Junkyard Treasure: 1991 Mercury Capri Turbo

05/30/2019

With a turbocharged version of the Miata’s engine driving the front wheels, the Australian-built Capri was quick and fun… but didn’t retain its value very well.

The car weighed just 2,446 pounds, so this 132-horse turbocharged Mazda 1.6-liter engine made it nicely quick for its era.

Actually an Australian-built Mazda, but with the same hood ornament as Grandma’s Grand Marquis.

A 1991 Mercury Capri Turbo in a Colorado wrecking yard.

In 1991, the Miata wasn’t the only sporty Mazda two-seat convertible with a 1.6-liter B6 engine available in North America. The Mercury Division brought over a left-hand-drive version of the Australian Ford Capri, which used the Mazda 323/Ford Laser chassis under its sporty skin, for the 1991 through 1994 model years. While I’ve managed to find a handful of these rarities during my junkyard travels, this one in Denver is the first discarded example I’ve found with the 132-horsepower turbocharged engine.

Flip this engine sideways and remove the turbocharger and it would look just like a Miata engine.

The Capri Turbo weighed a couple hundred pounds more than its Miata cousin, so the power-to-weight ratio was roughly similar for both cars. The Miata had rear-wheel-drive, however, and so it grabbed the bulk of enthusiast sales.

Judging from the handwriting in the maintenance-records book I found in the car, it had one very meticulous owner until it got wrecked.

The car was in very nice condition until it got crunched in the left rear, and its one owner kept meticulous records for its entire life. Note that the original odometer was replaced at 218,521 miles, meaning this Capri had better than 275,000 miles when the crash happened.

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