,

Third generation (1991–1994)

For the 1991 model year, the Mercury Capri made its return to the Mercury division after a five-year hiatus. To give Lincoln-Mercury a competitor for the Mazda MX-5 Miata and Toyota MR2, the Capri was released as a two-door roadster. In a fashion similar to the first-generation Mercury Capri, the third-generation version is a captive import; produced by Ford of Australia alongside its Ford Capri counterpart and the Ford Falcon, the Mercury Capri was intended for American exports. For the first time since 1978, the Mercury Capri was the first Mercury without any Ford counterpart in North America. Derived from the Australian Ford Laser (sold in the United States as the first-generation Mercury Tracer), the Ford Capri also shares drivetrain commonality with the Mazda 323. To adapt the Capri for United States sale, Ford of Australia made several changes over the Australian-market Capri. Along with the addition of a driver-side airbag in order to meet passive restraint requirements (not required in Australia at the time), the dashboard was changed to non-metric gauges; Mercury Capris are fitted with body-color bumpers. While both two-door convertibles similar in size and price, the Mercury Capri and Mazda MX-5 featured major departures in powertrain and interior configurations, with the Capri adopting a front-wheel-drive powertrain. While the MX-5 was strictly a two-seat vehicle, the Capri was a 2+2, with (small) rear seats. Along with folding back seats (allowing access to the trunk), the Capri also offered the option of a removable hardtop (similar to the MX-5). During its entire production, the Mercury Capri was sold under two trim levels: base trim and XR2, distinguished largely by the powertrain. The base trim was equipped with a 100 hp Mazda 1.6 L DOHC inline-4; the XR

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Specifications

name: Capri, Mercury Capri
Manufacturer: Ford Europe (1970–1978), Mercury (Ford) (1979–1986), Ford Australia (1991–1994)
Production: 1970–1977, 1979–1986, 1991–1994
Related: Ford Capri
Class: Sports car (1970–1977), Pony car (1979–1986), Roadster (1991–1994)

Specification summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Check the linked sources for citations.

More photos

Sources

Wikidata — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q887416CC0 1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-01
Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_CapriCC BY-SA 4.0 · Text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1375529952 · retrieved 2026-10-01
Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1971_Mercury_Capri_(29776067015).jpgCC BY 2.0 · Photo: Greg Gjerdingen from Willmar, USA · retrieved 2026-10-01
Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.