Aussie Capri??

01-01-2006, 12:21 AM

Here I am in England looking to buy a Capri for my daughter when I discover that Ford sold a Capri in Australia????
Is it anything like the car we had back here?
Anyone got some pictures / info they could email please?
Can you direct me to other sites?

Cheers - and Happy New Year!
Bart

brenx · 01-01-2006, 02:20 AM

See here -> http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=24965

outback_ute · 01-01-2006, 11:09 PM

That is the old Capri which is what they are familiar with in England...

The Australian Capri was developed in the late 80's from the Ford Laser/Mazda 323 platform, they are fwd with a 1.6 Mazda engine - a turbo model was available too. They have a small rear seat which is uncommon amongst the small sportscars it competed against.

The cars were also exported to the US where they were sold as the Mercury Capri. They didn't set the world on fire for sales, the Mercury dealers weren't used to selling or marketing sportscars (Mercury would be comparable to Rover in days gone by in the UK).

In Oz, the first type of convertible roof wasn't perfect (not suprisingly) and the local current affairs tv shows (tabloid style) gave it a caning. By that stage there had been a few running changes and any owner affected got a new roof but the damage to the cars reputation was done. Later there was a "Clubsprint" model developed with Tickford (a coincidence given their connection to the Capri in the UK!).

Here is a good website on the car I was able to find, it covers the cars development & the different models. Have a look under the "Articles" tab.
http://www.pcug.org.au/~jcarroll/capri/capri!f.htm

Brock071 · 02-01-2006, 02:36 PM

G'day Bart,

Go to www.capricarclub.org.au and you'll find all you need to know about Capri's sold in Australia.

It covers the Mark 1 UK version sold here between 1969 and 1973, the RS3100, 50 of which were sold here in 1974 and the much later Aussie built Capri Convertible sold here from 1989 to 1994.

Sadly for us, we never did have the Mark 2 or 3 Capri's here in Australia except for 6 Mark 2s imported by Ford to test the water and a few personal imports of the Mark 2 and 3.

We still have many Mark 1s on the road out here as we don't have the rust problems which you would have encountered back home with the salt on the roads to help quell the snow and ice!

Good hunting! Terry

caprispecial · 05-01-2006, 05:57 PM

Hello barty yes the mk 1 capri was sold here (69 to 73). There are a few nice ones for sale at the moment. Try this site.....HOT-ESCORT dot NET Its mainly an escort site but there are some nice capris there. Regards ron.

outback_ute · 06-01-2006, 10:59 AM

I was looking up my old magazines for some info the other night and came across a test between the Mazda MX5 and Capri XR2 turbo from mid 1993. The MX5 was the limited edition Classic with leather trim, CD stereo with speakers in the headrest and cost $40k compared with $35k for the standard car while the Capri cost $29k. Of course the MX5 was given the nod as a better sports car, but the summary at the end I thought summed up the Capri perfectly: competent front wheel drive chassis, sufficiently exciting performance, rear seat, roomy boot with ski port, good equipment levels and $11,000 less than the Mazda. The standard MX5 had far less equipment than the Capri. It was a lot faster than the MX5 in a straight line, I will have to get the times but the power difference was 85kW vs 100kW not to mention the turbo torque advantage.

10-01-2006, 02:41 AM

The Capri was the first Tickford modified Aussie built Ford...

There is a bit of a speal about the clubsprint on the FPV site...
http://www.fpv.com.au/index.asp?link_id=4.123

In Brief- Ford Australia started manufacturing them in 1988 and ceased in 1994... The body was designed by ghia... It was called the barchetta (apparently means little boat in italian) was mounted on a mazda 323 floor pan... As for the back seat... Market research showed the American consumer insisted the car have a back seat for the kids... The main objective was the American market... And they did out sell the miata/ mx5 for some time there.

Anything else just ask?

outback_ute · 11-01-2006, 01:41 AM

Performance data from road test, Wheels magazine Jul 1993

Power Capri 100kW @ 6000rpm, MX5 85kW @ 6500rpm
Torque Capri 184Nm @ 3000rpm, MX5 130Nm @ 5500rpm
Weight Capri 1131kg, MX5 955kg
0-60km/h Capri 4.1sec, MX5 4.2sec.
0-80km/h Capri 6.1sec, MX5 6.8sec.
0-100km/h Capri 9.2sec, MX5 10.5sec.
0-140km/h Capri 19.5sec, MX5 24.5sec.
0-400m Capri 16.6 @ 132.8km/h (81.0mph), MX5 17.2 @ 124.0km/h (75.7mph)
80-110km/h 3rd/4th/5th gear Capri 4.9/7.0/9.9sec, MX5 5.6/8.2/13.4sec
Claimed top speed Capri 193km/h (118mph), MX5 185km/h (113mph)
Average fuel consumption on test Capri 9.4L/100km (30.1mpg), MX5 9.6L/100km (29.4mpg)