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Mercury Capri Ii 1976 Rare Survivor Unmodified Hatchback V-6 4 Speed on 2040-cars

Year:1976 Mileage:60000
Location:

Trabuco Canyon, California, United States

Trabuco Canyon, California, United States
Advertising:

It is with a heavy heart that I list this item.  My first car was a brand-new, 1976 Mercury Capri II (identical to this one, only a different color) that was purchased by my family in late 1975.  It was the first new My family purchased since I was born.  Ten years later the car was passed to me and was the first car I ever owned.  Being young, naive etc, the car was destroyed within a few years and sent to a scrap yard.

Since 1990, I began looking for another Capri, just like the one I had, and in 2005, located this one.  It was a one-owner car, being sold by the elderly owner as he was not longer able to drive a manual, non-power steering vehicle.  The car needed a paint job, tires etc. The body was straight, the car hadn't been modified nor altered.  I had the Capri shipped to me in California and have owned it since.  The car had 50,000 original miles and I've put 10,000 on it since.  It's been used to commute to my work for the last 8 years.

Having another Capri ended my grieving over my first one, and driving it has brought me countless hours of enjoyment.  Unfortunately, due to the naive, blind, foolish, envious and malicious elements of society, my health-insurance is in jeopardy.  Because my family comes first, the car must be sacrificed to ensure our health-coverage continues.  

This car means a lot to me, however I believe it's time to "bequeath" it to another owner who can appreciate this car and its engineering prowess.  I do not want to sell it to someone who is indirectly responsible for my healthcare jeopardies, and the ruination of this great nation.  I do not want it to go to a foolish "hot rodder" type who wants to modify, alter, "upgrade" or otherwise ruin a perfectly good car.  If you are either of these two, please do not bid.

That having been said, here's a primer on the Capri;  In the mid to late 1960s, Ford of Europe wanted a European-market Mustang.  The phenomenal sales of the Ford Mustang in the U.S. sparked interest in a similar car that would appeal to Europeans.  The Capri debuted in 1969 and enjoyed similar success on the other side of the Atlantic.  Small number of Capris were imported to the U.S, however since Ford didn't want Pinto sales to suffer, badged the Capris as Mercury, so they would be shown in Lincoln-Mercury showrooms, and not parked next to the dowdy and homely Pinto.  The cars were a sales success on both continents.  Most Capris were made at the historic Ford plant in Cologne Germany.  Those Capris destined for the U.K. market were produced in England.  The German-made Capris were made of better materials and thus have survived longer.

In 1974, a new version of the Capri was designed, the "Capri II."  Unlike the original sedan, this was a larger, better-engineered hatchback, with a superior engine (2.8 Liter, 60 Degree "Cologne V-6).  There was no 1975 model year Capri and 1976 was the first year for the Capri II.  Sales of the car were high and the vehicle was well-received by the automobile press.  In early 1977, a naive, national leader was sworn in and like today, the country began an economic, social and moral decline.  As a result, the U.S. dollar lost value against the Deutsche Mark and the cost to import the car became prohibitively high.  Also, a naive simpleton formed the EPA and the automotive emission scheme led to the near-downfall of American-made car performance.  These wrong-headed and malicious moves imposed unreasonable conditions on cars imported to the U.S.  As a result, 1977 was the last year Capris were imported to the U.S.  The Capri continued to thrive in Europe until 1987.

It is estimated that only 20,000 Capris were brought tot the United States.  This Capri is probably one of only several-thousand Capris still in existence.

This car has to be driven to be appreciated.  It will available for inspection, weeknights after 6 and weekends between 10 and 6.  I will answer all inquiries as best I can.  My work schedule is hectic and I have limited internet access during work.

I've been on ebay for over fifteen years and am familiar with how things work.  I've have many great  experiences and made a few friends as a result, unfortunately, I've dealt with many fraudsters, deadbeats and game-players.  As a result, I require that you contact me first if you've never bought from me.  If you bid before contacting me, the bid will be cancelled.


On Jan-23-14 at 13:47:11 PST, seller added the following information:

I HAVE ALL SERVICE RECORDS SINCE I PURCHASED IT.  IT WAS REPAINTED ABOUT 2006 IN THE ORIGINAL COLOR.  WILL POST MORE PHOTOS THIS WEEKEND.

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Junkyard Gem: 1992 Mercury Grand Marquis LS

Thu, Nov 24 2022

We've all been seeing the instantly familiar Ford Crown Victoria P71 Police Interceptor on North American roads for what seems like forever, though in fact the very first of the aerodynamic Crown Vics didn't appear until a mere 31 years ago. Yes, after more than a decade of boxy LTD Crown Victorias, Dearborn took the late-1970s-vintage Panther platform and added a brand-new, Taurus-influenced smooth body and modern overhead-cam V8 engine, giving us the 1992 Ford Crown Victoria. The rule was, since 1939, that (nearly) every Ford model needed a corresponding Mercury, and so the Mercury Division applied different grille and taillights and the rejuvenated Grand Marquis was born. Here's one of the first of those cars to be built, now residing in a Denver-area self-service boneyard. The Marquis name goes respectably far back, to the late 1960s and a Mercurized version of the Ford LTD hardtop. The Grand Marquis began life as the name for an interior trim package on the 1974 Marquis Brougham (also LTD-based), eventually becoming a model in its own right for the 1979 model year. Today's Junkyard Gem came off the Ontario assembly line in March 1991, making one of the very first examples built. For 1992 (and through 2011), the Grand Marquis was a Crown Victoria with slightly enhanced bragging rights. This one has the top-grade LS trim, with an MSRP of $20,644 (that's about $44,370 in inflation-adjusted 2022 dollars). The corresponding Ford-badged model (built on the same assembly line by the same workers) would have been the Crown Victoria LX, which actually cost a bit more: $20,987 ($44,910 now). The very cheapest civilian 1992 Crown Vic cost just $19,563 ($42,045 today). There weren't any powertrain differences between the Crown Victoria and Grand Marquis in 1992. The only engine available was this Modular 4.6 SOHC V8, rated at either 190 (single exhaust) or 210 (dual exhaust) horsepower. The transmission was a four-speed automatic with overdrive. How many miles are on this one? Can't say! Based on the worn-out interior, I'm going to guess 221,719 miles passed beneath this car's wheels during its 32-plus years on the road. I've seen some very high-mile Police Interceptors, of course, including one with 412,013 miles, but Ford didn't go to six-digit odometers in the Grand Marquis until a bit deeper into the 1990s. Thanks to flawed speech-to-text applications on smartphones, the Grand Marquis is known as the "Grandma Keith" to many of us today.

Junkyard Gem: 1977 Mercury Bobcat

Tue, Sep 4 2018

Cultural memory of the Ford Pinto, 38 years after the last new ones were sold, boils down to one thing today: the notorious "exploding Pinto" stories of the late 1970s. Yes, many Pinto jokes were told, the resale value of Pintos crashed, and few paid any attention to the fact that most of the cars sold with the fuel tank between the rear axle and the bumper — that is, just about every Detroit car made during the era — suffered from the same weakness. The Mercury version of the Pinto was badged as the Bobcat, but nobody told Bobcat jokes. Here's a '77 Mercury Bobcat 3-Door in vivid Medium Jade paint, spotted in a Denver self-service yard. The Pinto with glass rear hatch was known as the Pinto Runabout in 1977, while Mercury called this car the " Bobcat 3-door with Glass Third Door." When a car sits for years or decades in High Plains Colorado, rodents tend to nest in it. This Bobcat's air cleaner made a cozy home for our Hantavirus-carrying friends. The 1970s were the last gasp for eye-searingly green vinyl car interiors. Since the Bobcat was a luxed-up Pinto, the door panels have shinier trim than what you'd have had in a proletariat-grade Pinto. Pinto/Bobcat transmission choices boiled down to two: a four-speed manual or a three-speed automatic. Unusually for a Malaise Era Mercury, this one has the manual. Most Pintos and Bobcats came with four-cylinder engines, ranging from the 1.6-liter pushrod Kent to the 2.3-liter engine that lived on for many post-Pinto years in Ford Rangers. This car has the 2.3, rated at 89 horsepower, but the same 2.8-liter Cologne V6 that powered the Capri was available as an option in the Bobcat. That engine made a mighty 93 horsepower. These cars were not too miserable to drive by econobox standards of their time, at least when they had three pedals. You'd blow the doors off a '77 Corolla with a 4-speed Bobcat in a drag race, though the Corolla got better fuel economy. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Gives you hundreds of pounds more car than most small imports and includes standard self-adjusting rear brakes! Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Featured Gallery Junked 1979 Mercury Bobcat View 15 Photos Auto News Mercury Automotive History ford pinto bobcat

Ford Recalling 70k Escape and Mariner Hybrids for cooling issue

Fri, 12 Sep 2014

Ford is recalling about 70,209 examples of the 2005-2008 Ford Escape Hybrid and the 2006-2008 Mercury Mariner Hybrid because the cooling pumps for their hybrid systems could fail.
According to the company's defect notice, it's possible for the original "Motor Electronics Coolant (MEC) Pump" to wear out and fail, which would could cause the hybrid system to overheat. If this happens, the vehicle goes into a safety mode that takes away most or all of its power. However, braking and steering still operate normally. After cooling down, the affected models restart normally. The company says that it's not aware of any accidents or injuries related to this problem.
Ford will begin repairing the vehicles in late October, and dealers will be installing improved, brushless pumps on the affected models at no charge to owners. If drivers had their pumps fail before this recall, they can contact Ford for a possible reimbursement. Scroll down to read the recall announcement from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or download the full defect notice as a PDF, here.