1973 Ford Europe (U.S.A.: Lincoln-Mercury) Capri Mk I RS 2600

[Plastheniker]

Very nice - yours is the first one I've seen built. I've got one in my stash for a future project, so I know what you went through. For starters, there's no hood bulge and the body sides are quite slab-sided. I've heard that the kit was intended as a slot car. The model is a mix of early Capris - IIRC, it has the 71-72 side trim (where the twin indentations forward of the rear wheel are), but the 73-75 tail lights. What did you use for the interior and chassis?

I had a 1973 Capri from 1978-1982. What a fun car. 2 liter four cylinder, 4 speed, manual everything, no A/C. Only the 74 and later Capris had the big, body colored bumpers in the US. The 73 and earlier had nice, slim chrome bumpers.

Again, you did a nice job on the car. Thanks for showing it!

Jim, I remember that I had to scratch build the complete interior. Regarding the chassis I can't remember what I actually did. Nevertheless after some pondering it seems very likely that I added necessary details (suspension, rear axle,engine, gearbox, prop shaft, exhaust sytem) to the crude "chassis" part of the kit, because the latter would fit the body without further work.

There was one other - an Academy Minicraft RS3100 in racing trim. It's another of those motorized kits, with a shallow interior, flat chassis and positionable steering.

Academy-Minicraft

http://www.scalemates.com/products/product.php?id=176588

Doyusha

http://www.scalemates.com/products/product.php?id=143019

This further review of the Doyusha kit gives an idea what an interested modeler could expect. The short text is in German but the nice pictures speak for themselves.

http://www.wettringe...&threadID=12112

There was at least one more kit of the RS 3100 in racing trim made by Nitto in the eighties(?). Maybe it is the same kit as the Academy model.

BTW the appearance of the RS 3100 in racing trim was nearly identical of the upgraded, but extremely expensive street RS 2600 I mentioned above. I had the opportunity of driving such a vehicle in 1973 for one or two hours on a not very crowded Autobahn. It was simply breathtaking.

[Harry P.]

That interior is.... uh... interesting.

[Plastheniker]

Tom, thanks for the interesting pictures.

The photo of the rear end of the unbuilt Doyusha kit shows what I mentioned. Doyusha states on the box that it is a 1973 model. This is wrong because the body still has the small backlights of the early models. From 1973 on all Capris had the much bigger rear lights replicated on my model.

The pictures of your second post seem to show the Capri Mk II that had a more roundish appearance.

[Tom Geiger]

The pictures of your second post seem to show the Capri Mk II that had a more roundish appearance.

Yes you are right. It was sold as the Mercury Capri II here in the USA. I believe this one was an MPC kit. I'll have to dig, but I believe there was a Monogram Capri also.

The name Capri lived on past the European versions sold in the USA. In 1979 a US built Mercury Capri was the twin to the new Mustang body style. I bought one with a V8. The quality of US cars wasn't good then, and this one wasn't!

Later the Capri name was used on an Australian built sports convertible based on the Escort.

[Plastheniker]

That interior is.... uh... interesting.

Maybe a special version of the Capri for people with short backs and short legs?

[Plastheniker]

Yes you are right. It was sold as the Mercury Capri II here in the USA. I believe this one was an MPC kit. I'll have to dig, but I believe there was a Monogram Capri also.

The name Capri lived on past the European versions sold in the USA. In 1979 a US built Mercury Capri was the twin to the new Mustang body style. I bought one with a V8. The quality of US cars wasn't good then, and this one wasn't!

Later the Capri name was used on an Australian built sports convertible based on the Escort.

Earlier, i. e. in the very early sixties, Ford England chose the name Capri for a very attractive little coupe that was also sold outside England. I remember because this car was the dream of my elder sister that never came true.

[Danno]

Swwwweeeeeeeeet!

[lordairgtar]

Later the Capri name was used on an Australian built sports convertible based on the Escort.

Actually the Aussie two seater was based on Mazda mechanicals. The 323 was the basis for the car. True, the Escort was based on the 323 in those years and the Escort was known as Laser in Australia.

[Aaronw]

Nice job, I like the look of the Capri, particularly the earlier small bumper years.

There is one near my work, that looks like it spent the better part of the past 2 decades in a berry patch. I am occasionally tempted to see if it is for sale, but know it is well beyond my skills and finances to restore. It would make my daily commute more fun though.

[ToyLvr]

My wife had a '73 V-6 back in the day.

Very fast little car (she had the speeding tickets to prove it), but no match for my '70 Grand Prix.

Nice build!

Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

In all these years that I've been attending car shows, I've only seen one (1) Capri, and it was the next series. I think they all rusted to dust in our area.

[martinfan5]

Wow, great job

[charlie8575]

Gorgeous.

Charlie Larkin

[bbowser]

Outstanding model as usual Jurgen. I really look forward to seeing your builds. Thanks for sharing.

[om617]

Very nice Capri. Friend had the Mk2 with called injection,2,8 liter. Fast at the time but rusted away.

Edited April 19, 2014 by om617

[afx]

Jurgen, I hope you don't mind me posting these kit photos to your excellent build thread. Your build has created some interest in the Capri kits.

AMT Capri II

Academy RS 3100

[508boricua]

That is awesome!!

[crazyrichard]

whooooooooooouw !!!!!!!! how stunning ... i can stil remember these capris from my childhood always loved them