Fordnatics List Archive

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Mail From: "Anderson, Thomas L (Tommy)" <(email redacted)>



Last week someone asked for some specs on the German Ford
Capri (actually Mercury Capri to U.S. buyers). I'm running about a
week behind in everything these days, so I hope it's not too late for
the person who was looking for the information.

According to the March 1976 Car & Driver reprint article that
Mercury dealers were giving out (the Capri "S" was tested) to
prospective buyers (it helped sell me, they also were giving out
reprints of a 1975 Road & Track test which I still have, also)
horsepower was 109bhp @ 4800 RPM, torque was 146ft-lbs @
3000 RPM. Not exactly a powerhouse by today's standards, but
they did alright. It managed to stomp a '75 Buick Skyhawk (Auto.),
a VW Scirroco, and was just barely beat out by a Cosworth V*ga
in the quarter mile by about 2 tenths of a second. Zero to 60 was
given at 10.3 seconds and top speed was put at 113 mph. But they
could be easily tweaked to do more. With mild engine mods (cam,
carb, etc,) I've seen mine on 125 mph before the speedometer
broke... [. I estimated when it was as it's peak, the quarter mile
time would have been in the high 16's judging from other cars I
knew I could hang with or beat.

The original writer mentioned he was looking for a 2.8 injection
Capri. Sad to say these were never imported into the U.S. , but
they could flex a bit more muscle. According to "Capri Muscle Cars"
(Brooklands Books) quarter mile time was 16.2 seconds and 0 to 60
came up in 7.9 seconds. Horsepower was 160bhp (DIN) @ 5700 rpm
and torque was 162 ft-lbs @ 4200 rpm. In the particular test of Autocar
Magazine June 1981, the 2.8 Injection Capri consistantly beat the
likes of Porche 924, Mazda RX7, Audi Coupe, Lancia Beta HPE 2000,
and Datsun 280ZX 2+2 (which was slowest of the bunch, dog meat !)
in quarter mile times and top speed. Top speed was put at 127 for the
Capri 2.8i. The article says "with gutsy performance for tolerable
economy it has to be the Ford" !!

On that same vein, I saw in Super Ford where a Brittish Museum
has been established for Fords sold in the U.K. Among them will
be the last Capri ever produced. It was an experimental Furgeson
4-wheel drive prototype. That combination (if it had a turbo) would
be about the only car that could pry my stiff, white-knuckle hands off
of my 5.0 Mustang !! So much for vaporware... Fords Forever...!

Tommy Anderson
(email redacted)

1977 Mercury Capri II 2.8
1978 Ford Ranchero GT 351W
1983 Thunderbird 302
1989 Mustang GT 25TH Aniv. Ed.