At some point I discovered that the left rear had been hit pretty hard.
Once the Bondo was stripped off, the fender was like a walnut.
I had to do a bit of straightening in the trunk area, and I cut off the worst parts.
The parted out junker came to the rescue again, its left rear fender was pretty nice and so was the rear panel ( with the early taillights, which I prefer )
Welded on ( just tacked in this pic )
I made a panel to finish off the inner wheel well.
They were badged as a Capri and sold through the Mercury dealerships.
The USA version of the Capri was made in Cologne, Germany.
They must have competed with the Pinto sales( similar size, engines, etc ), but going by how many you see in the backgrounds of old '70s movies & TV shows, they must have sold well...
They were treated as throwaway cars for many years, so most are gone.
But the people that still have one today, have one ( or several... ) because they really like them.
Everybody else ( even car guys ) think its a Datsun...
You'd think they'd know a Sexy European when they see one...
One of the reasons I wanted a Capri ( besides the Zandvoort history I already mentioned ) is because I was lamenting my Mk1 Escort.
Out of all the cars I've owned, it was one of my best streetcars.
It was perfect for me at the time.
It was my daily driver, as well as my towcar for my racer, and it saw some track action as well.
It started out as a Mk2 1300 estate, but I put the complete driveline out of a 1600 Sport into it ( including the final drive) Lowered, stiffer front springs, Koni's ( revalved by the Koni race dept. ) twin 40DCOE Webers, special exhaust, Ronal wheels, etc.
I changed the nose to Mk1 sheetmetal after a couple guys chasing each other through the narrow neighbourhood streets cut a corner too much and hit me head on. ( I'll admit to some hooliganism in that car, but at that particular time I was just going somewhere and minding my own business)
I couldn't take it with me when I moved to the States ( too new to be legal ), and anyway, the tin worm had gotten to it.
So when I had the chance, I bought this Capri Classic.
Typical desert survivor, completely rust free but sunbaked paint & interior and concrete hard rubber parts.
That one was a non running project when I got it.
So I put the engine and gearbox out of a 1st year Pinto into it ( a smog version of the 1600 Kent )
It was very much down on power, and super unreliable.
A big letdown after my green Estate.
So I sold it to a buddy, who brought it back to original ( I kept all the parts )
But this Capri is starting to make up for the misery of the Classic...
BTW, there is another Capri ( or was, its sold too now).
My Street Freak.
I built that one while I was building the white one
( yeah, I know.
I'm a sick puppy... )
It went to another buddy, after we turned it into a kind of a clone of my white one for him.
For a while there was a guy in Arizona who was really into Capri's.
Buying and selling them, he had resto projects, he raced one, and he sold parts for them.
He was getting a pretty good selection of fiberglass molds, and I was able to make a deal with him for fiberglass doorskins, hood, and decklid skin, and a front airdam.
All thin racing weight stuff...
I cut the steel skins off a set of pre '73 doors ( no side impact beam, so much lighter than the original ones) and riveted the 'glass ones on.
And you guessed it, from the same car that gave up all the other parts...
I did the same with the hood.
Cut the inside re-enforcement back as much as possible, and riveted the skin on.
And also the decklid, which had the shape of an RS ducktail molded in.
( he took a mold off my original steel decklid with the ducktail on it).
So now the first ducktail could go on the Street Freak.
I didn't like the design of the airdam, but it was a good starting point to make my own ( more on that later )
Mounting the fiberglass this way gave me good weight savings while still retaining all the door seals, original glass, window regulators, etc.