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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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Auto blog

Automakers tussle over owners of 'orphan' makes

Thu, 10 May 2012

When General Motors put down several of its brands in recent years, it also let loose thousands of brand-loyal customers who will eventually need another car.
R.L. Polk Associates estimates there are more than 18 million cars from 16 discontinued makes on the road today. Those "orphan owners" have sales-hungry competitors seeing dollar signs. GM is offering Saturn owners $1,000 cash toward a Chevy Cruze, Cadillac CTS or a GMC Acadia. Ford is giving its Mercury lease customers a chance to get out of their contracts with no early-termination penalty and offering to waive six remaining payments if they drive off in a Ford or Lincoln.
Edmunds.com research shows the efforts are paying off somewhat for GM, with 39 percent of Pontiac owners, 37 percent of Hummer owners and 31 percent of Saturn owners taking delivery of another GM-branded vehicle. But that leaves as much as 69 percent of owners going elsewhere. Ford, Honda and Toyota seem to be attracting many former GM owners.

The 1965 Ford Mustang could have looked a lot different

Fri, May 8 2020

The 1965 Ford Mustang is unquestionably an automotive design icon, and nearly every generation of Mustang has some connection to that original car. Because it's such a universally-known vehicle, we were amazed to see all the different designs that were being considered. Head of Ford's archives Ted Ryan recently shared photos of design proposals for the original Mustang on Twitter that he and Jamie Myler found, and we reached out to them to find out more. As Ryan initially noted, the photos were taken on August 19, 1962, and they are proposals for the Ford Mustang. Apparently Ford had committed to doing a Falcon-based youth-oriented car at this point, and it did have plans to launch the car in 1964 for the 1965 model year. But after having little success with early design proposals, the company asked all of its design studios — the Advanced Studio, Lincoln-Mercury Studio and Ford Studio — to submit proposals. With only about two years before the planned launch, Ford was understandably short on time, and it's believed that the studios only had a month to create and present these designs. Lincoln-Mercury design proposal View 8 Photos The majority of the designs, a total of five, came from the Advanced Studio, and part of this was because they already had a couple of concept designs in reserve it could present. Two other models representing three design possibilities came from Lincoln-Mercury, and just one model with two options came from Ford. The Advanced Studio proposals are shown in the gallery at the very top of this article, and the Lincoln-Mercury and Ford proposals are in the gallery directly above this paragraph. The Advanced Studio's most radical design is the one that was clearly related to the Mustang I concept that would be shown later that year with huge wraparound rear glass, turbine-inspired bumpers and enormous side scoops. The other proposals from the studio were more conservative, featuring simple lines, grilles reminiscent of the Falcon, and one even borrowing the jet-thruster-style taillights made famous on the Thunderbird. Lincoln-Mercury had some impressively bold designs, particularly its fastback that had buttresses to extend the shape all the way to the tail. This car had two different side trim possibilities. The other Lincoln-Mercury design was toned down a bit, but had two interesting possibilities for side detailing, as well as some crisp, low-profile tail fins.

NHTSA closes rollaway investigation into 1.56M Ford SUVs

Mon, 11 Mar 2013

It's taken four years of study, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has finally closed the books on its investigation into rollaway accusations surrounding 1.56-million Ford SUV models.
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