Rummaging through corporate archives always has the special charm of a grab bag. After all, you never know what you might find. Take the recent search for historical photos at Ford.
Under the keyword "Capri", not only did the well-known sports car from 1969 to 1986 suddenly appear, but also a completely different Capri. We're not talking about the over two-tonne electric SUV called Capri , which football legend Eric Cantona tries so hard to make look cool in commercials. We're talking about an estate with the beautiful name Mercury Capri Ghia Station Wagon from 1972, which you can see above.
And you're probably thinking: but that's the Taunus TC Turnier that we had between 1970 and 1975. Correct, and yet there was once a Capri estate. But probably not in series production, at least you won't find a sales brochure with it.
Gallery: Mercury Capri and Capri Station Wagon (1971-1979) The first generation Ford Capri was launched in Europe in early 1969 (and designed by Ford of Britain using locally sourced components from the Cortina MkII and Escort, with plans dating back to 1964 when development of a European variant of the Mustang began) and marketed by the Lincoln-Mercury division from April 1970. Although it was marketed as part of the Mercury model line, the Capri did not carry a brand name, just the word "Capri" on the bonnet. Priced at $2,300 at the time of its introduction, the Capri was marketed as an inexpensive, sporty coupe (with no upscale trim levels, unlike its European-market variants such as the GT, RS, L, XL and XLR) that was far smaller than the Mercury Cougar and Montego.
In adapting to the American market, the Capri underwent some minor revisions, with the Ford Capri's two rectangular headlights being replaced by four round headlights (as on some upmarket European-market Capri models, such as the RS or GT - the rectangular lighting did not comply with regulations), as well as grille-mounted turn signals and side marker lights; Rostyle wheels were standard equipment. Mercury Capri (1971) Originally powered by a 1.6-litre Kent Crossflow four-cylinder engine, the North American Capri received a 2.
0-litre OHC four-cylinder in 1971. As an option, Mercury introduced a 2.6-litre Cologne V6 in 1972, making it the first vehicle offered by Ford Motor Company on the American market with a V6 engine.
For 1974, the V6 engine was increased to 2.8 litres as Ford redesigned the castings for both the engine block and cylinder heads. For 1973, the front bumper was redesigned to meet the 5 mph (8 km/h) bumper standard.
The previous chrome bumper was reinforced with a steel tube and attached to the frame with shock absorbers (which lengthened the body by several centimetres). In the course of these changes, the radiator grille, the rear lights and the rear mouldings of the Capri were also modified. As part of a redesign of the interior, the Capri received a new steering wheel, a new dashboard and seat panelling as well as a redesigned wiring harness.
Fat 5-mph bumpers were fitted at the front and rear for 1974. Mercury Capri (1977, Canada) A Mercury version of the Ford Mustang II called the Capri (a proposal that used the Mustang II's 2+2 body with a rounded rear quarter window and distinctive body shape) was briefly considered, but strong sales of the European Capri as a captive import dropped those plans. After the 1977 model year, Lincoln-Mercury stopped importing the Capri II from Ford of Europe, with unsold examples still being disposed of in the 1978 model year.
In total, a whopping 513,500 Capri/Capri IIs were sold by Lincoln-Mercury from 1970 to 1978. At its peak, annual Capri sales in North America were the highest of any import vehicle (with the exception of the Volkswagen Beetle ). From 1979, the Mercury Capri was based on the new Fox-body Mustang .
In the model years 1991 to 1994, Mercury sold the Ford Capri roadster designed and produced by the Australian Ford branch in the USA as the Mercury Capri. This front-wheel drive Mazda MX-5 competitor had a 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine that produced 101 PS in the naturally aspirated version and 134 PS in the turbocharged version.
Mercury Capri (1979, Canada) Mercury Capri (1990-1994) And what about the Taunus Turnier alias Mercury Capri Ghia Station Wagon? Well, the caption from the archive notes the abbreviation CN, apparently the vehicle was offered in Canada. The most logical explanation is that in 1970, the Falcon was dropped from Ford's North American programme as an entry-level model and replaced by the Maverick. However, unlike the Falcon, this was not available as a station wagon.
Incidentally, the Maverick's Mercury sister model was the Comet. From 1977, the Ford Fairmont and the Mercury Zephyr followed, both of which were again available as estate cars. It is possible that the import of the Taunus Turnier, which was compact by North American standards, was considered, especially with GM in mind.
More curiosities of car history: After all, General Motors took a similar approach in the first half of the 1970s. From October 1970 to July 1975, the Ascona A and Manta A were also sold in the USA under the names "Opel 1900" and "Opel 1900 Sport Coupé" (model years 1971/72), and from model year 1973 "Opel Manta" via Buick. Here there was a three-door estate called "Sportwagon".
All models were powered by Opel's 1.9-litre four-cylinder engine, which produced 76 PS with a compression ratio of 7.6:1; for the 1975 model year, it was fitted with Bosch fuel injection, giving it 82 PS.
Around 170,000 of the 1900 series (Ascona and Manta) were sold in the USA..
