The story goes, when my wife and I first met, I only asked her out because she drove a 1983 Mercury Capri RS 5.0. That's not true, of course, but I did feel the car added an air of mystery, elan, and intrigue to her. Turned out she was anything but into that car. Her father was somewhat into sporty cars and got a good deal on it. She needed a car and the rest is history. Romantic that I am, I still believe fate intervened and her cool car one of many signs that she was "The One". Every now and then, sometimes at her request, I search for Mercury Capri's and the other day this 1986 Capri ASC McLaren popped up on Marketplace. My wife seemed mildly curious, but she said, "that's a Capri?"
If you've never heard of them, you're not alone; I vaguely remember these back in the age of Wham!, leg warmers and Miami Vice. Mercury sold Capri ASC McLaren's from 1984 to 1986 in an attempt to create some excitement for the slow-selling, Fox Body based Ford Mustang derived Capri.
There was a coupe and convertible, and they were quite different in their mission statements. If buyers wanted the best handling Ford of the of era, they chose a coupe. A knock off Mercedes Benz SL two-seater, they opted for the convertible like our Marketplace find here.
Yes, the famed 1980's era Mercedes-Benz SL was the impetus for these cars. Legend has it the wife of Ford engineer Peter Muscat, who also worked for Ford, had to park her Mercedes Benz SL in a far-off parking lot because it wasn't a Ford. Mr. Muscat, who also owned a customizing shop in Detroit, created a two-passenger, SL type convertible prototype out of a Mustang and convinced Ford brass to make them as Mercury's in limited quantities. Seems ole Pete had some sway with the suits upstairs.
American Sunroof Corporation or "ASC" engineered the manual top complete with a trick fiberglass boot cover, and the cars were built by Mclaren. McLaren sliced and diced the coupes into roadsters adding buttressing and reinforcement to minimize chassis and body shudder. Real wood trim was placed on the dash along with custom leather seats and leather for the steering wheel and transmission shifter. Unlike the fixed roof "McLaren Capri's", McLaren left the RS Capri's suspensions bone stock. It's ironic that, given their engine building background, they didn't touch the engines on either car.
Contemporary road test reviews were mixed. Critics found the cars handled fine around town but when pushed to the limit, things got squirrely. Or more so than a Capri with a fixed roof did. Between us girls, I wasn't fond of my wife's Capri's primitive, flinty ride so I can only imagine what these things are like to drive. My wife's Capri had T-tops that did nothing for the car's rigidity. Did a ton of je ne sais quois, however.
ASC McLaren's were almost twice the price of a regular Capri RS 5.0 so, no surprise, Mercury didn't sell many. They didn't sell many hardtop coupes McLaren spent way more time on tweaking the suspension either. Buyers not seeing the point of sacrificing a couple of organs for the sake of improved handling prowess. Particularly if it cost a whole lot more than an off the shelf Capri RS like my wife had. These ASC McLaren roadsters cost twice what a base Capri RS would.
Just 99,000-miles on this car's 39-year-old analog ticker, asking price was $9,000 which we thought steep for a potential Memory Lane Machine but, wouldn't you know it, when I went back to the ad to contact the poster for a possible tire kicking, she'd been sold. Just as well. Pop "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" into the auto-reverse cassette deck, dear, I'll keep searching for your Capri.
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