Thanks to negusm and Sandy

MHISSTC · Post by **MHISSTC** » Fri Oct 29, 2004 10:07 pm

I thought I'd register here and give a big thanks to negusm and Sandy as my first post.

I am a member of the FEP board and during my efforts to decode the various tags and codes on the car I received lots of help from negusm. There is a wealth of information in all of his dealer publications. I have checked them out numerous times online.

I also found out that negusm was asking Sandy for answers to whatever he couldn't answer himself. I have never chatted directly to Sandy, but have found several posts by and referring to Sandy on FEP. The information he provides is outstanding and is not available anywhere else right now. I don't know how or where Sandy gets his information, but he's obviously "in the know" and well respected by many folks on several different boards.

So, Thank You Sandy and negusm for helping me acquire information on my newly purchased and unique '85 Capri GS.

Scott Lockhart

Sandy · Post by **Sandy** » Fri Oct 29, 2004 11:03 pm

I always loved the 1979-1986 Capris and the 1979-1993 Mustangs. I always purchased luxury cars, as they were my #1, and I always drove out, looking back at the Fox-Bodied cars, in my Imperial, Cadillac and/or Lincoln. When the ascMcLarens appeared in 1984, that did it!! I grabbed onto everything I could. Mike (Negusm) has more printed matter than I do, but I have a sponge for a mind, and recall every little thing reated to these car that I ever heard or saw. Having been in the car business for 27 years, I did have an "in" of sorts, in the way of many pals in the car business WITH Ford & Mercury. I just remember alot of useless stuff. Well, for you, today, it wasn't useless. You've got a real rare piece there. My {educted} guess was that this car was ordered by a YOUNG person who really wanted that color, and skirted around the RS to get that color, and the salesman (not wanting to lose a deal) pointed out the way to obtain a "faster" car (it's lighter, 'ya know....) and "designed" this car for them.
To have Pwr. Locks on a GS isn't so rare. Woman like them for securuity. But, they normally took the 4 Cyl. or for a bit more umph, the 6-Cyl. A V-8 .... very very seldom. I figured out that your car was one of the first 400 Foxes made with a 1985 MSO. Probably made within the first 2 weeks of Fox production with 1985 title. Production was 25% Capri & 75% Mustang FOR THE YEAR! So, look at your VIN, if memory serves it ends 1530- so 25% of 1530 is 383, so around 383 or so Capris came BEFORE yours. The "new-for-1985" checkerboard cloth seat style was phased in around November, but again not all colors changed over in unison. I recall reading the DEALER BULLITIN on this. That is how.
Thanks for the compilments.
BTW, I am registered on FEP, but I am also on the Cadillac Board & the Town Car Board and the 58-60 Thunderbird board (Squarebirds) and the Imperial Club, so I have no extra time.
Anytime you have a question, I'll try to assist you. Catch me here. Or off line at cigarsandy@comcast.net
Oh, 'Ya...I'm also on a cigar board....actually cigar bored these dayzz.

Post by **negusm** » Sat Oct 30, 2004 1:43 am

Sandy wrote:I figured out that your car was one of the first 400 Foxes made with a 1985 MSO. Probably made within the first 2 weeks of Fox production with 1985 title. Production was 25% Capri & 75% Mustang FOR THE YEAR! So, look at your VIN, if memory serves it ends 1530- so 25% of 1530 is 383, so around 383 or so Capris came BEFORE yours.

OK, this has always nagged at me so let me get this straight...

Vins for Mustangs start with 100001 and Capris are 600001....

When built at ford, are the numbers intermingled....so like the assembly line would have:

Mustang: 105001
Mustang: 105002
Capri: 605003
Mustang: 105004
Mustang: 105005

So if you see a Capri with number: 601500 that is the 1500th FOX (not 1500th Capri) for that year?

-Mike

Sandy · Post by **Sandy** » Sat Oct 30, 2004 2:07 am

EXACTLY CORRECT !!
You like the stuff I sent to you?

The 1st # signifies the brand, the remainder are the assigned production # - however, frequently they are built out of order because of whats available on line. If there is a shortage of Power Locks (for example) all cars ordered with them will be delayed, even though they've been assigned a VIN, until locks are back on line, then they will enter the flow again.

75coug · Post by **75coug** » Sat Oct 30, 2004 3:28 am

Careful, MHISSTC, these guys will get you hooked on these things big time. I started out buying a 1985 Capri GS w/ 5.0 about a year and a half ago, because of the fond memories that I had of a 1986 Capri 5.0 that I owned many years ago.

After perusing the FEP board, I got caught up in all of the excitement and hooked on the idea of securing a rarer Capri as well. I looked for a while and considered quite a few, before recently making a deal on a 1985 McLaren vert (I don't have it yet, as I am still working on things like paperwork and securing delivery from a zillion miles away).

MHISSTC, I will be looking forward to the updates on your car as you get it restored. Good luck.

MHISSTC · Post by **MHISSTC** » Sat Oct 30, 2004 9:31 am

This is great stuff.

75coug wrote:Careful, MHISSTC, these guys will get you hooked on these things big time.

Too late, already hooked.

I love finding out this kind of information. I'm one of those persons, as I'm sure ALL of the folks on any one of these dedicated make/model forums is, who doesn't look at cars as merely transportation. I love the stories that go along with cars too. That makes them all that more interesting. The more I am able to find out, the more interesting it becomes. This is even more true about anything quirky or unsusual, which seems to cover just about everything related to Capris.

MHISSTC, I will be looking forward to the updates on your car as you get it restored. Good luck.

That is where the problem lies. I don't know if I will be able to do this car any justice and I don't have the means to do that right now. As a farily clean car on eBay, except for el-chepo repaint, I bought it to drive "as is" for a while before I started "messing" with it...possibly making a dedicated track car out of it eventually. Now I know too much about it to want to do anything other than restore it back to like it was when it was new, which isn't exactly what I wanted to do with the car.

Anyway, if I knew someone who had a "run-of-the-mill" '85-'86 Mustang GT in solid, but well used condition, who wanted to trade for a good candidate for a restoration project like this one, I would probably make the trade.

In the mean time I will enjoy driving this Capri and try to acquire some of the original equipment like the hatch and radio, and attempt to find out more about the car if the original owner is still around and I can track her down.

Scott