FORD CAPRI 1989-94
BUILT IN OZ, THE CAPRI'S PRIMARY MARKET WAS YOUNG TRENDY BUYERS IN NORTH AMERICA
Australia during its many years as a car-building nation produced a lot of sports cars. However it wasn’t until Ford announced its Laser-based Capri that any had come from a major manufacturer. The decision to build a soft-top was taken against a background of export cooperation with Lincoln-Mercury in the USA. While Ford hoped for decent sales here, the Capri’s primary target was young, trendy buyers in North America.
The shape chosen for the Capri dated back six years to a design exercise called the Barchetta. That name would be rekindled in 1993 when Ford had a stab at getting a much improved Capri into the market.
First up in the SA Capri range was the stock 1.6-litre car with 61kW. Above it sat the Turbo with 100kW and hugely entertaining levels of wheel-spin and torque steer. Even in later cars with power steering the wheel would jiggle under full acceleration.
Quality was the real issue. The Capri had come to market sooner than was probably advisable and while Ford’s Sydney assembly plant did a pretty good job on Lasers it fell down badly with the Capri. Lots of rattles and poor panel fit were exacerbated by an appalling convertible top design that let water in everywhere. It was said that even the hardtops leaked.
Cars for the USA were built in LHD but delayed reaching their destination due to the need to engineer them for air-bags. Eventually more than 55,000 cars would be exported but even that number was insufficient to save the project.
Ford worked constantly to improve the Capri and in 1992 an upgraded XR2 joined the range. It offered a revised twin-cam engine that in non-turbo form sent power from 61kW to 77kW. The package included alloy wheels, power windows and mirrors and a cute little boot spoiler that had no practical purpose at all.
The SE version released a year later added an expanded range of colours, cruise control and central locking. Although engineered to include air-bags in its US models, Ford never offered this feature on local Capris.
Once Ford’s Tickford performance division took over chassis development, improvements came rapidly. However the Clubsprint and its Turbo stablemate arrived too late and sold in numbers too limited to save the model from oblivion.
The last and best Capris had their suspension lowered 25mm, with new spring and damper rates that really helped the handling. Performance from the turbocharged Clubsprint was fun rather than neck snapping, with 0-100km/h taking 8.9 seconds.
MARKET REVIEW
The Capri is without doubt the cheapest proper ‘classic’ convertible in our market and world-wide as well. Cars in OK condition can cost less than $2500 and if you’ve got $5000 to spend, an early Turbo is right in the frame. If you can, budget an extra $500 to fund a hardtop for your early Capri.
Total production of more than 66,000 cars suggests there should be plenty of available, however only 9800 of those cars remained in Australia.
XR2s without the turbocharger offer probably the best mix of low cost, performance and features. They also have the edge in practicality with a proper luggage platform behind the seats. They can also be found with air-conditioning for very little difference in price to a non-a/c car.
For longer-term ownership and collectability, consider a Clubsprint. They are scarce (only 400 made), distinctive in appearance and prices typically below $12,000 are low for any kind of usable, low-volume convertible.