Congratulations to Chris Jackson (FEP Username: 4eyes) and his 1986 Mercury Capri ascMcLaren Coupe as the November Ride of the Month. Chris was lucky enough to be the winning bidder on this fine Capri when it was up for auction back in July of 2016. Surprisingly the bidding for the ascMcLaren was very light for such a unique vehicle. Chris placed his bid with 18 hours left in the No Reserve auction and crossed his fingers. A few other bidders jumped in near the end of the auction, but when the dust cleared Chris was the high bidder and the new proud owner of the coupe.



Chris had a desire for an asc coupe since childhood when he would ride his bike to the local dealership. There he would admire the exotic styling, the squared front fascia, the muscular flares, and the unique “bubble back”, he thought to himself “Wow! What a car!” Chris grew up surrounded by NASCAR stock car, but he always loved the big winged Can-Am cars and the exaggerated wide body lines of the Trans Am Series. The ascMcLaren Capri was an awesome mixture of the two styles and a great street car too.

The asc is an excellent example of the breed with most of the car being original. The interior is all stock and original with the exception of the radio, but Chris does have the original Alpine unit. The coupe even came with the original radar detector. The exterior bodywork is all original, although it was resprayed at one point in its life. The suspension is where the departure from original begins and a major reason why the Capri was so appealing to Chris. Chris’s love of road racing is realized thanks to asc 049 “Hollywood’s” upgrades that were completed by Realspeed in New York. There the coupe was modified for HPDE and autocross events with the addition of the Maximum Motorsports ‘Road & Track’ package. The modifications didn’t stop there as the brakes were upgraded to the 87-93 V8 spindles and rear discs.



To match up with the improved handling and braking of the ascMcLaren, the previous owner added some well needed horsepower too. The improvements include MAF conversion, RPM2 intake, larger fuel injectors, ceramic long tube headers, and cold air intake. The original T5 was in need of a rebuild, so a T5Z transmission, aluminum driveshaft, and Centerforce clutch were swapped in instead. The original T5 came with the car too. All these upgrades put down 217 rear wheel horsepower and 262 lb/ft of torque on the dyno.
The next challenge for Chris will be taking the car to next level! Since Hollywood is modified, Chris will be taking it further with a 5-lug conversion, Cobra R big brake conversion, and tubular k-member. A rebuilt 306 with GT40P heads and RPM2 intake will replace original block and heads. This will allow Chris to race the Capri without concern for the numbers matching block, because he does plan to restore the car back to its original condition someday down the road. Until then Chris’ plans are to use the car to enjoy his love of road racing while owning his favorite four eyed Fox body!



This ascMcLaren has a unique history to match its unique nature. Chris is the fourth owner of the Capri, and the second owner was Hank Huisman, current owner of ascMcLaren. The car is a documented 65k mile car and one of 34 white/orange coupes produced in 1986. Congratulations once again to Chris and his very cool and very unique 1986 Mercury Capri ascMcLaren Coupe #049 “Hollywood”. We hope they enjoy many years and miles together, at both the track and on the road.