The year 2016 starts off with our January Ride of the Month winner Jim Munden (FEP Username:fascat)
and his 1986 ASC/McLaren Capri Coupe #077. Jim has a fondness for Mercury Capri thanks to his first Fox Body being a 1986 Mercury Capri 5.0 that he owned back in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Jim says he foolishly sold the Capri and regretted it instantly. Jim tried to replace the Capri with a couple of Aero model Mustangs, but none left the same impression on Jim.
Fast forward to 2011, Jim has just sold a collector car that he owned with no intentions of purchasing another. Then the fond memories of his first Capri began caming back and so in 2012 the search began in earnest. Jim posted a Want To Buy ad here on FEP, He was looking for another 1986 Capri 5.0 or the Holy Grail of Capri’s, an ASC/McLaren Coupe. Jim’s only requirements were that the car be as original as possible and a 5 speed manual. Thanks to the FEP members Jim received several leads, but the Capri featured here stood out. This Capri had been for sale several years earlier, but the owner changed his mind and didn’t sell it. Jim had in fact,looked at this very same Capri back when it was originally for sale, but wasn’t in a position to buy at that time. This time was different, the owner was ready to sell and Jim was in the perfect position to buy the ASC/McLaren this time.
The ASC/McLaren Capri Coupe was purchased on June 22, 2012 from Scoutdrivinrebel here on FEP. The Capri was located in Dallas Texas and Jim was in Pennsylvania. Arrangements were made to have the Capri shipped to Jim, but things were not moving along according to plan. On July 3rd Jim and his Dad took off for Texas. They rented a U-Haul trailer and picked the Capri up the morning of July 5th and had it safely tucked away in its new home on July 6th. Scoutdrivinrebel was accommodating and great to deal with during the purchase of the Capri. He offered to pick Jim up at the airport if he wanted to drive it home. He also dropped the Capri off at the original shipper and then picked it back up when Jim decided to pick it up himself. He even made sure that Jim and his Dad were doing alright on their return trip to Pennsylvania. Once again a testament to the great members and friends we have here on FEP!
The Capri is mostly an original stock vehicle. It is well optioned though with a 5-speed transmission, cruise control, A/C, PW, PL, Power Hatch & Fuel Door Release, and optional Axle Ratio 3.08. The tires have been changed and a Flowmaster catback system are the only real non stock items. The exterior was repainted in 2006 by previous owner, hippys86coupe, otherwise it remains mostly original. The hood had to be replaced when it was repainted due to battery acid damage. Since then Jim has replaced the 1983 hood with the correct 1986 hood which happened to be the original hood from Silverfive0’s Capri. Jim was able to purchase the hood from the previous owner of Silverfive0’s car. Wow, what a small world the Four Eyed community can be!
Although the Capri is largely original, that doesn’t mean it’s not customized! Thanks to the modifications it received from ASC/McLaren the car is far from a stock Capri. The modifications include ground effects, the must have rear spoiler, headlight & taillight covers, lowering springs, wheels, and quarter window sail panel treatments on the exterior. The interior modifications by ASC/McLaren include 140 MPH speedometer, leather wrapped steering wheel & shifter knob, Alpine 7272 Cassette Stereo, Kenwood Rear Speakers, Whistler Radar Detector, ASC/McLaren Floor Mats., and gray piping on the Sport Seats.
Jim has shown his Capri a couple of times since he purchased it and has won a 2nd place award at the Greater Pittsburgh Mustang Show in 2014. He plans on getting the ASC/McLaren to more shows in the future as well as getting together with some fellow Four Eyed enthusiasts. Prior to Jim’s ownership the Capri was seen in Fox Mustang Magazine issue #4 along with other Four Eyed Foxes. Jim was also able to submit a picture to NPD to include in their 2015 Catalog.
Thanks to the hard work of several FEP members Jim had to do little to the Capri for it to be in such great condition. The repaint by hippys86coupe, the work by plumkrazy, the continued maintenance and improvements by scoutdrivinrebel have all allowed Jim the ability to continue to restore the original parts and upgrade the Capri with NOS parts when needed. Jim has loved Capris ever since his first one and gets great enjoyment out of driving the car as well as seeing the confused look on people’s faces when he shows it. With that in mind his goal is to keep the car as original and stock as possible, using NOS parts when possible and necessary.
Another enjoyment, owning a car such as this, for Jim is tracking the history of the car. Through his research on this Capri, Jim was able to contact one of the owners of the original selling dealership Gate City Lincoln Mercury in Greensboro North Carolina. A couple of emails were exchanged and ultimately Jim was able to get a new original dealer license plate for the Capri. Jim also wanted to say “Thank You” to FEP, its owner, and members that without all of them he wouldn’t have found this Capri. Thanks to all the help and information provided by the members and this site he is able to relive his youth with a 1986 Capri once again!
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