1994 Capri Improvements

A 1994 press release from Mercury allowed the company to brag about improvements in the what would turn out to be the final year of the front wheel drive sporty car.

"In September our Lincoln-Mercury dealers will introduce the 1994 Capri," said a Ford spokeswoman. "We believe that the customers will be impressed with the improvements in the functional and interior packaging ... We think the quality problems have been addressed."

She said Lincoln-Mercury had ordered enough '94 Capris to make sure it would be available through the coming model year. Ford expected to sell about 12,400 Capris in U.S. in the 1993 model year and about the same in the 1994 model year. Ford of Australia sold 1,034 Capris domestically in 1992, making it the top-selling convertible in that country. However, only 55,000 were shipped to the U.S. since the car was introduced in 1990. When the car was being developed in the mid-1980s company officials expected U.S. sales of 30,000 to 35,000 annually.

The third-generation Capri XR2 for the Australian market has slimmer jeweled-lens taillights, cruise control, power doorlocks with illuminated rocker switches on the doors, CFC-free R13a air conditioner refrigerant, a new rotary compressor and overdrive on-off control. Its bumpers have been redesigned for a more rounded profile that extends the theme around the body, the front lower air intake and front outer apertures have been resculpted, the integrated skirt-type spoilers are more prominent and deeper, and there are five new colors -- the most striking of which are a cobalt blue and reef green.

The center console is restyled with padded armrests/lid and cupholders, the headlamp switch is now on the dash rather than the console and it's now easier to adjust the seat height and lumbar pad with improved levers. The base interior color changes from Raven Black to grey, and all front seats are redesigned with longer cushions, bigger side bolsters, firmer padding and map pockets.

The pressure-proportioning valve on the brakes has been revised so there's more pressure to the rear, and the mounting for the rear caliper has been changed to cut the low-speed brake noise.

Although these improvements were announced for the '94 Australia-bound Capri, the XR2 and XR2 Turbo also are exported to the U.S.


Staying in Australia was the Capri Club-sprint, fondly called the Batman car by its designers because of fairings behind the seats. Because this version had no air bag and fiberglass bumpers, the Club-sprint wasn't legal to import to America.

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