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Ford moved the Mustang to the then-new Fox platform for the 1979 model year and, at the same time, Mercury introduced the second-generation Capri as a Mustang with a posh interior that was more expensive but, mechanically, almost identical. The cream of the crop were the Capris modified by ASC and McLaren between 1984 and 1986 and, with only 933 Capris ever updated to ASC/McLaren specification, they are particularly rare and hard to find. This one you see here was offered on Craigslist and is said to be one of just 257 units converted in 1985 and one of just 94 originally painted in Oxford White that year.
In the ’70s, if you wanted to try out Ford Cologne’s attempt at building a Mustang for the European market but you didn’t live in Europe, you got yourself a Mercury Capri. As a $2,300 (in 1970) economical sports coupe, the original Capri was what’s known as a ’captive import’ – a car made outside of the U.S. borders but sold Stateside under a different badge while not carrying any divisional identification. In ’72, the Mercury Capri became the first car sold by a Ford-owned brand in the U.S. to feature a V-6 as Mercury introduced a version powered by the 2.6-liter Cologne V-6 engine. In 1976, Mercury followed in the footsteps of the Europeans and started selling the Mark II Capri but the drivetrain remained common with the Ford Pinto, Ford Mustang II, and Mercury Bobcat. The ties between the Capri and the Mustang became closer three years later when the Capri returned on the market as a sports car based on the Fox platform. This is where the story of this car begins in earnest.
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