This Capri Wants Your Lunch Money, and Will Probably Get It
Ford fans know only too well that Mustangs come in many flavors. Some of them aren’t even called Mustangs. For example, the first-generation Mercury Cougar offered an upmarket interior and a touch of class on top of Mustang bones. When the Cougar XR-7 was launched on the Thunderbird platform, Mercury’s rebadged ‘Stang could no longer use the name.
The result was the Mercury Capri, a shamelessly rebadged Fox Body Mustang distinguishable only by its unique front fascia, and on later “bubble back” cars, a rounded rear window.
Compared to the Mustang, there weren’t a whole lot of Capris built (around 20,000) and there are fewer still on the road today. That means the 800-horsepower car in the video below may very well hold the title of “Capri Supreme.” Say what you want about its rear, this murdered-out Mustang impostor can and will drop it like it’s hot.
It was possible to have your original-recipe Capri with Ford’s tried-and-true 5.0, however this car gets an upgrade of a modern Coyote motor pilfered from a late-model Mustang. It’s been built for forced-induction, with low-compression pistons that allow it to run over 20 PSI of boost. And it’s attached to a T-56 Magnum transmission and Ford’s battle-proven 8.8 rear end.
The owner claims 800 horsepower on 18 PSI, and based on its performance at the drag strip, we’re guessing it’s putting most of it to the ground. Of course, keeping a car like this pointed forward is crucial, not only to winning races, but to staying alive, so it sports 12-inch wide professional drag racing tires.
Not only does the owner of this pissed-off Mercury make short work of everything from its estranged grandchild SN-95 Mustang to a V8-swapped Datsun, but he does it in the manliest way possible: rowing his own gears in stick shift class, where anything goes as long as you’re not using an auto-box.
You’ve got to give the man credit. Taking a car that’s been accused of contributing to Mercury’s downfall and transforming it into a formidable weekend warrior shows not only skill and determination, but a special kind of taste.
Vanquishing your drag-strip challengers in a Mustang is nothing new, but who wants to be just another bro with a 5.0? Sending your opponent home to tell their buddies an ‘84 Mercury blew their doors off? That’s the automotive equivalent of a tomahawk slam dunk.
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