A particular difference between the Mustang and the Capri is that the Capri had those really cool flared fenders and quarter panels giving it more of a muscular look. That cassette tape was a blast from the past how someone had put tape on the ends so they could record over what was originally on the tape. We used to do that from time to time if a blank tape wasn't available. Memorex, Maxell, and TDK ("so real") were necessities of the day when recording the "Weekly Top 40 with Casey Kasem" from the radio on Sunday afternoons. Good times!!!
I think it was just the caprice R S with the curved rear glass it was a little more expensive than a mustang GT and very cool car cousin has one that looks pretty much like this car just a few good parts left
The cars in this - and every - junkyard love the Bunnymen song: "Spare Us The CRUSHER". Crusher....Cutter...get it? I won't quit my day job. Thanks for watching and writing. -Steve Magnante
One of the highlights of my life was going to see Echo and the Bunnymen in the first night of a two night (Friday and Saturday) sold out concert series at the 4600 capacity amphitheater at my alma mater at San Diego State in 1988(?). Magical evening it was. The next night with nothing to do I went to a bar that 91X (The station that sponsored the concert) plugged. It was just me and the bartender until who walks in after finishing his second concert night at the amphitheater after just having performed minutes earlier but Ian McCulloch, the lead singer and leader of the band. He sat down right next to me and I was speechless. Just me, Ian, and the bartender. Once I got over my shock, I opened my black leather jacket to reveal a band t-shirt that I had bought when I attended their concert the night before. Very nice guy.
2 seconds in and I cant stop laughing. Love the blurring of pups face. Made my morning.. Oh and love the info on these old gems that I grew up around when I was a kid in the 80s
I had one of these, an 84. I had the front air dam/fascia like an RS and the rear hatch from a Mustang, so no bubble, but it also came with the rear spoiler. I also had a hood scoop. I have seen the scoop on other years, it was front facing and it had the hood underneath cut out. It was cut out because I put a 351W in it. I was able to use a low profile air cleaner to close the factory hood over it, the air cleaner tucking up in the scoop. That car looked MEAN, the flared fenders, the horizontal slats in the sail panels, the actual grill(!) and paired square headlights made it seem like a much older car then it was. There is a reason Ford never put a 351 in the car, most Ford guys screamed for one from the factory but I will tell you that transformed that car into something Ford simply didn;t want on the street. I sold mine and bought a 94 GT because the wife was to scared of it to ride in it.
Had an '84 winter beater with the bubble back glass and V6. Paid $400 for it from a friend. When I returned to pick it up the next day my buddies wife had taken a baseball bat to it as he got caught fooling around. She didn't know it was mine now. Thankfully she went after the lights and side mirror and we were in the towing business so I replaced the broken bits and got a year out of it then sold the back glass for, yeap $400, and the car for scrap at $125. Winner winner. Cheers 🇨🇦
Hi Steve, good video! I am 63 years old and I have been ASE Master Certified most of my life. I worked at two Ford dealerships and two Lincoln-Mercury dealerships. Your information is very correct in regards to Lee Iacocca purchasing the "Ghia" trade mark. Ford purchased Ghia from Volkswagen after Volkswagen stopped production on the Karmann Ghia to originally be applied to the Mustang II Ghia. The 255 cubic inch V8 small block Ford engine was short lived because it never achieved the fuel economy that it meant to. In 1979, Lincoln-Mercury Division stopped importing the German produced Capri and used the name on the Fox Body Capri due to high import taxes. By the way, Lincoln-Mercury Division had been thinking about a Capri based on the Mustang II years before. The early Fox body Capri RS, could be had with the identical engine(s) 2.3L 4 cyl turbo, or a 5.0L V8, with the same suspension, wheel and tires as the Mustang Cobra. The Capri RS may have had a bigger sticker price than the than the Mustang Cobra, but in the mean time you paid full sticker price for the Cobra. You could actually drive home cheaper in a Capri RS, because the Capri RS did not sell. Please reply. Dave...
Ford quit importing the German Capri for the same reason that GM in 1976 quit importing the German Opels...unfavorable currency exchange rates made them too expensive to continue to be sold competitively in their market segment. Import taxes played into the equation but had a much smaller impact. Both "captive imports" were great cars and enthusiasts of them mourned their loss greatly, me included!
My first new car was a 1981 Capri "Black Magic" edition.T-top,rear window louver,Gold seat inserts,Gold TRX wheels,Gold pin striping and of course hood scoop.Very solid car. Owned it five years and only replaced the clutch and the battery.
I had à 85 mercury capri GS 5.0 with AOD, bubble hatch, factory 3.27 trac loc rear axle back in 90's! I wish i still had it today! 79-86 Mercury Capris are rarely seen today on the road!
I agree junkyard gold should still be going strong, but you found a way I enjoy this very much is such a unique way to educate us. Never to old to learn. Thank you
My sister had a 72 4 banger and my Dad had a 76 6 cylinder. The 76 was a ton of fun to drive. As a 16 year old and with all of the common sense that I had at the time I found that if I went fast enough on a curvy road I could power slide through corners. Thank God nobody was ever coming the other way. Five years later my Omni GLHS would do the same trick. Then I started a family and now I drive a 15 year old minivan. Yay.
Oddly someone's mother had one of these when I was in high school. She used to work in the tuckshop. Quite a status symbol private import car in South Africa back in the day. Years later, I briefly owned an '81 Fox Mustang Cobra hatch. Was a nice car. The genuine European Ford Capri was very popular when I was a kid in the 70s and early 80s. Came in every engine form from 1.6 and 2.0 L four bangers to 3.0 V6. There was a special go fast version known as the Basil Green (converting dealer) Perana who did a 302 V8 conversion. It was only available in South Africa. Regards Ghia badged Fords, we had the ghia badged Euro mk1 and 2 Granada Ghia in the 1970s and 80s, which was an exceptionally high end luxury Ford. My stepdad loved them as his company cars, It was considered a "smartman's " choice over a 5 Series Beemer or E Class Merc W123 . Reason- slightly cheaper than BMW or Merc, an you got the difference back in your pocket on purchase and maintenance.
I had one with a KAMA or something along those lines, it had a loover and front lower bumper plastic with a cool moulded in the hood cowl 2.8 manual, hatch it was so nice! One of many regrets !
I remember driving a Turbo version when new with four people on board at highway speed. When I floored it a boost notification came on the dash but the car was barely noticeably accelerating.... Ah the good old days..
Had a Yellow 72 Capri. I commuted 100 miles a day for about 4 yrs. It was a 4 banger that really ran pretty good. Very reliable back then. Just a fun little car.
In November 1978 I went to my local Mercury dealer and ordered my ‘79 Capri. I ordered the basic model, but specified the Turbo. Come December, the dealer called me and told me that my Turbo had been delivered. I went to pick it up and immediately realized it was not a Turbo! The dealer claimed that Ford had temporarily stopped production of the turbo. But I think that he placed the order incorrectly since the turbo could only be ordered as the RS package. I reordered my car with the 2.8 V-6. Turned out to be a great little car.
Love this channel. I miss Car Craft. Steve motivated me to unbury an August 1988 issue from my mountain of papers here. Don't know when Steve was on staff at Car Craft
Hi Tom, I was on staff at Hot Rod magazine from August 19, 1997 through January 20, 2004. After I left Hot Rod I began a long run as a freelance contributor to several "Petersen" magazines. My favorite was doing TEN YEARS of Car Craft "Junkyard Crawl" columns. That was the core of what led me to create the Junkyard Crawl video series on UA-cam. Thanks for reading the late, great Car Craft! -Steve Magnante
Never been a rustang fan & I always thought the Capri looked better & I loved the 1st gen Capri as they were built in Cologne West Germany, it was considered our pony car! A friend of mine bought a new one in 1980 with a 302 4bbl 5sp & it was a quick little thing
I had a 1986 Mercury Capri. Bought it in 1989 with less than 1500km (yes, metric, it was a Canadian car) It had that bubble rear glass which, interestingly, due to air flow moving over the car, could keep the rear window free of water during rainfall. No need for a rear wiper, which I believe some of them may have had...🤔 Don't quote me on that last one, I'm not an automotive guru, like yourself. Have a nice day!!
Ya can't forget the original '50s Capri or that the European Capri was available as a Mk I, II, and Mk III, the latter of which didn't cease production until 1986.
My first car was a 1980 Mercury Capri. It had the 2.3L four cylinder with a manual transmission. I bought it from my auto mechanics teacher in high school, back in 1993. My parents loaned me the $800 to purchase it. It was a good car. The valve stem seals leaked, so it'd puff a bit of blue smoke at crank up. But it cleared right up, and that 2.3L ran smooth as butter.
Maybe the ole woofer was sniffing for cougars. The other thing that I always thought was cool about these cars was the light up message center that was in the console below the dash saying low fuel or a door was open. I believe they were used on the fox cars till 1986.
My eldest cousin bought a new turbo four banger mustang in 79 ( thought it might of been a Capri ) .. black with lime green pinstripes... drove the heck out of it. As a kid i thought the first gen was cool. Thanks for sharing
Always thought the Capri was the best looking Fox body, would love to find a nice one to build into a pro-touring sled. Also delighted to have a real, live dog on the show!
Glad you found another hound to fill in for Lockjaw. I'm hoping it was a well-deserved day off for all his hard work and not a contract dispute. After seeing his replacement steal the show I'm sure he won't get any ideas.
My dad bought a 77 LTD landau with the same 15" spoked wheel covers. They were immediately stolen, he bought another set and they were stolen again. He bought a third set and kept them in the basement. After the popularity wore off I put them on my cars. Thanks for the memories. Those were expensive to manufacture.
My son acquired one of these in the late 90’s! I want to say it was an 83 model, hatch back, but I could be mistaken! It had a large bulbous rear window! The man he Acquired it from was a ford Motorsports racing enthusiast ! He had originally built the car for his Daughter, however she could not safely master the operation of a clutch /manual transmission. Not to mention the performance capabilities of the car, so he told my son when he purchased the car! It was a beautiful car it was painted with a mother of pearl type paint job ,he had also added many modifications to the engine compartment, such as headers ,and various other aftermarket performance parts! He also added a full aerodynamics package to the body of the car to make it more stable at higher speeds! I had driven the car a few time it was great fun, but I never fully kicked it in the ass, so to speak! One day my son said, hey dad wanna go for a ride? I said sure, why not! We left the house he calmly drove to this highway that ran east and west near lake Sam Rayburn! Then he laid into it! It didn’t take long, and we were doing 135 MPH ,according to the after market speedometer! Then he shifted into fifth gear! The RPM’s dropped to about 2900 and started to climb again we ran out of road before he could fully stretch it’s legs! I was glad of it ,to be honest! We slowed down and did a tire smoking U-Turn and drove back to the house at a more reasonable speed! He had this shit eating grin on his face, and asked what do you think? I said,I’ll let you know after I change my underwear, then we both just laughed! I will never forget that car or that ride! He became a father to be,himself not too long after,and sold the car to one of his friends! A very wise choice!😊
The Capri name first appeared on a Lincoln of course but as other commentators mention the badge also appeared on the hardtop coupe version of the Consul Classic (Consul 315 in some markets) between 1961-1964 and occupied the same marketing and range slot as the Mk1 Capri proper. There was also an Australian Capri - a totally different animal based on the Mazda 323 and more like an MX5/Miata than anything else with a Capri badge....
I much preferred these capri over the mustang. As you pointed out the flared fenders, blacked out taillights and the bubble hatch as opposed the flat one on the Mustangs.
Great job! Like the cassette info and the inspection sticker barely able to provide information and it was a smoker car to include the original cigarette butts!!
Really enjoyed the video! I have a heavily upgraded 1984 Mercury RS Capri in my garage right now with a 347 stroker in it. My dad bought the car new in 84 and gave it to me in the early 90ies. 1984 was the only year that the foxbody Capri came with the tri-color red, orange and silver stripe package on it, and it could be had in several base colors with the Turbo RS being the only one that came in charcoal metallic grey. The RS version of the Capri was a very limited production car especially from 1983-1996 with most of those years having less then 4,000 RS/GS cars produced each year. Some years much less than that due to lack luster sales numbers and the negative reception the Capri was getting being called "an imitation Mustang" by the die-hard Mustang fans even though the Roush team was having great success with the "Capri" in Trans-Am Racing at the time. There were several collector Capri models that were also released during the production from 79-86 like the Capri Pace Car, Black Magic/White Magic Capri and the Crimson Cat that was a red-on-red car with custom graphics. The rarest Mercury Capri's were the ASC Mclaren Capri's that came in a Euro-coupe and surprisingly a convertible. Most of the ASC Mclaren cars had very limited production with 1984 being the least at 50 cars. The 1984 was the first year of production and 1986 was the last for the ASC Capri cars. Whenever I take my car out, it constantly turns heads and I have people come up all the time asking questions about the car and most people have never even seen one. The comment I get a lot from the people that do remember the Capri is "I don't remember this car being this cool!" It's amazing what a lowered stance and modern style wide rims can do for a car's looks! If you enter 1984 Mercury RS Capri in most search engines my car is usually in the first top ten images you see. There is not very many of them left, most ended up in the scrap yards back in the 1990s.
Holy crap there's an actual, living, breathing dog in your video this time! Did you have him frozen next to Walt Disney's head until he could be brought back to life? What no 9" in the rear? I kid, I kid. Great video as always Steve 👍
My dad bought a 84 Capri svo turbo 5 spd I think it had 175 hp that year. He used to flip cars and one early Sunday morning at 5am I got up to go to the Pomona Swap meet looking for parts for my car back when I was 17 (1997) so I picked up a buddy and hit the freeway from LA to Pomona, at that time the only thing on the road was 57 chevys, 69 camaros, Mopars and Mustangs all headed to Pomona, I past them all like they were standing still... lol... well it was the fastest I ever got there. I had the speedo needle buried it only went to 85 and I past that in 3rd... well I maxed it out in 5th and went online that night to figure out the top speed.. internet said top speed of 135 so must of been a shock to all the American muscle with deep gears and no overdrive to get past at 5am by a 4cylinder Turbo Capri, none of them even tried to catch me! ;-)
The correct motor to get in the fox body Capri was the 5.0 v8. Those things were stomping the Firebirds and Camaros for a couple of years. Until GM decided to finally put tuned port 350’s in them.
My first car, that I bought, at 16yo was a 1980 Mustang Ghia. I drove the crap outta that car! It had the massive 255ci. I found out about that when I bought new plugs, wires, cap and rotor for the 302ci (because I was told that's what it had) The distributor cap was a good bit larger for the 302ci. That was a sad day but it didn't last long, I had a Mustang. One thing I did that really woke that the car up was put true dual exhaust on it. It had 5 catalytic converters that was close to 20-40lbs each. I did love the fender flares on the Capri. I don't know if anyone else has mentioned it but one way the Mercury was different from the Ford was the Capri had horizontal lines in the trim/parts and the Stang had vertical ones like the grill, the sail planes and the tail lights. I loved that car. I probably put 200k miles on her before I traded it to my little brother and he drove it for about 3yrs Awesome video Steve and Shane!
The Turbo RS was available not just in1979(9,503 units) and 1980(5,138units) but also in 1981(17 units) , 1983(381) and in 1984(1,321units). The bubble back started in 1983 not 1985...
My mom had a 1982 Capri Ghia. Bought it from the Lincoln-Mercury dealership I worked at, at that time. It was two-tone Cordavan Brown with tan side panels. It was laid out with leather interior, sunroof and premium aluminum wheels. It also had the gutless 255 V-8. When it was new it was a really nice car. Kinda like a sporty Lincoln. Once it was a year old and out of 12,000 mile warranty, it quickly went to crap. I remember the engine leaked oil from just about every possible place on that car. Multiple rear main seals failed. The transmission pissed all over the garage floor with the car constantly needing topped off with Type F. Then the big pot metal bracket that held the power steering pump, smog pump and alternator broke causing spectacular damage to the whole front of the engine bay area, hood and radiator. The car was totaled by the insurance company. Worst Ford we ever owned. And that's saying something.
Great Video Steve Blanking out the dogs face to protect his identity was price less! His agent would have been angery because you cant ID Him! The drivetrain was shared with the Mercury Merkuir the Mustang, TBird and Capri Non of them exactly hit the sales records Keep up the the great work Motor Trend management are idots they cant recognize Gold when they see it!
The dog might be in the 'Witness Protection Program?' 😂😂😂.
You said it before I could...lol
@@tonyelliott7734 After checking current texts, was nearly simultaneous with Wyatt Sabourin. I understand, it is early. HAVE A GREAT DAY!
They only blurred his face out part of the video.... Haha
I was thinking the same thing... BAHAHA
Don't want to compromise the dog's position in the junkyard.
That dogs face being blurred out started my day out with a great chuckle! Rest of the program was enjoyable as well ;)
It must be in the witness protection program. lol
@@dkstudioart That is Hound ,James Hound agent 007-K9
I see the dog blew his cover at about 3:31!
Pixilated pup
The dog is a transitioning transgender
The dog always cracks me up. I swear he's in witness protection...
The pixel anonymized yard dog always catches me off guard, and makes me laugh every single time. 😆
I see Lockjaw was in hiding today, but his co-host stood in today, lol.
Thanks again for another great video Steve & Shane!!
I agree Steve, MotorTrend made a mistake canceling Junkyard Gold! Keep doing you and making these, and I'll keep watching... 🇺🇸🤘🏁
A particular difference between the Mustang and the Capri is that the Capri had those really cool flared fenders and quarter panels giving it more of a muscular look. That cassette tape was a blast from the past how someone had put tape on the ends so they could record over what was originally on the tape. We used to do that from time to time if a blank tape wasn't available. Memorex, Maxell, and TDK ("so real") were necessities of the day when recording the "Weekly Top 40 with Casey Kasem" from the radio on Sunday afternoons. Good times!!!
Am-Merican Top Forrrr-Teeee! Thanks for watching and writing. -Steve Magnante
I think it was just the caprice R S with the curved rear glass it was a little more expensive than a mustang GT and very cool car cousin has one that looks pretty much like this car just a few good parts left
🙏🙏🙏get well soon Steve!
Loved the dog cameo at the end!
You are always good for a laugh with your crazy sense of humour Steve! Echo and the Bunnymen! 80’s gold!
The Bunnymen continue to make good - even great - music today! Thanks for watching and writing. -Steve Magnante
The cars in this - and every - junkyard love the Bunnymen song: "Spare Us The CRUSHER". Crusher....Cutter...get it? I won't quit my day job. Thanks for watching and writing. -Steve Magnante
I loved the blurring out of the dogs face.
One of the highlights of my life was going to see Echo and the Bunnymen in the first night of a two night (Friday and Saturday) sold out concert series at the 4600 capacity amphitheater at my alma mater at San Diego State in 1988(?). Magical evening it was. The next night with nothing to do I went to a bar that 91X (The station that sponsored the concert) plugged. It was just me and the bartender until who walks in after finishing his second concert night at the amphitheater after just having performed minutes earlier but Ian McCulloch, the lead singer and leader of the band. He sat down right next to me and I was speechless. Just me, Ian, and the bartender. Once I got over my shock, I opened my black leather jacket to reveal a band t-shirt that I had bought when I attended their concert the night before. Very nice guy.
Love the capri . I have a 86 5.0 that I drive daily . Been the best car I've ever owned.
2 seconds in and I cant stop laughing. Love the blurring of pups face. Made my morning.. Oh and love the info on these old gems that I grew up around when I was a kid in the 80s
I had one of these, an 84.
I had the front air dam/fascia like an RS and the rear hatch from a Mustang, so no bubble, but it also came with the rear spoiler. I also had a hood scoop. I have seen the scoop on other years, it was front facing and it had the hood underneath cut out.
It was cut out because I put a 351W in it. I was able to use a low profile air cleaner to close the factory hood over it, the air cleaner tucking up in the scoop.
That car looked MEAN, the flared fenders, the horizontal slats in the sail panels, the actual grill(!) and paired square headlights made it seem like a much older car then it was.
There is a reason Ford never put a 351 in the car, most Ford guys screamed for one from the factory but I will tell you that transformed that car into something Ford simply didn;t want on the street.
I sold mine and bought a 94 GT because the wife was to scared of it to ride in it.
If I’m not mistaken there was a Ford Consul Capri in the early 60’s. Totally different and very rare today.
I had a '72 and '73 Capri in high school. I had the '72 first w/the 4 banger, found the '73 with a V6 and sold the '72 to my buddy. Fun, fun cars.
Had an '84 winter beater with the bubble back glass and V6. Paid $400 for it from a friend.
When I returned to pick it up the next day my buddies wife had taken a baseball bat to it as he got caught fooling around. She didn't know it was mine now. Thankfully she went after the lights and side mirror and we were in the towing business so I replaced the broken bits and got a year out of it then sold the back glass for, yeap $400, and the car for scrap at $125. Winner winner.
Cheers 🇨🇦
@James Man that was just bad timing. 🤷♂️
6:24 Ah the good old days Cigarette butts and Whisky Glass . Someone was on their way to Bingo
The dog with the blurred face is hilarious
Love the Capri! Let's see more Mercurys!
A buddy of mine had an 86 5.0 Capri with the bubble rear glass. It was a nice car. He only had it a couple of years. They were scarce even back then.
Hi Steve, good video! I am 63 years old and I have been ASE Master Certified most of my life. I worked at two Ford dealerships and two Lincoln-Mercury dealerships. Your information is very correct in regards to Lee Iacocca purchasing the "Ghia" trade mark. Ford purchased Ghia from Volkswagen after Volkswagen stopped production on the Karmann Ghia to originally be applied to the Mustang II Ghia. The 255 cubic inch V8 small block Ford engine was short lived because it never achieved the fuel economy that it meant to. In 1979, Lincoln-Mercury Division stopped importing the German produced Capri and used the name on the Fox Body Capri due to high import taxes. By the way, Lincoln-Mercury Division had been thinking about a Capri based on the Mustang II years before. The early Fox body Capri RS, could be had with the identical engine(s) 2.3L 4 cyl turbo, or a 5.0L V8, with the same suspension, wheel and tires as the Mustang Cobra. The Capri RS may have had a bigger sticker price than the than the Mustang Cobra, but in the mean time you paid full sticker price for the Cobra. You could actually drive home cheaper in a Capri RS, because the Capri RS did not sell. Please reply. Dave...
Ford quit importing the German Capri for the same reason that GM in 1976 quit importing the German Opels...unfavorable currency exchange rates made them too expensive to continue to be sold competitively in their market segment. Import taxes played into the equation but had a much smaller impact. Both "captive imports" were great cars and enthusiasts of them mourned their loss greatly, me included!
@@roaddawg831 You are very correct. Dave...
My first new car was a 1981 Capri "Black Magic" edition.T-top,rear window louver,Gold seat inserts,Gold TRX wheels,Gold pin striping and of course hood scoop.Very solid car. Owned it five years and only replaced the clutch and the battery.
Nice dig on MT at the minute and fifteen mark. I concur - well deserved.
Lying here in bed doing some good belly chuckles over “Uncle Samuel” and “good little robot” Thanks so much!
Fun fact, the Mexican made Fox Mustang came with the Capri front end (as well as other bits) in 82 and 83, including the Notchback.
Steve Really Appreciate All the research you do for Us & Barret - Jackson. Thank You
That orange turbo Capri in the brochure at 2:00 still looks great.
Another great video Steve!!! When I was a teenager a buddy of mine had a Capri. I had a Caprice. There was a little confusion...
I had à 85 mercury capri GS 5.0 with AOD, bubble hatch, factory 3.27 trac loc rear axle back in 90's! I wish i still had it today! 79-86 Mercury Capris are rarely seen today on the road!
I agree junkyard gold should still be going strong, but you found a way I enjoy this very much is such a unique way to educate us. Never to old to learn. Thank you
man this brings back memories. miss those old brochures too and always liked these mercs.
that outro is a hoot!
My sister had a 72 4 banger and my Dad had a 76 6 cylinder. The 76 was a ton of fun to drive. As a 16 year old and with all of the common sense that I had at the time I found that if I went fast enough on a curvy road I could power slide through corners. Thank God nobody was ever coming the other way. Five years later my Omni GLHS would do the same trick. Then I started a family and now I drive a 15 year old minivan. Yay.
So a common family man.
You are a hero sir.
Such a good dog! Haha makes me miss my hound!
Oddly someone's mother had one of these when I was in high school. She used to work in the tuckshop. Quite a status symbol private import car in South Africa back in the day. Years later, I briefly owned an '81 Fox Mustang Cobra hatch. Was a nice car. The genuine European Ford Capri was very popular when I was a kid in the 70s and early 80s. Came in every engine form from 1.6 and 2.0 L four bangers to 3.0 V6. There was a special go fast version known as the Basil Green (converting dealer) Perana who did a 302 V8 conversion. It was only available in South Africa. Regards Ghia badged Fords, we had the ghia badged Euro mk1 and 2 Granada Ghia in the 1970s and 80s, which was an exceptionally high end luxury Ford. My stepdad loved them as his company cars, It was considered a "smartman's " choice over a 5 Series Beemer or E Class Merc W123 . Reason- slightly cheaper than BMW or Merc, an you got the difference back in your pocket on purchase and maintenance.
Had a 79 with the 2.8 chrome badges on the fenders. Good little car.
I had one with a KAMA or something along those lines, it had a loover and front lower bumper plastic with a cool moulded in the hood cowl 2.8 manual, hatch it was so nice! One of many regrets !
I remember driving a Turbo version when new with four people on board at highway speed. When I floored it a boost notification came on the dash but the car was barely noticeably accelerating.... Ah the good old days..
Love the pixilated dog🤣
Had a Yellow 72 Capri. I commuted 100 miles a day for about 4 yrs. It was a 4 banger that really ran pretty good. Very reliable back then. Just a fun little car.
In November 1978 I went to my local Mercury dealer and ordered my ‘79 Capri. I ordered the basic model, but specified the Turbo. Come December, the dealer called me and told me that my Turbo had been delivered. I went to pick it up and immediately realized it was not a Turbo! The dealer claimed that Ford had temporarily stopped production of the turbo. But I think that he placed the order incorrectly since the turbo could only be ordered as the RS package. I reordered my car with the 2.8 V-6. Turned out to be a great little car.
Even the dog is checking the right car out in the show
I don't know why but pixilating the doggies face cracks me up!!
Love this channel. I miss Car Craft. Steve motivated me to unbury an August 1988 issue from my mountain of papers here. Don't know when Steve was on staff at Car Craft
Hi Tom, I was on staff at Hot Rod magazine from August 19, 1997 through January 20, 2004. After I left Hot Rod I began a long run as a freelance contributor to several "Petersen" magazines. My favorite was doing TEN YEARS of Car Craft "Junkyard Crawl" columns. That was the core of what led me to create the Junkyard Crawl video series on UA-cam. Thanks for reading the late, great Car Craft! -Steve Magnante
Never been a rustang fan & I always thought the Capri looked better & I loved the 1st gen Capri as they were built in Cologne West Germany, it was considered our pony car! A friend of mine bought a new one in 1980 with a 302 4bbl 5sp & it was a quick little thing
angels of the sea ... pan flute and dolphins?..... Lawdy Miss Clawdy... JunkYard Gold!
Junkyard Crawl was my favorite show!
I had a 1986 Mercury Capri. Bought it in 1989 with less than 1500km (yes, metric, it was a Canadian car) It had that bubble rear glass which, interestingly, due to air flow moving over the car, could keep the rear window free of water during rainfall. No need for a rear wiper, which I believe some of them may have had...🤔 Don't quote me on that last one, I'm not an automotive guru, like yourself.
Have a nice day!!
Ya can't forget the original '50s Capri or that the European Capri was available as a Mk I, II, and Mk III, the latter of which didn't cease production until 1986.
My first car was a 1980 Mercury Capri. It had the 2.3L four cylinder with a manual transmission. I bought it from my auto mechanics teacher in high school, back in 1993. My parents loaned me the $800 to purchase it. It was a good car. The valve stem seals leaked, so it'd puff a bit of blue smoke at crank up. But it cleared right up, and that 2.3L ran smooth as butter.
It's always a pleasure to watch your channel Steve, keep doing that great job, we(viewers/fans) waiting for new episodes 👍👍👍
Turbo RS was made every year from 1979 through 1984, available in Canada only in 1981 and 1982
Now I have to play "where's the white board".
Back in the early 80"s a high school buddy of mine had a Gen 1 Capri. Yellow in color just like the one Steve showed in the catalog.
Maybe the ole woofer was sniffing for cougars. The other thing that I always thought was cool about these cars was the light up message center that was in the console below the dash saying low fuel or a door was open. I believe they were used on the fox cars till 1986.
There was a Mercury Capri convertible offered, but they were ASC McLaren conversions. They were expensive then and very rare.
I’m gonna name my next dog Pixel.
South of the border they made mustangs that used the Capri body parts around this time. Pretty interesting to see.
You can see one in my avatar, a Mexican Spec Mustang.
Very interesting review. What would be neat would be if Steve found an old Airstream camper and did a walk though.
Austere..one time Steve said it 10 times in an episode. I had to look up the meaning. Thank you Steve for expanding my vocabulary. 🤣
But again you have to remember of course this may not happen again soon
Haha! I know what you mean I had to do the same thing.
My eldest cousin bought a new turbo four banger mustang in 79 ( thought it might of been a Capri ) .. black with lime green pinstripes... drove the heck out of it.
As a kid i thought the first gen was cool. Thanks for sharing
I love the dog hanging out. I have one called Axle that will crawl under a car to see what I'm doing. Name fits I guess.
I always liked the Capris of the mid eighties. I thought the styling was much more aggressive.
You're just fun to watch, Steve. I always learn something from you on every episode and you're entertaining.
Always thought the Capri was the best looking Fox body, would love to find a nice one to build into a pro-touring sled. Also delighted to have a real, live dog on the show!
I agree on the Echo and the Bunnymen tape over. My neighbours across the street had the Ford in blue with lots of black trim.
Capri’s made for pretty good looking (and successful) trans am series race cars back in their day.
Enjoyed, I liked the dog! 🐕🙂
I had a Capri RS with a T9 manual transmission. Loved the car but blew the transmission, and it sat for years while I tracked one down. Super fun.
Yaaaayyy! What's in the box!!!!!!!!!!!! I bought an 86 brand new. 5.0 5sp. Air dam...Fun car.
This whole time I thought that dog was a statue! lol
Most 6 cylinder Mustangs with the automatic actually used the C5 transmission, a modernized C3.
“Echo and the Bunnymen” Nice! Good taste in music my friend!
Glad you found another hound to fill in for Lockjaw. I'm hoping it was a well-deserved day off for all his hard work and not a contract dispute. After seeing his replacement steal the show I'm sure he won't get any ideas.
why was the dog's head covered up in the first few minutes of the video????
My dad bought a 77 LTD landau with the same 15" spoked wheel covers. They were immediately stolen, he bought another set and they were stolen again. He bought a third set and kept them in the basement. After the popularity wore off I put them on my cars. Thanks for the memories. Those were expensive to manufacture.
My son acquired one of these in the late 90’s!
I want to say it was an 83 model, hatch back, but I could be mistaken!
It had a large bulbous rear window!
The man he Acquired it from was a ford Motorsports racing enthusiast !
He had originally built the car for his Daughter, however she could not safely master the operation of a clutch /manual transmission.
Not to mention the performance capabilities of the car, so he told my son when he purchased the car!
It was a beautiful car it was painted with a mother of pearl type paint job ,he had also added many modifications to the engine compartment, such as headers ,and various other aftermarket performance parts!
He also added a full aerodynamics package to the body of the car to make it more stable at higher speeds!
I had driven the car a few time it was great fun, but I never fully kicked it in the ass, so to speak! One day my son said, hey dad wanna go for a ride?
I said sure, why not!
We left the house he calmly drove to this highway that ran east and west near lake Sam Rayburn!
Then he laid into it!
It didn’t take long, and
we were doing 135 MPH ,according to the after market speedometer!
Then he shifted into fifth gear!
The RPM’s dropped to about 2900 and started to climb again we ran out of road before he could fully stretch it’s legs!
I was glad of it ,to be honest! We slowed down and did a tire smoking U-Turn and drove back to the house at a more reasonable speed!
He had this shit eating grin on his face, and asked what do you think? I said,I’ll let you know after I change my underwear, then we both just laughed!
I will never forget that car or that ride! He became a father to be,himself not too long after,and sold the car to one of his friends!
A very wise choice!😊
The Capri also has the louvers on the hood. You can get the tires at any tire shop they are the same size as the BMW's and cost less too.
I love your content and presentation Steve, but pup stole the show in this one.
The Capri name first appeared on a Lincoln of course but as other commentators mention the badge also appeared on the hardtop coupe version of the Consul Classic (Consul 315 in some markets) between 1961-1964 and occupied the same marketing and range slot as the Mk1 Capri proper. There was also an Australian Capri - a totally different animal based on the Mazda 323 and more like an MX5/Miata than anything else with a Capri badge....
I much preferred these capri over the mustang. As you pointed out the flared fenders, blacked out taillights and the bubble hatch as opposed the flat one on the Mustangs.
Great job! Like the cassette info and the inspection sticker barely able to provide information and it was a smoker car to include the original cigarette butts!!
Nice to see their 80's liquor glass handy on the console...
lol the dog needs his privacy!
Really enjoyed the video! I have a heavily upgraded 1984 Mercury RS Capri in my garage right now with a 347 stroker in it. My dad bought the car new in 84 and gave it to me in the early 90ies. 1984 was the only year that the foxbody Capri came with the tri-color red, orange and silver stripe package on it, and it could be had in several base colors with the Turbo RS being the only one that came in charcoal metallic grey. The RS version of the Capri was a very limited production car especially from 1983-1996 with most of those years having less then 4,000 RS/GS cars produced each year. Some years much less than that due to lack luster sales numbers and the negative reception the Capri was getting being called "an imitation Mustang" by the die-hard Mustang fans even though the Roush team was having great success with the "Capri" in Trans-Am Racing at the time. There were several collector Capri models that were also released during the production from 79-86 like the Capri Pace Car, Black Magic/White Magic Capri and the Crimson Cat that was a red-on-red car with custom graphics. The rarest Mercury Capri's were the ASC Mclaren Capri's that came in a Euro-coupe and surprisingly a convertible. Most of the ASC Mclaren cars had very limited production with 1984 being the least at 50 cars. The 1984 was the first year of production and 1986 was the last for the ASC Capri cars. Whenever I take my car out, it constantly turns heads and I have people come up all the time asking questions about the car and most people have never even seen one. The comment I get a lot from the people that do remember the Capri is "I don't remember this car being this cool!" It's amazing what a lowered stance and modern style wide rims can do for a car's looks! If you enter 1984 Mercury RS Capri in most search engines my car is usually in the first top ten images you see. There is not very many of them left, most ended up in the scrap yards back in the 1990s.
Holy crap there's an actual, living, breathing dog in your video this time!
Did you have him frozen next to Walt Disney's head until he could be brought back to life?
What no 9" in the rear? I kid, I kid.
Great video as always Steve 👍
YES Bring back Junkyard Gold and have a save this car competition every other episode.
My dad bought a 84 Capri svo turbo 5 spd I think it had 175 hp that year. He used to flip cars and one early Sunday morning at 5am I got up to go to the Pomona Swap meet looking for parts for my car back when I was 17 (1997) so I picked up a buddy and hit the freeway from LA to Pomona, at that time the only thing on the road was 57 chevys, 69 camaros, Mopars and Mustangs all headed to Pomona, I past them all like they were standing still... lol... well it was the fastest I ever got there. I had the speedo needle buried it only went to 85 and I past that in 3rd... well I maxed it out in 5th and went online that night to figure out the top speed.. internet said top speed of 135 so must of been a shock to all the American muscle with deep gears and no overdrive to get past at 5am by a 4cylinder Turbo Capri, none of them even tried to catch me! ;-)
😂😂😂 hahaha blurred out face 👍 cracks me up , ✌️🤙
The correct motor to get in the fox body Capri was the 5.0 v8. Those things were stomping the Firebirds and Camaros for a couple of years. Until GM decided to finally put tuned port 350’s in them.
They absolutely made a huge mistake canceling junkyard gold, and when they stopped letting you pick the roadkill cars, thay was the peak of roadkill!
My first car, that I bought, at 16yo was a 1980 Mustang Ghia. I drove the crap outta that car! It had the massive 255ci. I found out about that when I bought new plugs, wires, cap and rotor for the 302ci (because I was told that's what it had) The distributor cap was a good bit larger for the 302ci. That was a sad day but it didn't last long, I had a Mustang.
One thing I did that really woke that the car up was put true dual exhaust on it. It had 5 catalytic converters that was close to 20-40lbs each.
I did love the fender flares on the Capri. I don't know if anyone else has mentioned it but one way the Mercury was different from the Ford was the Capri had horizontal lines in the trim/parts and the Stang had vertical ones like the grill, the sail planes and the tail lights.
I loved that car. I probably put 200k miles on her before I traded it to my little brother and he drove it for about 3yrs
Awesome video Steve and Shane!
I put a 302 in a 1st gen Capri. It wasn't very difficult. I used an early Bronco oil pan and oil pickup tube. It looked stock when I got done.
Any relation to Jim Leibowitz?
I love my 73 Capri
Weird that there is a cassette in the glovebox when the dashboard radio appears to be an 8 track tape player.
They made adapters to go from 8 track to cassette and cassette to cd. I used to play my discman through my 8 track player back in the day.
I preferred the looks of the Capris over the Mustangs because of the hint of IMSA flares in the lines.
The Turbo RS was available not just in1979(9,503 units) and 1980(5,138units) but also in 1981(17 units) , 1983(381) and in 1984(1,321units). The bubble back started in 1983 not 1985...
My mom had a 1982 Capri Ghia. Bought it from the Lincoln-Mercury dealership I worked at, at that time.
It was two-tone Cordavan Brown with tan side panels. It was laid out with leather interior, sunroof and premium aluminum wheels. It also had the gutless 255 V-8. When it was new it was a really nice car. Kinda like a sporty Lincoln. Once it was a year old and out of 12,000 mile warranty, it quickly went to crap.
I remember the engine leaked oil from just about every possible place on that car. Multiple rear main seals failed. The transmission pissed all over the garage floor with the car constantly needing topped off with Type F. Then the big pot metal bracket that held the power steering pump, smog pump and alternator broke causing spectacular damage to the whole front of the engine bay area, hood and radiator. The car was totaled by the insurance company. Worst Ford we ever owned. And that's saying something.
Great Video Steve Blanking out the dogs face to protect his identity was price less! His agent would have been angery because you cant ID Him! The drivetrain was shared with the Mercury Merkuir the Mustang, TBird and Capri Non of them exactly hit the sales records Keep up the the great work Motor Trend management are idots they cant recognize Gold when they see it!
These are without a doubt, in the top twelve of auto channels.
For some reason the dog refuses to sign the release 😄
Great Video as always Steve.