It’s Mercury Monday! And, incredibly, on an actual Monday! Holy crap, right? It’s glorious, and like most glorious things, don’t get used to it. But we’re here now, and we’re doing it, so put on your thick, woolen Mercury-appreciation pants and get ready to liberally soak them in appreciation-urine as we discuss the most curious Mercury Capri, the third-generation Mercury Capri. Based on a Mazda platform, it was a cousin to the iconic Miata, but pretty significantly not a Miata. It had its charms, I think, but today it’s pretty much a footnote. Well, not today today, because today is Monday. Mercury fucking Monday, and the third-gen Capri is going to be pulled from footnotes and get its entire own footpost, because it’s worth it. Or, you know, close enough.
I actually have some experience with these little Mercurys because I remember in the early 1990s, with my sister and I well-evicted from home, my parents were considering buying one of these. They liked the idea of a little convertible, so they looked at a Miata and the Capri. I remember the only Miatas available were manuals, so I drove my dad around in one since he can’t drive stick, and then I think I was disinvited from car shopping.
But, they did get a weekend loan of a Capri by the dealer, and I think they had fun with it, but ultimately didn’t pull the trigger. I think in the case of my parents, diminutive shtetl hobbits who never failed to complain about the temperature of their food in a restaurant, the Capri was a bit too much sportscar. That’s pretty much the opposite of what the rest of the human population of Earth (and anyone in orbit) thought at the time, but I felt like I should disclose everything.
So, what was this Capri? It was built from 1991 to 1994, and was the first Capri Mercury sold in five years, since they stopped building the Fox body-Mustang-based Capri in 1986. This new Capri had no Ford equivalent car it was a re-badged version of, but was instead based on the same platform as the Mercury Tracer, which was based on the Australian market Ford Laser, and had the same drivetrain as a Mazda 323 hatchback.
Design-wise, the Capri was a direct adaptation of a Ghia (owned by Ford) show car from 1983 called the Barchetta. The Barchetta was a sleek, wedgy, very clean design that predicted Ford’s New Edge design language, despite showing up almost a decade earlier. It as a look that worked the lights and bumpers elegantly into the body cutlines, and while fresh and modern, seemed plausible for production.
The Barchetta was built on a smaller Fiesta platform, and was aggressively, deliriously tiny. It would have kept the Fiesta’s FWD layout, but would have been so nimble and taut and, well, impractical and fun. It would have been a real toy of a car, and there’s absolutely a place for those kinds of things.
There’s a place for toys and a place for practical cars, but there’s not a lot of interest in cars that try to do both, kinda crappily. And that’s sort of what happened to the Capri as it evolved from show Barchetta into showroom Capri. Ford/Mercury started to talk to too many people, and what was once a pure expression of automotive glee became more of a wan smile.
The Capri got bigger, and heavier, by a pretty significant amount. A sort of vestigial back seat was squeezed in, the trunk was embiggened, and the front end was made a little more conventional, though it did get pop-up headlamps, with clear position/parking lamps sort of pretending to be headlamps when the main lights were closed.
Speaking of lights, I always liked the taillight treatment on these; the gridded, tri-colored lights were flush with the bodywork at their base, but tapered as they went up, with the top edge being dramatically chamfered, leaving the trunk lid forming a sort of canopy or awning over the lights and the inset rear panel. It was a novel look that I’ve not seen on many other cars before or since.
It got domesticated a bit, and while that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it does kind of make the purpose of the car muddier. Because, with a base engine (Mazda’s 1.6-liter B6D inline four) making about 96 horsepower, it just wasn’t all that quick. The XR2 version got the turbocharged engine, making 132 or 140 horsepower, depending on where you look, so that was better.
It’s also worth reminding that these Capris were all built in Australia, all 66,000 or so of them, which may have made them the best-selling Australian-built car in America at the time? You can check on that if you’d like, or we can just say that’s so, which is fine by me.
Still, it was a FWD small roadster that couldn’t drive as well as a similarly-sized RWD Miata, which made everyone wonder, well, what’s the point? If a back seat and a good sized trunk are your priorities, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that a buyer with those needs could probably be served better by, oh, pretty much anything on the market.
Still, it was a stylish little convertible that you could stick your dog or small chimp in the back of, and that’s gotta be valuable to some people, right? Let’s see how Mercury tried to advertise these not-Miatas to folks back in the optimistic early 1990s, an era of falling Berlin Walls and Deee-Lite informing us what organs groove resided in.
Let’s look at this long ad first, because it’s peculiar:
So, what’s going on here? We get a full minute-long little story of a guy breaking up with a pretty lady who likes hors d’oeuvres in a fancy European-looking restaurant, and who takes off laughing in her new Capri, I suppose reveling in the freedom of some drip who has to narrate everything? I suppose this ad plays up the basic appeal of little red roadsters in general, the ideal car for laughing off a breakup, even if there was at least one very minor fist-bang on the steering wheel.
The Australian market called these Ford Capris, and attempted to capture a similar feel, I think, only this time it’s a guy who, I think, teleports into a Capri brochure instead of sitting with a woman who drinks orange juice?
Is that what happened? Did he not want to bring his citrus-enjoying friend with him? I’m a little confused.
Mercury also seems to have decided that all that scenery and outdoors and humans were just such a distraction from selling the car, so other ads dispensed with all that frippery, letting the car speak for itself, sorta, in an alabaster void:
There’s text but no voice overs, so you’ll need to read on your own. Also, in absence of a power top, the top going down had to be portrayed in stop motion, which is a bit of a cheat, if you ask me, which, to be clear, you did not. Taking the stop motion and white void idea a little further, Mercury then tried to appeal to the lucrative stickman market with this ad:
I mean, Mr.Sharpielines and his dog, Scrawl, do look pretty happy in that Capri! Sure beats the hell out of being trapped in that box, too. Also, is that his dog? Or did he just take it in after almost hitting it?
You really don’t see many of these little compromised Miatas from Down Under around on the streets anymore. Where Miatas have developed dedicated and loyal fanbases of people that keep them going and track them and fix them up to track them some more, the Capri never really had the chops for that, and didn’t quite look good enough to make up for that lack, either.
I’m sure the people that had them found them fun and enjoyable and all must have at least one fond memory of the right summer day when an easy-to-drive roofless little car was just the right thing, at that time and place, and I’d never want to take that away from anyone. Beyond that, though, the thirdest Capri is most remembered as a lesson in when not to dilute a good idea, if it’s remembered at all.
*I think in the case of my parents, diminutive shtetl hobbits who never failed to complain about the temperature of their food in a restaurant, the Capri was a bit too much sportscar.*
And you didn’t recommend a LeBaron convertible with the NA 2.5L 4 and 3A transmission?
If Mitsubishi had built the Diamante sedan in Australia for U.S. export that surely would be a challenger to best-selling Australian built car in the U.S. at the time, but I doubt they sold 66,000 Diamante wagons here.
The Capri is another one of those that may have been better placed in Ford showrooms, but they already had a sporty Mazda-based car in the Probe, and I have to think you could probably have picked up a Mustang convertible out the door for the same price as a Capri, maybe even less.
If you really wanted a domestic convertible/a small 4-seat convertible/a combo of both, a J-body convertible was bigger and despite being a J-body, probably more refined as a cruiser with the V6. Dodge brought out the Shadow convertible about the same time but those aren’t really any more remembered.
My 3rd grade teacher had a 1st gen Sebring convertible, and I remember she told me she had a Capri before that…but as a kid my mind first went to this Capri, no idea if it was this or an earlier Mustang-derived one.
I briefly considered buying one as a winter beater to compliment the Miata I had. Because I figured it was basically a FWD Miata. It… wasn’t.
I was a college freshman when this thing dropped, so of course I remember it – Not only was I car crazy and can remember all the goings on at the time, but it was a popular fourth runner-up as a sorority girl car, behind the VW Golf Cabriolet, the Honda Accord coupe, and the Ford Explorer (?).
There’s nothing like an ad themed on infidelity or non-commitment to sell a product. Somehow, that should have told the market how long this model was going to stick around…
Wow, Ford Australia managed to send 66000 of these shitboxes to the US? I feel like that’s more than they managed to sell here!
I see Capris in the wild still now and then and when I do, I sort of feel sorry for them. A bit like a mangy, 3 legged dog you feel should just be put out of its misery. Invariably they have yellow, cracked plastic rear windows and faded, often lichen covered, ragtops. Gaffer tape roof repairs are a given.
They offered a “sporty” trim of Capri over here that sort of followed the naming conventions of our warmed over Ford Falcons. Of course we had the XR8 and the XR6, with V8 and straight 6 engines respectively. So you’d think with its four banger, the Capri would be the XR4? Nope! Didn’t even deserve it! It was called the XR2.
“Dee-Light informing us what organs groove resided in.”
Bootsy is gonna get you: Deee-Lite, please. 🙂
Dig.
Where’s the spot where you stick the straw in?
As a kid, i always thought these looked weird. However, my neighbor bought a ‘94 XR2 last summer, and you know what? Still weird, but I wouldn’t kick it out of my garage if I had one.
The lines aren’t terrible. They’re not gorgeous cars, but they’re at least interesting to look at. Certainly the Capri doesn’t hold a candle to the classic beauty that is the NA Miata, but I suppose it’s a charming little car. And, in a world of hulking, gray, angry crossovers, a charming, cheerful, colorful ragtop deserves some praise.
Plus, my neighbor’s is immaculate, and wonderfully teal, so it’s got that going for it too. My other neighbor has a teal ‘98 T-bird so I suppose it’s a matter of time before some 90s Ford product in teal winds up in my driveway (my ‘97 Ranger is white so it doesn’t count).
I know what with it being a Mercury Monday article it has a US-centric perspective to it, but this Capri was definitely a product of Ford Australia first and foremost, and it deserves more recognition for that.
Ford Australia had a strong relationship with Mazda with the 323-based Ford Laser being built across multiple generations in Australia, NZ and beyond, and the Laser had been a popular small family car of its time.
While the styling was European, the actual production Capri was an initiative by Ford Australia to use the familiar 323 mechanicals to make something that would open up export opportunities and prove to headquarters that Ford Australia had a future, and that local R&D and production was important. Of course, the Capri did up being overshadowed by the MX-5, but it still is significant for being a bold, risky move.
Although you really don’t see many here in Australia either. I presume the majority were escorted to the US.
The XR2 was alright, and I seem to recall a special Club Sprint version that leaned into the racing roadster look with cover over the rear seats and split (covered) lights and looked quite good.
Seem to recall some trade tariff quota arrangements getting involved as well.
I had a turbo version for a short while and thought it was a fine, fun little car.
GM rehashed the concept’s hood with the last iteration of the Cavalier. It’s very close in how it looks IMO.
These Capris were the spiritual successor to the LN7. Econobox in sporty clothes.
I appreciate the LN7 reference. Really need a Mercury Monday to cover that one.
My old boss had a Capri because he couldn’t fit into a Miata. I wonder how much longer convertibles are going to be made. It seems like safety and consumer demand have made them almost extinct.
I know these are FWD with the Mazda BP and I still forget that fact every single time I see one until I stop and think for a second. The shape of this car really looks like it should be mid-engined.
It must be possible to retcon that, given a sawzall, a welder and some enthusiasm.
“Also, in absence of a power top, the top going down had to be portrayed in stop motion, which is a bit of a cheat, if you ask me, which, to be clear, you did not.”
There’s so much talk of bodily functions and parts in JT’s articles that I read this a few times looking for the joke before I realized that it was literally about the roof.
They weren’t called the Mercury Crapy for nothing.
It’s spelled “Crapi”! We rearranged the letters on my sister’s that way! But, I’d love to have that one today. It was the “Mustang clone” version, but with a 2.3 and auto.
“…the trunk was embiggened…”
Quite possibly the product planning requirement that has ruined more perfect little cars than any other, usually second-generation versions of little cars that sold like hot cakes, is, “Enough luggage space to carry two golf bags”.
Poorly executed? Yeah, but I remember when these things came out and they had a couple of big things going for them –
1. They successfully hitched a ride on the Miata hype train. Miatas were the talk of the universe because a reliable, leak-free two-seater convertible was UNHEARD OF. People tend to forget the void the Miata filled and how legendary it was when it debuted. It had plenty big coat-tails (heck even Alfa Romeo rode those coat-tails – albeit poorly – as the Spyder had its last gasp here while the Miata was on the market.
2. As I hinted at in the last post, roadsters were non-existent. The two-seater convertible market had been rendered hopeless by a parade of MGs, Triumphs and Fiats that left their owners stranded in random locations, all while never being 100% waterproof. Most domestic carmakers had gotten away from making convertibles at all. Yes, there were some available, but their either sucked (and leaked) or were made by aftermarket companies to be sold at dealers. A convertible revolution happened in 1990 and Ford got the Capri out just in time to take advantage.
At least, that’s my take. My father bought a Miata as soon as they came out – he fought to get one before it even arrived at the dealership and people constantly stopped us whenever we drove anywhere to ask questions about it and point out awesome things about it. So yeah, the Capri was viable because Miata. Of course, look at an NA Miata after 20 years and one of these Capris after 20 years and you’ll see what held up better pretty quickly.
Tagging on to your “hitching” comment… Miata was hot and dealers knew it. They were hard to get (initially) and possibly even marked up from MSRP.
(I looked up MSRP for 1992. Miata: $14,800. Base Capri: $14,452. XR2: $17,250)
My guess is that Mazda dealers “knew what they had” and weren’t eager to do deals, while Mercury dealers had no idea how to sell Capris or deal with their potential customers, so they went below MSRP.
That’s exactly how a friend of mine wound up in one. The Mazda dealers had a line around the corner and were asking a premium for a spot 6 months out. He drove the Capri off the Mercury lot the same day with a sizable amount of money compared to the Miata still in his pocket.
Of course, you can tell by the name which way I went.
These didn’t review particularly well at the time.
“The problem may be that the Capri had too many cooks in its pot. The car’s exterior was designed by Ford’s Ghia studios in Italy; its interior prepared by Ital Design of Italy; its engine and drivetrain developed by (gulp!) Ford partner Mazda. The whole thing was assembled at Ford’s Broadmeadows Assembly Plant outside of Melbourne, Australia.
The result is a confusing automotive stew that looks good, smells good but goes down poorly in the eating.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1990/08/31/capri-xr2-youre-no-miata/fa2e793d-0961-4a1e-b3fd-60e283856e3f/
I hope someone has since told the Post that you’re not meant to eat cars, even the ones from Australia.
It also took a really long time to reach the market; I remember reading about this for like five years before they actually went on sale. If we had had the word “vaporware” I would have probably used it. By the time it arrived in showrooms the Miata was already there and the design was already way dated.
I blame those upside-downers.
I owned a blue 91 Capri. Test drove the Miata but wanted to carry more than a toothbrush on a roadtrip. Not many cheap new ragtop options in the early 90’s. Fun little car with the top down with a back seat perfect for 2 paper grocery bags. Only owned it for 2 years but never wished to own it again.
The car just wasn’t attractive. A pinched face and pop up headlights don’t always look good. It would have sold a few more with taller fenders, taller grill, and round headlights. Hindsight is 20/20.
I can recall exactly one person who owned one of these – one of my dad’s friends, managed a health club, she got divorced in her early/mid 40s and immediately bought a red Capri, was still driving it as of 2010 or so, which is when I lost track.
There were quite a few of these in our town back when they were new. In the mind of a new driver at the time, these were more appealing than the Miata because of the tiny backseat that you could theoretically stick your friends in. They did seem to be Escort based (cheapy) and, in a roundabout way they kinda were. Of course I was in no way in the market for a new car at the time, and if I was probably wouldn’t have seriously considered this car, but these cars were noted in my teenage days.
I live in the most blasé, white bread, boring place ever in terms of car variety. And yet, I’ve seen a number of these Capris for sale in my area in a variety of colors (white, red, and blue), condition, and mileage. I never bit on any of them because I don’t trust Australian build quality which I liken, right or wrong, to a slightly better British. Plus, even though it shares Mazda DNA, I neither trust parts availability nor wish to go through the rigamarole of explaining what I have to the parts counter person. Oddly enough, they always seemed to be unusually cheap or overpriced, at odds with the condition and mileage.
As an Australian, I don’t think the comparison of Australian automotive build quality to British is quite accurate. No Lucas electrics in our native cars.
No, Australian cars are built much like their American brethren, which they are commonly based on. Think shit interior plastics, a propensity for bits to fall off. However, they are usually mechanically simple and hard to kill. They’ll run badly indefinitely.