Retro Review: 1983 Mercury Capri RS
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- Опубліковано 12 лип 2017
- Sure, you've seen us test plenty of 80s Mustangs,, but what about the Mercury version? This 1983 Mercury Capri "bubble-back" really wowed our crew back in the day.
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"Since it gobbles up more pavement than an army of pac-man."
That's probably the most 80's description for a high-performance car I've ever heard.
Don't forget the "He-Man four-speed manual"!
This review is totally 1980s!
Four-speed! I didn't know they still sold a sporty car with a 4-speed in 1983!
base option, you could get it with a 5 speed, I have one.
though it was the first year for the 5 speed.
One of the more handsome Fox bodies if you ask me.
LOL now gone.
I agree
Bruh
Yes, next to the '83 - '86 T-bird.
The early 80s Dodge Charger and Daytona weren't bad either
Beautifully looking car. With the 5.0 V8 sound. Can't go wrong.
A friends father has this exact car with 25000km sitting in his basement. It was his brothers car who years ago passed away so this car was parked and a house was literally built around it in such a fashion that you'd have to tear it down to get the car. It's a sad waste of a car in my eyes but a beautiful tribute from a man who loved his brother.
That house has to go brotha!
@stirange Paying homage I guess, lol
No one knows what a km is... this is an American show, use real measurements, not that made up stuff.
@@rodmunch69 Hahaha, 3 years of grade 4 have done you well!
@@bradnimbus4836 I don't even know what that means, but thumbs up anyways!
After one year of intensive restoration of my 1980 Mercury Capri, I'm near finished. Painted her Grabber Blue, shes got a 5.0 liter (4 bbl Holley, midrise intake, shorty headers, GT heads, and tow cam) with a T5 and 8.8 rear end, quadra shocks, shock tower bar, front and rear sway bars. She rides and drives like a dream.
@2:55 "It still had under a thousand miles on it's speedometer..." God I love John Davis
Agreed. He is still a great road test narrator to this day
Car was build less than 48hrs before the test!!
He's technically not wrong.
Wait, I mean literally not wrong.
Good catch
Feeling like motorweek on a leash
I wish motorweek would post two of these retro reviews a week . I mean , these retro reviews get more views than the new ones !
I wish theh would do full episodes
Yes, stack those suitcases, but don't tie them down. You'll enjoy it when they smash the back of your head in a sudden stop.
Richard Hamilton:
read that in the pleasant voice of John Davis.
@@vapecatt LOL!
Cars with drum brakes didn't really stop that fast.
1983, that was the time I came to America and actually developed interest in Cars. I have been watching MotoWeek since 1985. Amazzing car show. Lived in Ellicott City close to Westminster where MotoWeek is produced
Had an 83 GT with the 4speed manual. Loved that car. Very quick for what it was. I still love the look of the Fox Capri's.
I had an 82' Capri. White with red interior. Long live the FOX body :)
I saw one of these, white, being driven on the streets here in Los Angeles about a year ago. Was a bit rough but thought it would certainly make a great restoration project.
I got a 1980 for graduation from high school. Although I didn't like the bubble hatchback of later years because I thought it messed up the line, I still miss my capri even after all these years. It was a great handling car! Thanks for the memories!
I had an 80 Capri too, starting in 86', first car bought myself when I was 15 for $1500 (years of neighborhood lawn mowing). Silver with the power house 92 horse power strait six. Still loved it, had A/C, gauge package, red interior, 26mpg avg. As far as the mentioned bubble back that came along, it was horrible! I'd rather have chicken wire back there than that hideous piece of glass...not too mention they totally dicked the tail lights too.
That's a very impressive 0-60mph run for it being a 1983 vehicle, that is on par with many of the 1964-70 muscle cars
No it's not, the muscle cars in the pre-emission days ran in the 5s and 6s - this would be more comparable to the mid-ranged cars with like a 305 or 350 - but it's not competing with the big boys of that era. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it's being held back by crippling emissions and unleaded gas. Now in another year or two things change bigly, once you get to the 85 Corvette, then the Z28 and whenever the Mustang GT got it's HO engine, then you're talking times in the 6s, maybe dipping into the upper 5s. Of course with all of these cars, a few minor mods where you unchoke the engine gains you a ton of performance.
@@rodmunch69 if it's on par with a 60s 305 or 350 then that makes sense because that 5.0 is literally a 302...
@@yaboirico5221 305's and 350's in the 60s didn't have to worry about emissions, and they used much high octane leaded fuel. Using an engine size to compare engines isn't a good way of doing so. My 1982 Corvette has a 350 in it, and so did my 1998 Corvette, one was a lot faster than the other one despite them both being 350s.
@@rodmunch695s and 6s? Aren't those top fuel numbers? Those are pretty wild ETs even for today.
@@MisterMikeTexas talking 0-60, not quarters.
My first car after high school graduation! 83 Capri RS 5.0 bought in 1986. Man I miss that car! Cruising the San Diego area in that was just awesome!
Those times would worry a 84 vette owner. This is when performance came back to Detroit.
mcqueenfanman
I was too young to drive but old enough to remember the excitement about the early 80s cars making a (power)comeback.
true. the '84 vette only managed a 15.2 with the auto
84' vette 0-60 in 7.9 1/4 mile in 15.9
When cars had souls...
I have the 666th one made in 1983.....wonder what it's soul is like?
agree
SPicy rEns I totally agree brother but these modern car lovers will never learn.
CJ Colvin I am a gen z and I love 80s cars
The 80's were loaded with souless, gutless, emissions fillied garbage. If you want soul get a car from the 60's.
My Dad bought an ‘84 Capri RS Turbo new. We still own it. Among the rarest of all Fox bodies, 1284 built. They are nearly impossible to find. All of them were charcoal grey. SVO-like engine w/o the intercooler. Quad shock suspension and trademark turbo whistle. Can’t beat these Mercury’s.
I like the looks of the fox bodies, especially the early four headlight ones and these years of the capri.
The stopwatch guy gave an amazing performance; I wish MotorWeek had done more with him as a character.
Bubble butt! A car of my childhood dreams
"You will still go headlong into the pylons but with more confidence"
Always wanted one of these
Jesus Castillo I
Same here, from the first time i saw a bubble back 5.0
Love these old shows. You really get a good grasp on how far car manufacturers have come.. I got a 2.5L that's 175hp. That's 1/2 the liter with the same hp... Exciting times we live in..
Horsepower isn't everything for everyday driveability. It's about low end torque so you don't have to spin the motor up with a lot of drama just to get moving at a decent speed. This is why electric cars feel so much faster than they are, because you get slammed into the back hard even in a Nissan Leaf. Anyway, this Capri had the low end torque with its V8 so it felt quite enjoyable to drive around.
Just pull of the emissions that are choking the engine and you'd get much better performance in that 83. It wasn't that car makers forgot how to get power from engines, they were being regulated to death by the government. By the mid-80s they started to get a grip on it, and by the late-80s they were getting back to where they were in the 60s in terms of performance numbers.
I got a 1.8 with 178.
1990s LX 5.0 Mustang next, please!
I'll never forget a crazy guy in one of these (of course, back in the 1980s) doing big smokey burnouts in one of these, like what you hadn't seen since late 1960s/early 1970s. It was then that performance was back. What a cool car for the time.
I saw someone doing big smokey burnouts with a Mustang II. It has little to do with the power, its just how crappy your tires are and how much they'll slip.
I bought an '85 Capri RS when I was 16. Car was mean as hell!! Would whip awesome brodies! Got it halfway paid off and the dude sold the engine. Gave me the rest of the car for what I had already paid. Being a kid I didn't have the money to replace the engine so it sat around for a couple years until I sold it to a friend. Great memories/lessons from that car.
Hell yeah that thing is awesome! Damn I miss my 84 Mustang 5.0. It was an ex cop car with a 5 speed and positraction. First V8 car I ever owned.
I got one for sale if you're interested runs
@@lowkeykeylow5526 did you sell the car
@@jayshmoney795 no
@@lowkeykeylow5526 still interested in sell car
@@jayshmoney795 yeah shoot me an offer
A fella had a new Capri back in the 80’s in my hometown. Great looking car for anyone that wanted something different than a Mustang.
I owned a red '84 Capri, very much like the one in the video. Except I had the T5, and the engine got swapped to a mildly built 351W with a freegin huge Carter AFB on top of it. I made the hood scoop functional, which allowed clearance for the air filter to sit right up inside(extra height on 351) I also swapped out to some nice polished aluminum rims with 245/15 rubber, which helped with grip. With that much ft/lb's, that car just kept going and going, poor poor 85mph speed-O, I wrapped you around the bottom and back up the front again so many times. I eventually sold it because my wife was afraid of that car. Probably for the best, even with a nice brake conversion done that car had way more in the go pedal then the no-go pedal. People complain they don't handle, but I never felt that way with the car. It was all about the brakes, car went like a bat out of hell, cornered as fast as I ever wanted to on my country roads, but even a converted brake system was pretty pedestrian yet.
Sounds like you ruined the car.
I was 9 years of age when this car was released, we have come a long way. Imma tell U what though, that 27 hwy miles is impressive even for today’s standards.
It is cool to watch these classic episodes of motorweek as they documented the return of America performance from 1982-present
I guess it was 87 when the Multiport EFI 225 hp 5.0 was released? I believe that ended the Malaise Era on the spot, and got Muscle Car 2.0 underway.
Oh the 80's. You would have thought Mercury was unleashing wild tigers to the public with this 175hp car. Also, nice exposed wires from the dash to the lower center console.
Evil Craig Singhaus it was the 80s in Detroit. The 70s weren’t any better. We weren’t so concerned about the fit and finish. Also 15.9 in the quarter mile not bad for an engine choking on emissions equipment. Take all that off there and it’ll quicken a lot. Remember too a 4 speed with low gear ratios helped. It might too out at 90-100 but it made it move in the low end.
The 82 Corvette had 200hp, but this was faster since the Vette was only available with an automatic that year, and in the early 80s, automatics were still slow and got you a solid half-second or slower performance numbers. But as the other guy said, just remove some of the thing choking the engine and you'll get much better performance, on everything. Also by 1985-86, car makers were starting to figure out how to get power and meet emissions and numbers were increasing very quickly by the late 80s.
Most positive review from them I've seen. Surprised that it was a Mercury Capri.
Here, in Mexico, the Capri was the Mustang GT.
Aqui en Mexico, el Mercury Capri fue el Mustang GT "Burbuja".
I want a Mexican Mustang foxbody notchback!
"This power plant has give me a ticket written all over it" 😂
Still a sharp looking car!
I miss my 83 Capri..... Mine was black and had T-tops
Sure, you've seen us test plenty of 80s Mustangs,, but what about the Mercury version? This 1983 Mercury Capri "bubble-back" really wowed our crew back in the day.
So you tested an early 83 Capri with the weak 4 speed. Same transmission as my 79 Mustang Indy Pace which had a big gap in the ratio between 2nd and 3rd gear. I tried to save up money for a T-5 to put in my 79 Mustang Indy Pace Car but sold it before that could happen. The Fox body was a light car begging for improvements that was answered by the aftermarket faster than Ford was going to ever do it. I think the accountants had too much control of Ford in the 80’s. I’m finally seeing the application of try harder and refine it in the 2015+ Mustang.
Thank you for the upload!
This was the car we cruised in every weekend in high school. Sweet ride.
This was my first car!
Same here.
Awesome review!
my buddy had the notchback 4cylinder and i really liked it. We were teenagers so basically whatever car we had has fond memories.
Cue the obligatory, annoying "my how times have changed" and "my Prius make more power than that" comments... Unfortunately all the kids who comment on here weren't around to engineer 500hp cars for us with 80's technology and emissions regulations...
sidefx996 If you weren't around in the Malaise Era, it's hard to explain why cars of the early 80's were considered so interesting.
Yep. Everything working against them, especially the U.S. government. That's why there were so many chickens and cobras on the hoods. Because there was nothing beneath them.
I wasnt born around this time but I love these cars, I totally get it, times were hard. Fuel and emissions were tough, but I wouldn't change these cars at all they are perfect the way they are.
A 2017 Prius? Hahaha Wait till y'all see my 2035 Smart Fortwo
The fuel economy and emission requirements are much more stringent now than they were in the 80's and engineers find no problem making as much horsepower as they want.
still have 1983 mercy capri 5spd 351 Windsor 87,000 original miles never been in snow or rain I've enjoyed it waiting pass it along
:) keep up those retro reviews.
Nice :) My friend Andy had a 1984 4 cylinder one , white with burgandy intieior, Same dash , h/ac/stereo layout as my 1986 Ford Tempo :)
They were pretty slow in stock form, but they had enormous performance potential. It already came with a 302 4 bbl/4 speed, that's a great starting point.
I miss my Fox body mustangs over my early years. 225-245hp was a big deal back then, and I remember how expensive a dyno run was to test my mods on my 93 Cobra and 89 LX notchback. I do miss the 80’s, such a simpler time. Now you can just walk onto a dealer lot and buy as much horsepower as your wallet allows lol
Had a 1983 1/2 Mustang GT. Loved that car and wished I still had it. The 83 1/2 came with the T5 five-speed.
Great. Another automotive misfit I want. Thanks, Motor Week.
Man, I'm old.
1983, when I graduated from hs.
My friend had a 72 FMC GT and if I remember correctly, those were built in W Germany. Interesting to hear that the 5.0 from 83 only cranked out 175hp; cars have definitely come a long way just in 34 yrs and in my lifetime.
B.A. Chan
My dad had a 79 Mustang 👎🏼
I had an 03 and 06 GT; much improved!
Rob Dawg
Dude! Back in 83/84 my friend's dad had an IROC Z. Bought for midlife crisis and he'd let us take it for a spin; be it just around the neighborhood. Thing was bad ass and always reminded me of a great white shark 🦈 on wheels! Good times. I think it only had a 302 CID V8 in it.
Hate to burst your bubble, but there was no such thing as an IROC Z in 83/84. The IROC wasn't introduced until '85. Must have been a Z-28. And it had a 305 in it. The hot ticket in those years was the L69 305 4 barrel with a 5 spd.
lightning95sc
Haha! Like I said, I'm old and that was over 30 yrs ago! Definitely an IROC though; those factory big ass decals are hard to forget.
lightning95sc new models come out before the end of the calendar year, a midlife dude would probably rush out and get an iroc as soon as he was aware of it!
178 horse power from the 5.0 v-8 engine, I thought it was more? LoL GREAT video
I wonder if the Teens will ever stop commenting on motorweek retro reviews, comparing their moms honda civic against sports cars from 30yrs ago. A friend had a 83 Capri with 3.8 (112hp I think? lots of TQ though) and a 3 speed auto, which sounds terrible but it had lots of power and was pretty fun to drive.
Couldn't agree more, it's so annoying. Who cares about your beige Camry...it's faster of course, but is it fun ? Hell no.
I've learned that you really can't judge a car until you drive it! The hatch on these things is so big! a huge slab of glass! those 5.0 make a sweet noise too! Dead steering Camry not so much )
MRT lol
MRT I'm a older teen, ive been watchig these forever and havn't commented anything about my moms civic being faster. I'm about to buy a clean 1985 supra which is i think slower than my uncles odyssey... ive seen a shit load of stuff on these 70s 80s cars and understand the whole hp thing. My friends on the other hand don't and yeah it bothers me.
very annoying. I don't think they realize how easy it is to get around 300-350 hp without forced induction on a lot of these older cars either. The automakers hadn't figured out how to work around EPA regulations yet so numbers were low for everyone.
I love Morotweek. It reminds us that cars we used to love sucked due to tires and a lack of engine controls but bless them all.
A little different to the Ford Capri 2.8i we got in the UK...which I loved all the way back in 86!!! Awesome memories...
Back in the early 90s when I was shopping for a mustang I came across this car in the autotrader magazine and the guys ad was hilarious, he was talking about how this is the greatest car ever and its his baby and he cant live without it. I felt bad cuz me and my friends couldnt stop calling him and making fun of him, till he got a maestro which gave him my friends number.
So many 80s nostalgia throwbacks in this video! LOL He-man!
I want to see a retro review of a 91-93 GT next. Those numbers for 83 were not that bad and not far off pace of the 83-84 205 hp crossfire corvettes. Those were 0-60 in about 6.7 sec and a 15.3 or so 1/4 mile.
That’s quite a pep-talk at 2:13 and I love the emphatic gesturing in these old, corny episodes 3:04
Man does this bring back some memories... I had an 81 Black Magic Capri. I gave the 2.3L inline 4 with a mechanical secondary 2 barrel and full length long tube header (which made that thing pull like an ox till the tach pointed at the floor) *for a 4 cyl* and gave it a yank for a '91 351w police intercepter block with a T5 behind it.
I learned a lot from building that car, namely that the 9 inch rotors were worthless at any speed above 80 for stopping... and the 11 inch were good for 100 mph stops... that is 100 to 0 or 140 to 40!
I ran that car against a lot of machines, only thing I lost to was some sport bike. He just flat outran me. 140-145 was all she'd do wide open.
I REALLY miss that car...
I have a 14 E63 AMG S Model that puts down 600 HP, but to be honest, the Capri was more fun to drive.
kleetus92 exactly. it's not just about numbers. it the experience. the smells, sounds, rattles, not needing to dive into 3 menus to disable the nannies for a simple pair of 11s down the street etc
True that.
kleetus92 just yesterday, a buddy n idrove his 65mustang hardtop about 150 miles. at a steady 85, with all the side windows lowered, and the vent windows cracked slightly, there was plenty of airflow, n you could even smoke a blunt and not get ashes all over. what happened to those days? now you let the windows down at that speed you get all sorts of noise, wind blowing everything all over. older hardtop cars are just so much cooler to cruise and raise hell in.
Check out MotorWeek's review of the 86 ASC Capri after this video and compare that to the slalom of this RS. The ASC blows it out of the water in terms of suspension tuning. Incredible!
Motorweek do you guys have a video for the 90-94 Capri and xr2 option?
I remember this car quite well. My Dad bought a used '83 in '86. He let me get my license with that car. Vey strong car for that day. Always showed it's taillights to Camaros & Corvettes of that era. I'd love one of them today. Thanks so much for the upload! Any chance of a retro review of the 2003 SVT Cobra?
papameme11, more than a good chance. standby
Will do, thanks so much Ben.
It sounds so awesome
I've been driving around my 1980 Datsun wagon this weekend... Just puttering around, it had me thinking how dramatic its body movement is, compared to my 240SX and my Evo.
Now I see this video and see the Mercury Capri had just as much body roll and braking dive. o.O
I still have my 1983 Mercury Capri brochure. One of the over 3,000 automotive brochures I have collected since 1983. The 2020 Vancouver Auto Show was cancelled for the first time ever because of COVID so I did not obtain a car brochure. And my depression prevented me from going to my yearly trip to the auto dealers. So for the FIRST TIME since collecting in 1983, I have NO car brochure for an automotive model year!
Nice review, we will never see such light v8 cars again.
Power to weight ratio sometimes better than just raw horsepower.
Loved my '87 LX 5.0 5-speed. Not that fast or powerful by today's standard (my Lincoln MKT 3.5 EcoBoost makes over 50% more HP), but back then it was a mighty car.
That's $30200 in todays money, not bad at all for the performance model and just a couple grand more than a new Mustang GT.
But that nose dive during braking was crazy looking! Zoinks!
Nice looking car. Still, the best versions of the fox body sported 2.3l turbos and 302 h.o. roller blocks.
The forgotten Fox! Actually, better looking than its Mustang cousin, and the bubble-glass hatch really made it pop. $9K was quite a bargain even then for the package you got. I wish Lincoln-Mercury promoted the Capri better. If I had the means back then, I might have gone for the Capri RS to be different. The 5.0 in a sexier package, and tons of fun. Got even better by 1985 with true dual exhausts.
Damn, that is a good looking car.
Lots of information presented in this Mercury Capri RS review.
I love the space going version of the mustang gt !
Question about the rear suspension. At 2:11 you can see an object hanging down in front of the rear tire. What is it called and what use is it? By the way, I bought this car new in 1983 - same burgundy color. Tons of fun, but after six years and 95K miles, the interior was faded and the bumpers looked bad, so I sold it.
Beautiful car!!
Back then I was driving a tow truck for the graveyard shift. Late One Saturday night I heard about a crash on my scanner and got there before the smokies. What I found was an 83 Capri wrapped around a telephone pole. The driver was a 16 year old girl who just got it the day before brand new from her dad as a birthday gift. She was the only survivor having gone through the windshield. Her boyfriend in the passenger seat was dead in the car along with three very dead kids in the backseat. The car hit the pole right at the passenger door handle and the front and rear bumpers were touching on the far side of the pole. Never looked at a Mustang (or Capri) the same again.
What an aweful thing to have to see. Just goes to show why parents shouldn't give in when their kids beg for the sports car as a first car.
Viewers, 60mph in 7 secs was fast in 1983!!!! Only A Porsche 911 or 928 could equal it or, maybe beat it by a car length .The 84 Vette was a year away. The track conditions and new, heavy clutch affected the 1/4 mile time though. But, they could easily hit sixty right after you shift into 2nd gear. The 83 Camaro Z28 took over 8 seconds btw. Many young buyers upgraded to a bigger 750cfm carb, headers , better exhaust , and 3.73 gears soon after taking delivery . Which would get you roughly 250 hp, fairly easily . Low to mid 14 second quarters were common with just a few simple mods. By 1987 Ford caught on with the tweaked up , facelifted , stock Mustang GT/ LX 5.0 with similar upgrades ,more power ,etc and the Capri disappeared....hmmm. The Fox bodies were capable fast and easy to modify , and at 3100-3200 lbs, much lighter than competitors!
Pretty quick for 1983 tho
Those are almost the same 0-60 and 1/4 mile times for the 90 Chevy Beretta GTZ Coupe 5 speed manual tranny they retro reviewed almost 2 years ago
David Aubin You could tell traction was an issue for the Capri. TRX tires were overrated and a better set would have yielded a low 15 second 1/4 mile and 0-60 in under 7 seconds. Still not blistering fast by today's standards, but very much so for 1983z
7 years of technological advancements so, of course(1983 - 1990)... Who'd of thought we'd have 300+ horsepower Honda Civics.
@@wiseguy9202 with no torque. Still slow in the quarter.
Torque in comparison to back then has vastly improved. Especially within the 4 cylinder.
The Capri looked much much better!
Wow I have heard of the Capri but I did not know it was based on the Fox body cars. It looks pretty nice also....interesting.
This was another one MotorWeek predicted would be super successful...and... yea. But it seems like a killer little car from my vantage point, too!!
IIRC, didn't these have a 390 mm wheel? Only a few tires were available back then, and even fewer now.
Still have my RS mercury capri 351 Windsor 5speed 85,000 original miles I hope my son enjoys 1 day
Never liked the look of that bubble back, my 81 black RS had a mustang hatch with louvers, and spoiler. the t-tops leaked a bit and was annoying, I liked my car and drove till I flipped the dial a few times, it was hit by a drunk driver one night while parked and written off in the mid 90s.
I did liked the hatch for quick camping as with the back seats down and the front seats forward, put camping gear in the rear foot wells to keep my head out of there and you can sleep stretched out just fine. I do miss the thing.
Though a Doug Demuro score would be a 10 out of a hundred.
The 1983 5.0L Mustangs & Capris we’re faster than the Corvette or anything else made in America. The 175hp was good for 1983, but the 300ft/lb was what made it such a stand out. They were also very affordable and easy to tune and hop up.
such a happy car
48 hrs after being built straight to MW for flogging
My mom had a 1986 that was on the same level spec as the mustang 5.0 cop car but even a step better when it came to the exhaust including shorty headers.
In 1983 I was 15 going on 16 & I could see myself in a car like this.
Ha! Pac Man reference... Beloved 1983..
I'd love to have an 83 Capri RS
Bought an 84 in white with orange accents....long live box flares
Damn i was 2yrs old when this came out! 😂
Nice quarter mile test....downhill. 😂
And what's up with the blue jacket guy before he did the 1320? Was that the 'ol coach pep talk pump up before the big showing? Lol
A friend of mine has one of these he hasn't driven it and years but it's stored in his garage pretty cool car in it's day and would be awesome with a coyote transplant LOL
These Retro Review sure put into perspective how much of a relative term “fast” can be… despite the acceleration being recorded in objective, absolute figures.
Nice wheels!
"He-man four speed manual". All these 80's references!