| After the Miata (introduced in the United States as a 1990 model) turned out to be an instant hit for Mazda, the marketing wizards at Ford decided to put Mercury badges on the Australian Ford Capri, a four-seat sporty convertible, and beat Mazda at its own game. Sure, the '91-94 Capri was a Mazda under the skin (it was based on the 323), and it had front-wheel-drive, but so what? The Capri was powered by a Mazda B engine, just like the Miata, and it had a convertible top, but the similarities ended there. While the Miata was a perfect expression of everything that the Alfa Romeo Spider and MBG had tried— but failed— to be in the past, the Capri was just a funny-looking 323 with a soft top. I still see the occasional Capri of this generation on the street, for the same reason I see Geo Metro convertibles on the street: driving with the top down is fun! The 24 Hours of LeMons has several teams campaigning these things (all turbocharged models), and they're about as quick around a road course as, say, a Ford Ranger pickup or Kia Sephia. In other words, pretty slow. This one only managed to get 120,000 miles, which makes me suspect that it spent a few years parked with something expensive broken.
from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com |
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