Fox-platform Fords hold a special place in the hearts of enthusiasts. The love affair began in 1978, and while it continues today, production lasted until 1993 when Ford’s famed platform evolved into the Fox-4 (SN-95) chassis, also known as the 1994 Mustang. Over 15 years, millions of Foxes roamed about; many are still on the road and racetracks globally.

These cars,  from the moment they were thought of and built at the plant, were already listed as being something special… — Jason Ringuette, Collector and Expert

More than just Mustangs, the Fox models consisted of the Fairmont, Zephyr, Durango, Granada, LTD, Cougar, Mercury Marquis, Lincoln Continental, and the Thunderbird. Within the Fairmont and Zephyr line, including the “Box-Top” two-door, four-door, and station wagon, plus the Futura (and Mercury Z-7) equivalent, which had a sportier roofline. All in, you’re looking at over 15 unique bodies based on the storied Fox platform.

A racy graphics package makes the Capri Motorsport stand out. The special-edition Mercs also received headlight and taillight covers, and color choices were white or silver. (Photo Credit: All Photos by Kalyn Guenther)

Along with the grocery getters, there were performance-based and special-edition models, including the 1979 Indy Pace Car, GT350, Mustang SVO, 5.0 LX, Mustang GTs, Capri RS, Feature cars, and ultimately the 1993 SVT Cobra and Cobra R.

In addition, there were some not-so-well-known models such as the 1985 Mercury Motorsport Capri. Much like the 1970 Twister Mustangs and Torinos, the Motorsport Capri was a Lincoln-Mercury driveaway program for the 1985 Mercury Motor City 100 and Detroit Grand Prix.

Along with specially prepared pace cars used on the track, replicas were built for sale at Detroit district dealerships. This special edition Capri was styled to pay tribute to the Roush Protofab Capris, which dominated the SCCA Trans Am race series in 1984 and 1985.

Carlisle Convention

We had a chance to get up close and personal with 10 of these special Capris at the recent Carlisle Ford Nationals. The event hosted a special display for the Motorsport Capris, where we saw a variety of examples and heard the stories from their owners. They included restored and original models and one “barn find” belonging to Chrissy Hartmann that had lots of patina. We also had an extensive conversation with known collector and expert Jason Ringuette, who gave us a Motorsport Capri education.

“These Capris were designed and built to be used as dealer driveaways in the Detroit area,” Ringuette explained. “Dealer driveways are something Ford had been doing for many, many years, and some of the most famous instances were the 1970 Twister, Torino, and Mustangs.”

The Motorsport Capri models were available for order with hardtop, sunroof, or T-top roof options, the latter of which is shown here.

In the case of the Motorsport Capri models, there is a direct lineage between the street-going replicas and the race cars of the day.

“In ’84, the Mercury Capri Trans Am race cars were driven by Willie T. Ribbs, Tom Gloy, and Greg Pickett,” he said. “They finished one, two, three, in the race, so for 1985, Mercury was awarded sponsorship with both races, and with any sponsorship comes providing pace cars. And with any pace car, there are usually replicas for the dealerships.”

To formulate a replica, the Blue Oval used a production Capri RS to serve as the blank canvas that served as the template for the eventual replicas.

Decal Design

“A white Capri 5.0-liter was pulled off the lot of Spiker Ford/Lincoln/Mercury in Milford, Michigan, and sent to Graphik Concepts in nearby Novi,” Ringuette continued. “This car served as the prototype. Graphik Concepts designed and added the decals. Each side of the prototype had a different decal style. The driver’s side closely resembled the ROUSH Protofab Capris. Two attempts were made.”

Those two versions of the prototype varied in appearance based on the style and placement of the decals.

One actual pace car was on hand at Carlisle, and it featured all the appropriate graphics as well as operational lights.

“The first had red strobed stripes starting at the bottom of the door and becoming taller in size as they reached the back of the car, then wrapping around onto the rear hatch. The second attempt kept the same style and design but only had the striping on the white painted section of the car,” he said. “The passenger side had vertical red stripes only on the white section of the car, and was less sloped than the other side. The reasoning for the two different decal styles was to give Mercury two different choices. The passenger side scheme ultimately was chosen.”

With the look of the Motorsport Capri replica settled, the production versions were created and made an appearance at the race before they headed to their assigned dealerships for sale.

“So they set it up as a driveway, and what had happened is that on the morning of the race, they had them all staged around the track. All the dealers came down, had a little party, jumped into their cars, did a little parade lap, then drove them right back to their dealerships to permanently display,” Ringuette said. “There were only 54 cars that Ford had associated with this program, and one that was pulled up the dealer lot as a prototype. Dealers will come, get the cars, and then bring them back to their dealers.”

Limited Run

It turns out that the production plans exceeded the time available, so fewer vehicles were created than initially planned.

“And even though they ordered the 53, they didn’t end up making them all. They ran out of time. It was such a short amount of time to finish the cars, and it was such an extensive graphics package, and ASC McLaren provided a lot of the body components,” he concluded. “They ordered 53, and then there was the prototype, which was supposed to die. And they ultimately only converted 41. I documented and researched these since 1989, when I got my first one. I found about 29 of 41, and two of them no longer exist. The backup pace car was crushed about 20 years ago.”

Ford and Mercury fans covet the Fox ASC McLarens. The Motorsport Capris are also built by ASC using similar components to the ASC McLaren packages.

The Carlisle Ford Nationals event hosted this gathering of Capri Motorsport enthusiasts. It was the largest gathering of these special models since the race in 1985.

“But these didn’t get all the stuff that the McLaren couple would have gotten,” Ringuette elaborated. “It received the headlight and taillight covers, the side skirts, the rear valance with exhaust cutouts, and the rear wing. What really makes it unique is the extensive decal package, which was produced by Graphik Concepts in Michigan. They produced the decals for the ASC McLaren Capris. And it should be noted that the actual track cars received additional graphics and light packages.”

Under the striped hoods, you’ll find the standard 1985 5.0 H.O. engine rated at 210 horsepower at 4,400 rpm and 270 lb-ft of torque at 3,200 rpm when equipped with the four-barrel carb and five-speed manual transmission. Automatic transmission models used the Central Fuel Injection and delivered 180 horsepower. There were seven Motorsport Capris built with automatics, and the rest were manuals. The autos were used as festival cars, so any dignitary at the race could drive them.

The Motorsport Capri interior was mostly standard Mercury Capri, with limited options on the Capri since Mercury had more standard features. Options included a five-speed or automatic transmission, cruise control, air conditioning, power lock group, and T-tops or sunroof.

Production Mix

“They all started as Capri RSs, but like I mentioned, McLaren and Graphic Concepts teamed up, and at the request of Mercury, to create the decals and the body kits. The original invoices state on the lower section, ‘sold to Ford Motor Company; Memo: show car, ship through ASC McLaren; ship to the Ford Attwater Garage,’” Ringuette added. “So, these cars, from the moment they were thought of and built at the plant, were already listed as being something special. So it wasn’t that they just rounded up a bunch of random Capri RSs and converted them. They were built specifically down the line to be what they ended up.”

Among the Motorsport Capris, you’ll find a mix of options. Virtually all special-edition models got the gray interior with the popular bucket seats with open headrest and red piping, save for four units that received the red interior.

Production began on Friday, May 24, exactly one month before race weekend. On this day, nine cars were built at the Dearborn Assembly plant. These cars became the bulk of the track and festival cars. Production picked back up on May 29 with 15 cars, and shipping to ASC in Livonia also began that day. An additional 3 cars were built on May 30. ​

This was part of the graphics used on the pace and safety cars and denotes the “Mercury Motor City 100” Trans Am race from the 1985 Detroit Grand Prix weekend.

“Each Motorsport Capri built was shipped with additional information on its internal invoice and its window sticker indicating it was part of a special order. The ‘Sold To’ section would state Ford Motor Company Memo Show Car,” Ringuette said. “The invoice would also state ship through ASC McLaren Livonia, Michigan, and ship to the Renaissance Center garage in Detroit, Michigan. The Driveaway Headquarters (the team spearheading the project) updated the dealerships via memos as the event drew closer.”

Of the 54 that were to be built for the project, 50 would be used for the event (the remaining 4 cars were deemed surplus and not needed). And 30 of the cars would become driveaway replicas for the dealerships.

“The other 20 cars would be for special use during race weekend. Ten of these were fully converted into Motorsport Capris. These 10 would be both pace cars, safety cars, and festival cars. No decals were applied to these 10,” Ringuette said. “Graphik Concepts applied the decals to the cars scheduled for full conversion at the ASC facility to meet the deadline. Once the cars were completed at ASC, they were shipped to Ford’s Renaissance Center garage on Atwater Street in Detroit to be stored and serviced during race weekend.”

Naturally, the cars designated to pace the race were prepped with more hardware than the replicas designated for sale to the public.

“It was there that the two Pace cars and two safety cars were prepped for track use, receiving radios with mag-mount antennas, CB light beacons, and additional decals not found on the converted festival cars or driveaway replicas,” he added. “Saturday morning prior to the Motor City 100 race, the 30 Motorsport Capri driveaway replicas were taken from Ford’s Atwater street garage and staged around the track area. Before the start of the race, dealership representatives got into their assigned cars, took a parade lap around the track, and then drove them back to their dealerships.”

Of the cars on display, only 10 remained at the track after the driveaway models headed for the dealer lots.

Driven Away

“The remaining four track cars and six festival cars were placed around the track and pits for use at the Motor City 100 and for the Grand Prix on Sunday. After the race weekend, all track and festival cars were serviced at Ford’s Atwater facility. The track cars had the light bars and CB radios removed,” Ringuette said. “All cars were inspected for damage and had their tires changed out. This was completed by Tuesday, June 25, and on that day, they were released to the dealerships. This included not only the 10 special-use Motorsport Capris but also the 10 unconverted RS/5.0 festival cars. Dealerships displayed the cars prominently to draw in customers.”

Even back then, there were dealer markups on specialty vehicles, but nothing like the crazy costs you see today.

This is a classic shot of Motorsport Capri from Mel Ervin Ford before vehicle delivery in 1985. This is the actual car owned by Chrissy Hartmann.

“Most dealers marked up the cars around $1,400 over sticker price for the Motorsport Capri package,” Ringuette noted. “They were then sold as new cars. As a thank you, the Driveaway Headquarters sent dealerships mini bottles of champagne for a successful event.”

Of the cars on display, we noted three silver ones, the rest being white. As Ringuette said at the Carlisle gathering, “The marketing team used a few silver cars to stand out because during the parade, before the race, they had a lot of VIPs, such as the mayor of Detroit, Miss Michigan, Paul Newman, and a few other celebrities driving them. There were only three, and this is the first time since the race in 1985 that all three silver cars have been back together.”

While it might not be one of the most well-known models, it is clear that the 1985 Mercury Motorsport Capri is a rare and significant piece of the Fox-era heritage that is worthy of appreciation, as demonstrated during the gathering at this year’s Carlisle Ford Nationals.