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This Capri XR2 is Mercury's Long Forgotten Convertible Sports Car, Now for Sale

In Europe, the Ford Capri name is almost as iconic as the Mustang is in the States. So to say, a sort of everyman's car with some real hooligan potential hidden inside. But in These States United, the Capri was somewhat of a throwaway moniker. Constantly being overshadowed by more well-established domestic vehicles.
Mercury Capri 7 photos
Photo: Auto Trader Private Seller
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But that doesn't mean the Mercury Capri in its USDM spec doesn't have the potential to be a neat little find on the used market. This particular example from 1991 is for sale via a private party in Hollsopple, Pennsylvania. It appears to have staved off 30 years worth of weather, abuse, and the elements.

Designed to compete with the likes of the Toyota MR2 and the Mazda MX-5, the Capri was the kind of car you could argue never had a hope in heck of competing. It was slow and had vague and anemic handling compared to the precision instruments that were the MR-2 and MX-5.

This explains why those two sold in enormous numbers for 20 years or more while the third-generation Capri faded into obscurity. Sadly to say, the accountants and bureaucrats in charge of Ford in the day made it next to impossible to build a cheap sports car to the same standard as JDM imports. Still, that's not to say this one doesn't have its good virtues.

Powering this 1991 Capri is a turbocharged variant of a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine dubbed the B6T. Though this engine was most often paired with 4WD drivetrain configurations, the third generation Mercury Capri represents a change of pace not often associated with this engine, as it's most famous for its use in the 1985 to 1989 Ford Laser TX3 in Japan and Oceania.

In this instance, this engine is paired with a five-speed manual transmission with front-wheel-drive that at the very most mimics the layout of the MX-5 to a just about serviceable degree. With around 67,000 miles (107,826 km) on the odometer and still rocking the original paint, alloy wheels, interior, and convertible hard top, there's every reason to believe this is a package at least worth going out and taking a look at if you absolutely must have a convertible in your life this summer and aren't willing to stoop low enough to buy a Geo Metro.

That's why the asking price of this long-forgotten American drop-top had our collective jaws hitting the floor. At an asking price of just $4,000 out the door, this Capri is substantially less expensive than an MX-5 of the same equivalent model year. In short, it allows you to scratch your drop-top fix without breaking the bank in the process. In this regard, this Capri might be even more useful than it was three decades ago.
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