Rusty But Trusty

Among affordable sports coupes of the 1970s available in North America, there can’t be many remaining with a better aftermarket than the Capri. Yes, you might have to brush up on your British English or German, but once you’ve got that down, you’ll be reaching two countries with big fan bases for these cars. And indeed, the Capri had (and still has) a cult fan base in North America. Check out this 1973 Mercury Capri for sale for $3500 in Sandy, OR.

The car looks nice and complete, and the slotted alloys are a nice period upgrade, while daytime pictures don’t show an awful amount of rust. The NO FEAR stickers need to go – what is the seller so proud to be unafraid of? Rust? Breaking down by the side of the road? Sourcing parts from Europe? Notice the plastic cover filling the gap between the body and the extended-bracket 1973 bumpers.

Keep your razor blade handy, because there’s another sticker you’ll want to scrape from the back window. The coffee can exhaust needs help, and the rear fender and bumper tip on the driver’s side need attention – perhaps this is some of why he’s had to drop the price from his original $4900 ask. Surface rust is also present on the sunroof panel.

For some reason, various engine parts seem to have had an unfortunate incident with a can of neon yellow spray paint, but the engine is said to be rebuilt. The car is said to need a new alternator, but other than that things look to be in decent driver condition here. You’ll also want to find something more solid than a bungee cord to hold the battery down. Hopefully, the rebuilt engine will contribute to making this a drivable project – the seller is selling it because he doesn’t really need two cars.

The interior is, uh, ripe with opportunity – get rid of the 1970s hot rod steering wheel, the modern shift knob, and do some cleaning and you’re already halfway there. Front seats have been upgraded to something Recaro-looking, while the rears will need repair to the top of the backrest. Unfortunately, the windshield shows pretty extensive cracking, though it shouldn’t impede your view while you look for a new one. Rear-wheel-drive, four cylinders, and most parts readily available – head over with an open, negotiating mindset and see if you can’t bring this one home.

Tags: american, capri, coupe, Feature, ford, german, mercury

This entry was posted on February 3, 2016 at 2:00 pm and is filed under Feature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.