Could this be the greatest SEENT I've seent?! Mercury Capri XR2 Convertible...

"Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo" (thetomselleck)
07/27/2019 at 17:46 • Filed to: Seent

Never even knew these were a thing... This has to be a rare sight, right?

DISCUSSION (18)

WilliamsSW > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
07/27/2019 at 17:58

Everything you could possibly want in a Miata except for the fun to drive bit.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > WilliamsSW
07/27/2019 at 17:59

Not to mention aftermarket , accessibility to service, aesthetics, self-esteem...

dogisbadob > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
07/27/2019 at 18:00

The Australian Capri is awesome :o)

It even has a back seat

WilliamsSW > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
07/27/2019 at 18:01

Bah who needs those things? Besides 2 seat sports cars really should be FWD amirite?

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
07/27/2019 at 18:11

I remember these being rather popular where I lived in PA when they were new. Like most Mazdas of the era, however, they succumbed to rust by the mid-2000’s. Rare sight these days indeed.

someassemblyrequired > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
07/27/2019 at 18:14

Nope - there are at least three in Bellevue I used to see regularly. One of the parents at my kid’s school one during the non-rainy season (in 2016!). Must have been the kid of the Mercury dealer.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > WilliamsSW
07/27/2019 at 18:38

Well, inferior in every way including fun to drive. The convertible top mechanicanism is like something from the stone age compared to a Miata.

WilliamsSW > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
07/27/2019 at 18:41

Anyone who chose this over a Miata when new had to be missing a few brain cells.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
07/27/2019 at 18:48

My dad had one of these for a few years in the 90's. It was a non-turbo like the car you pictured. They’re inferior to a Miata in every possible way. That you can put the top down is the only redeeming feature of them. The 100hp non-turbo is deathly slow, and they handle like a 323 with the roof missing. That is to say they handle like an 80's economy car, but with the chassis rigidity of a wet noodle. Parts were desperately hard to find in 1994 when they were still being sold new on dealership lots.

Need a new glovebox door handle after it breaks off (which 100% of them will)? The only remedy in 1994 was to buy a new Capri. The handle, or even and entire new glove box, was unobtainable even then.

I can’t imagine the parts situation has gotten better with age.

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
07/27/2019 at 18:49

I love these! They’re crap but so are most cars I like!

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > WilliamsSW
07/27/2019 at 18:52

My Dad had one for a few years in the mid 90's. They were not good. He did sell it during a snowstorm, which my 11- year old s elf found it hilarious watching my dad show the new owner how the top mechanicanism worked in the driveway before she drove off with it. That lady could not have possibility looked less interested if she tried.

fhrblig > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
07/27/2019 at 19:14

It’s the one car that can legitimately make you say “I’d rather have a Sebring convertible”.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
07/27/2019 at 19:42

Built by Ford Australia with American money to American specifications. They were popular here for a couple of years until all the punters (both here and in the US) that wanted a modern version of the anaemic British convertible just like their dad/mum had were satisfied...

They died very fast here . Most of them were in the wreckers by the mid 90s. You do find the odd survivor out in the boonies. Our little town has one...

Pat Pfeiffer > fhrblig
07/27/2019 at 20:21

Aint no turbocharged 5 speed Sebring verts

fhrblig > Pat Pfeiffer
07/27/2019 at 20:47

NA Sebring > turbo Capri

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
07/27/2019 at 21:56

94 is the rarest, with a slight face-lift over the 91-93.

I know where there is a 91 non-XR2 right now, waiting for an alternator pulley swap... (the rebuilt alternator came with a V-belt pulley that doesn’t have the right dimensions for the belt, and tears them up... the OE pulley from the failed alternator has to be pressed off, and pressed onto the replacement part at just the right position, and then installed. Still waiting to be done.

XR2 uses the same Mazda B-series turbo engine from the 323GTX, but not the AWD system.

It has a vestigial rear seat that the Miata doesn’t have, and the interior is generally more open, without the transmission tunnel that the Miata has.

T he expensive german top folds into it’s own bay with a hard cover.

I learned to drive a stick on that car when I was a teenager.

It was a project for Ford to build a shared Japanese car (Mazda) with a german made top, built in Australia as an export , and used to balance trade to allow Lincoln Town Cars to be imported in to Australia.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
07/27/2019 at 22:17

Wow, in one post you provided more actual facts than all of Google

pip bip - choose Corrour > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
07/28/2019 at 05:48

but the benefit was we never got the town cars