When is a Mazda 323 not a Mazda 323? When it’s built in Australia, its roof gets chopped off and then a Mercury badge is slapped on its hood. Then, in that case, you have yourself a third-generation Mercury Capri.
Sometimes called the “Australian Miata” (at least according to t…
Calling this an Australian Miata is insulting to both Australians and Miatas.
RadBarchetta said:Calling this an Australian Miata is insulting to both Australians and Miatas.
I remember when both cars came out, one of the auto mags said something like "Do you really think there are any Miata owners looking at the Capri and thinking 'I should have bought that instead'?" 
Sure an NA/NB Miata will kick its butt in any kind of performance driving situation, but I think the turbo XR2 version is worth looking at if you just want something fun and cheap to drive around town. They are out there in decent shape, and they seem to really fly under the radar value-wise compared to some other stuff from that era.
In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :
If my requirements were cheap, convertible, and 2 seater....It's perfect. I mean I see them all of the time under 5K. Shoot there is a super clean one close to me for 6K with both tops and under 70K miles.
In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :
The XR2 is definitely on my radar now after writing this item up.
In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :
This one is not a turbo XR2, though.
Barely resisting urge to get pedantic about Capri's and generation defintions....
In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :
I don't mind at all if you get pedantic, I'd like to be as accurate as possible.
(And I'm genuinely curious, too.)
Honestly the generations thing doesn't work unless you're working inside a series of cars called Capri. Ignoring trim packages, like on the Ford Consul Capri and some Lincolns of the 50's, there's the mk1, mk2, and mk3 Ford Capri that are all based on mk1 Ford Ford Econobox / Cortina. mk2 and mk3 Capri's are very similar to each other, mk3 basically updating the front end sheet metal but most of the car is the same. Only the first few years of mk2's were sold in N. America, as Mercury's, and those were in low numbers. mk2's are kind of bland looking, mk3's look cool to me (never been near one in person), mk1's look like a mix of Mustang, Maverick, and a roof line vaguely like a 911. These were built in the UK, Belgium, Germany, S. Africa and maybe somewhere else from 1969 to 1987.
There's the "Fox" Capri that is basically a Fox Mustang with a Mercury badge and styling tweaks and has nothing to do with the mk1/2/3 cars. I don't know if a single part interchanges between the "real Capri" and these cars.
There's the car you linked to, which is heavily Mazda based, and is again its own thing with no technical relationship with the cars already mentioned. FWD! Australia! Bob Lutz! All combined to create a package far different from the above cars.
Apparently there's some weirdo Capri EV in Europe that just showed up with a roof like vaguely like a mk1 Capri but nobody seems happy about the reuse of the name and the thing looks kind of awful to me.
Here's a 1979 Ford Capri mk3, for reference;
In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :
Thank you for that insight.
And yeah, ICYMI, the Capri was brought back as a Volvo C40-esque EV SUV in Europe:
They kind of copied the C-pillar shape, poorly. Also they sort of got the mk3 headlights with the hooded look but that's also really loose. If they had made that into a five-door sedan then maybe but it's another jacked up thing when it doesn't need to be and would be better dynamically if it wasn't.
I don't think they're going to bring this car to the US anyway and if they do I don't see myself getting interested.
Something very strange is happening with my little essay on the versions. I didn't write "Econobox", I wrote "Ford Econobox". And I keep changing it and it keeps coming back as "Econobox". What's really strange is I changed the spacing around the word and that's staying but my edits to the actual word isn't.
I know I didn't write "Econobox" because that's not what I would call an Ford Econobox.
It's still doing this. What the duece is going on with this? I need an adult this is scary.
In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :
If you are referring to the Ford Es-cort, I think that's one of the funny filters on the board. The name es-cort is used in spam posts for ladies of negotiable affection, so the filter changes that to neuter the spam and provide some entertainment.
Hot Ford Econoboxs in your area now!
OK, I'll take the white Capri djronnebaum posted. I leave the red 'Capri' to someone, anyone, else.
Keith: Understood. That was annoying but I get it and will use different ways to describe that vehicle in the future.
Davy: If the right parts from various Mazdas and the aftermarket could be combined with one of those cars I think it could be nice to drive one. I've never been in one myself thought. In theory the right parts exist to build a 1.6 AWD turbo drivetrain using Mazda GTX bits but I don't know how flexible they are or how well the suspension can be made to work.
Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) said:RadBarchetta said:Calling this an Australian Miata is insulting to both Australians and Miatas.
I remember when both cars came out, one of the auto mags said something like "Do you really think there are any Miata owners looking at the Capri and thinking 'I should have bought that instead'?"
The little pinwheel bolted to the exhaust manifold on some Capris but not Miatas was a huge temptation, for sure.
pres589 (djronnebaum) said:Keith: Understood. That was annoying but I get it and will use different ways to describe that vehicle in the future.
Davy: If the right parts from various Mazdas and the aftermarket could be combined with one of those cars I think it could be nice to drive one. I've never been in one myself thought. In theory the right parts exist to build a 1.6 AWD turbo drivetrain using Mazda GTX bits but I don't know how flexible they are or how well the suspension can be made to work.
The GTX was weird up front. Off of vague memory, the control arms attached in part to the tub, not the front subframe, and the tub would develop stress cracks there.
I remember seeing it and thinking, THIS is what you came up with for Group A stage rally?
Pete. (l33t FS) said:Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) said:RadBarchetta said:Calling this an Australian Miata is insulting to both Australians and Miatas.
I remember when both cars came out, one of the auto mags said something like "Do you really think there are any Miata owners looking at the Capri and thinking 'I should have bought that instead'?"
The little pinwheel bolted to the exhaust manifold on some Capris but not Miatas was a huge temptation, for sure.
Didn't they make 132 hp? 10% heavier than a 1.6 Miata with 15% more power. Not THAT much of a temptation :) But they did provide a lot of spare engines for GTXs.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
As people from higher elevations like to remind me, that horsepower difference is at sea level. When you get up to places where the air is a lot thinner, the turbo assist gets a lot more tempting.
What really made me understand this was when a friend, who was living in Colorado Springs for a while, told me about the time he drove to the top of Pike's Peak with a 1.8l Impreza, a perfectly adequate device here at 800' elevation. It was -not- perfectly adequate there 
Hmm... did the B6T control boost by absolute pressure, or was it a strictly atmospheric-referenced wastegate with no control solenoids? I know they used mechanical controls for distributor timing, so now I wonder if they did in fact compensate for altitude or not.
I'll bet it was simple wastegate boost, which means it would fall off with altitude. I don't recall my GTX being terribly sophisticated.
I am familiar with the loss of power with altitude, I was trying to pass a truck with my 1.6 Miata at 10,000' a couple of months ago :) But that's a Colorado problem.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:pres589 (djronnebaum) said:Keith: Understood. That was annoying but I get it and will use different ways to describe that vehicle in the future.
Davy: If the right parts from various Mazdas and the aftermarket could be combined with one of those cars I think it could be nice to drive one. I've never been in one myself thought. In theory the right parts exist to build a 1.6 AWD turbo drivetrain using Mazda GTX bits but I don't know how flexible they are or how well the suspension can be made to work.
The GTX was weird up front. Off of vague memory, the control arms attached in part to the tub, not the front subframe, and the tub would develop stress cracks there.
I remember seeing it and thinking, THIS is what you came up with for Group A stage rally?
That doesn't sound great at all.
An MX-5 seems like the better car overall unless you just have to have a back seat, and there's other nicer options there as well. Ah well.
Good luck getting anything outside of engine parts for the fwd Capri.
I remember a long time ago, an important customer showed up at my office in a red Capri like in this article, and he said, "lets go to lunch".
There were 3 of us, and we could not refuse, so I got to fold myself up and "sit" in the back seat of the Capri.
That experience numbers in the top 10 worst rides ever.
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