any of you guys into Ford Capri's from the 70's ?

[rfuerst911sc]

One of my cars that gotta away from me was an early 70's Ford Capri . It was red with black interior and had a sweet little V6 engine . I really liked that car a lot and I'd sure like to have it back . Anyone else into these ? Back in the day there were a slew of aftermarket parts available as these were raced everywhere . Here's a link with pics for those of you that don't know what these are .


https://www.google.com/search?q=early+70%27s+ford+capri&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=aI_WYLSFO2UwDM%253A%252Ctms0XoCTo3mg3M%252C_&usg=__b4Fxi4ZT4pedogqwmVD43Dg2S9g%3D&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjU_t2S4fXYAhVQq1MKHTknCjQQ9QEIKzAA#imgr c=aI_WYLSFO2UwDM:

[stomachmonkey]

My brother had one. A 72 or 74 IIRC

Hella fun little car and went like stink.

Pulling the front chrome and running bumperettes and chin spoiler made a huge improvement in appearance.

[legion]

They were the same as Mustangs from that era, no?

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by legion

They were the same as Mustangs from that era, no?

2nd gen, 79' on were.

1st gen shared little to nothing with the Mustang.

[Dixie]

Early Capris had nothing in common with the Mustang. Ihad a 76 in my youth. 2.8l, 60 degree V6, manual trans. I'd rank it as one of the five most fun cars owned.

[BeyGon]

I always thought they were Mazdas.

[T77911S]

i thought you were talking about pants.

[Norm K]

Owned a `72 and a `74 in the early eighties and have thought about getting another because of how much I enjoyed each one. Finding a clean example is a challenge these days though ...

_

[Seahawk]

We had a 1973. The few times my father let me us it, I had a ball!

Really a great car for that era.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Capt. Carrera

...

Buddy of mine had a red one all through college....never changed the oil, just added a quart every fillup...it was dubbed the "Capris of Schit" . Myrtle Beach trip, Easter weekend....driver's hand out the window wiping the rain off (no left wiper), me in the passenger seat (none, sitting on a cooler full of beer), more cases in the back....good times

Another college bud had one in slightly better condition...

[tevake]

Yep I always thought they were nice little cars. My sister had a couple of them and still riminises about them.

Now let's all Drop the subject, so not ti start a runup in cost.

Cheers Richard

[Chocaholic]

I had a brown 74 Mercury Capri in my youth. 4 speed and as a I recall, 4 cyl. Some fond memories in that car resulting in steamed windows on several occasions. Youth is wasted on the young!

[TRE Cup]

They were a favorite of our Mulholland racing buds in the mid seventies. 7 x 13 Libres with race slicks, lose the big bumpers, install an Interpart suspensions kit (Brock's trick set up), a race seat and they really went.

The factory in Cologne even built an RS version for Yurup . 2.6 mfi motor, chin whisker front bumpers, lowered suspension, race style seats, other goodies in the effort to homologate them like the 911 2.7RS.

The V6 was torquey, but not a lot of beans compared to similar weight 389/302 V-8s (which some figured out would fit just fine)
In South Africa, the car was very popular and Olthoff built a small run of V8 powered ones called Pirana. I think one of them won a big African Rally too.

Hard to find these days as rust and neglect have claimed the majority of them.

did you know that NASA race group was originally the Capri club out of Nor Cal ?

[dlockhart]

[speeder]

In the early '70s, I was in JHS and would amuse myself by watching the HS dudes have burnout contests w their parent's cars. The usual winner was a '64 Buick Wildcat w 425 nailhead V-8 until someone showed up one day w a borrowed, (stolen?), V-6 4-speed Capri. They melted the tires on that thing.

I'll never forget the day that the kid w his mom's Buick blew up the differential right in the street doing a particularly aggressive brake stand. How he 'splained that to parents is a mystery for the ages. Especially when the tow truck picked it up from a sea of black stripes on the road.

But I digress...fun cars, I'm sure.

[asphaltgambler]

Mine was a '76- Ghia that was highly optioned but for the 2.3 4cyl. It was my first attempt as a drag / street racer to modify a German( Ford) car to go 'round corners. After extensive work and time - I became bored and in this pic - posted for sale.

The 2.3 was enlarged 0.60, I installed a turbo head, a Chet Herbert cam, Holley carb on Offenhouser intake with stainless header. The hood scoop is off of a current (then) GT moostang

This pic is circa 1983 or so....

[Flat Six]

Originally Posted by KC911

Buddy of mine had a red one all through college....never changed the oil, just added a quart every fillup...it was dubbed the "Capris of Schit" . Myrtle Beach trip, Easter weekend....driver's hand out the window wiping the rain off (no left wiper), me in the passenger seat (none, sitting on a cooler full of beer), more cases in the back....good times

Another college bud had one in slightly better condition...

I had a red '78, 2.8 V6 4 speed. Great fun. I remember the horn 'button' was actually the end of the turn signal stalk; push it in toward the steering column to honk the horn.

I also recall getting on the freeway (westbound I-8 in San Diego), executing a 1-2 shift, and having the stick come off in my hand -- shaft broke. Drove home (~45 miles) in 2nd gear. Parts guy at the Mercury dealership said, "yeah, that happens all the time" and had an updated replacement in stock. Apparently the shaft was thin & would fatigue near the shifter housing & eventually snap (as I found out). Replacement was about 1.5x thicker on the bottom 1/3 of the shaft. SMH.

[Halm]

Originally Posted by Flat Six

I also recall getting on the freeway (westbound I-8 in San Diego), executing a 1-2 shift, and having the stick come off in my hand -- shaft broke. Drove home (~45 miles) in 2nd gear. Parts guy at the Mercury dealership said, "yeah, that happens all the time"

Have the exact same thing happen to me in my shiny new 1974 Pinto station wagon.

[gtc]

My cousin has a bunch of them.
One with a V6 out of an Explorer that will spin the tires in third gear. Another with a turbo V6.
I see their appeal, but unfortunately I find them pretty ugly.

[Tobra]

Friend of mine had one that he swapped a 302 into. Quickest car I ever rode in. Ran away from a 930 on the freeway, just left him.