Like an adult looking back on their childhood, car models, in hindsight, have their good and bad years. For potential buyers, though, this isn’t just about nostalgia. Knowing which years produced good, quality cars means getting a better used vehicle when you’re on the hunt.
When it comes to a car like the Mercury
Capri, it’s important to know the distinction between its golden years and years when quality and owner satisfaction was low. As an icon of the ‘70s, a Mercury Capri could certainly be a stylish classic car
to drive. Take a look at which years were best for the Capri. Best years for the Mercury Capri: 1976 to 1977
Car Logos
explains that 1976 was the first year that Ford, which owned the now discontinued Mercury line, adopted a slanting, fast-back body style for the Mercury Capri. This shift also allowed the Mercury Capri a larger interior, which had previously been fairly cramped, being a two-door hardtop. However, in 1977, the gas crisis marked the last production year for the Mercury Capri in the U.S. until the mid-1980s. The 1976-1977 Mercury Capris had some impressive specs, including larger rear windows for improved visibility, an additional leaf spring for improved ride quality, a new three-speed automatic transmission, and power steering. Mercury also added a hatchback to increase trunk space from 8 cubic feet to nearly 23 cubic feet with the rear seats down.
Keep in mind, though, that the Mercury Capri was by no means a muscle car or even exceedingly quick. Because of federal restrictions, the Capri’s 109 hp and 146 lb-ft of torque were far reduced from the larger, more powerful muscle cars of the ‘60s and early ‘70s.
Good years for the Mercury Capri: 1971-1972
It might seem like the farther back in time one looks, the more “classic” or appealing a vintage vehicle like the Mercury Capri may appear. But according to Automobile Catalog
, the 1971-1972 Capris actually takes second place to the later ‘76-77 models. The reason why is mainly due to a lack of interior space (no hatchback) and an extremely underpowered engine with an output of only 100 hp. One of the better aspects of the Mercury Capri is that the 1971-972 models came with an optional, snappy four-speed manual transmission, which added more driving appeal to a car that many considered to be somewhat of a flop in its early years.
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