Interior Ergonomics

[daddz]

I think that the early 90's Capri was an Australian based car and it's such a shame because it was front engine and front wheel drive whilst the Miata was a true sportscar albeit an attempted rehash of the much fabled Lotus Elan (a truly sensuous machine).

It's a shame because the Capri II was continued and continually developed in the U.K. long after its cancellation in the states. I think at one point Cosworth had come up with a special package for the Capri and it was quite the bargain racer.

[carguyinok]

The 90s capri convertable that was in the US market was a fun car. They did try with some real good options that where not on any car in the price range or car size. You could even get a hardtop \ soft top . But they where poor cars with the drive line.

They are known for blowing heads and weak transmissions. Put that in with high price and hard to find parts. I dont think it had a chance in the US market.

You could (and still can) find capris with a bad motors or trans sitting out back alot of used car dealers. The thing I found is if its an auto the trans will be out. If its a stick the head will be out cracked or warped . If you can find a good one you have a fun little ragtop with good MPG.

:classic:

[Zedrally]

Wow, lots to talk about here.

I was luckily a proud owner of a V6 3000 Capri, traded in on a 260Z.

Now which was better?

The Capri lacked top end power and had typical british creature comforts[read none] whilst the 260, well after the Capri

was complete luxury. It came standard with a heater & RADIO

This incidently was why Japanese Cars made big inroads in Austarlia in the 70's.

I almost certain that the 3L V6 was fully imported as very few were actually in the country, the other varients where assembled here as where many other manufactures cars in that time period.

Ah, in those days of tariffs, we had VW, Datsun, Morris, and others that I faintly remember either manufacturing or assembling their respective vehicles.

But I digress......

Yes, the 90's Capri that showed up in the US was made in Australia. It was howled down by the press at the time as it was meant to be a Sports Car, how could Ford be serious, a FWD Sports?

Alpha, tariff barriers increased the price of all sports cars in Australia around that time, but what really killed the UK/Euro imports was that they just couldn't cut in in terms of comfort/price/reliability/and being a chick magnet comleted the equation. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking and writing about it now!

I would venture to guess if it wasn't for the tariff barrier then the number of zeds sold in the Aust market would have quadrupled to say the least.

Victor to say the Euro market was smaller is probably not quite correct.

They like Australia, particularly the UK had extremely high tarif protection measures in place to once again protect there local industry.

This is why very few zeds made there way into the UK. Australia was a small market, NZ & Africa where smaller. Just out of interest where any zeds imported/exported into SA?

Just to finish, I'd like to clarify that I'm not trying to take the "wizz"out of any other car, manufacturer etc, just a little history lesson, like this thread has become.

In fact it's has become the most replied thread, so I would guess there is much interest in not only Zed history but also early 70's sports manufactures.

Keep it up guys, we're all learning and filling in those "missing"bits.

Mike

[Alfadog]

Do NOT buy a 90s crapi! They are one of the worst cars ever built - they continually have problems. There was a magazine article about the worst lemons of all time in Australia recently. The Capri rated number 1 if I'm not mistaken...

[Zedrally]

I must admit each time I drive past one, I shake my head and wonder why?????

Alpha, you're quite right about the lemon and am now sorry I mentioned that they where Aussie made. {duck for cover}.

Anyone remeber the P76?

MN

[Ben]

I seem to recall the roofless-Laser (aka Capri, aka 323 with no roof) had a leaky soft-top from the day it was made. The XR2 Turbo's generally has a better reputation, but that was really only due to their extra grunt (was it the BP-Turbo motor?).

The 'early' Capri was also made/developed in South Africa as the 'Perana' - with a 351 jammed under the bonnet/hood.

That with a full-spool 9" is a pretty quick combination!

A friend of the family had a P76, with all the Holden V8 stroker bits in it - it wasn't too shabby really (performance-wise).

[carguyinok]

O.K. Now I would like to know as much as the next guy what the real reason is but here we are. Now I have looked over my 1973 240Z with a fine tooth comb as a shell. I don’t know the history of Nissan but I do know what is sitting in my garage.

Looking at my Z I see all the knock outs for RHD. This would tell me that the shells where made for RHD and LHD. The way the parking brake handle is supported they couldn’t have made a knock out for this. If they did the knock out not used couldn’t take the pressure of the rod going across.

They could have made two different shells but then that would have brought up the overhead ten fold just for the parking brake handle. Now with the 240Z being pushed in the American market as a low cost sports car. I don’t think they where real worried about where the parking brake was. There is no way I can see Nissan making a whole other body shell for what at the time was a chance market. Once they made it in the American market it was done and we (Americans) didn’t know any better. Heck I don’t see it as anything but smart marketing. Honda Nissan Mazda and so on still to this day make shells that go LHD or RHD. Money is king in the world we live in more so in the automotive world. So why make 2 when 1 will do the job.

This is just from looking at the LHD cars. RHD cars are few and far between around here. I think Nissan was just looking at the US market as a gamble. So why make big changes for a market that has not given in on the import sports car market yet. At the time Sabb was giving up on the sonnet for the American market opal was not going anywhere with the GT and alfa was in the class of the Porsche driver. I think they saw that the only way they could make a real mark at the time was just flood the market and keep the price down. Like VW had just done with the bug. That’s just what they did.

To this day around here they are still known as the poor mans corvette from the 70s and not for its race history.

I don’t feel that it’s the way the car should be remembered. But that’s the way most (other then Nissan people) Americans view the Z.

OK sorry for the people I have pissed off and I am done with my views from this side of the pond.

:tapemouth

[Alfadog]

Z's are better than Corvettes anyway

The RX7 (advertised as the replacement for the 240Z - remember this is the same time as when Nissan introduced the 280ZX...) has its handbrake on the left side of the transmission. The RHD version has it on the left also. I noticed this when driving my friend's one the other day - it's not exactly in the most ergonomic position.

Mazda took advantage of Nissan opening the gates for import sports cars in America, and used that as a step-up for their rx7. From what I've seen, the RX7 was really built for the American market - they knew (to an extent) it was going to work. They designed it to be as good as possible for the yanks and perhaps RHD cars came second?

That can't be said for the Zed. Mr. K knew it was going to work, but I'm not sure how many accountants did...

[carguyinok]

True on the RX7. I have had a few and the parking brake is on the left there as well. Funny I had not thought of it till you said that. I loved my RX7s power all over and with the turbos look out. But they just dont have the body lines for me.

For the corvette deal well ...... :tapemouth

[Zvoiture]

What's the best part about a Left-hand-drive S-30?

You get to touch your buddy's leg when you park.

steve

[Sean Dezart]

Zvoiture - congrats for coming outa the closet and joining us pommie poofters !

BTW, I think that the choke(starter)lever is better angled for RHD than left but perhaps that's just how my fingers are bent !

zrally, so what does a '90s Capri look like - remember here in 'sophisticated' europe we don't see half of what's produced in the rest of the world !

I'd love a '67 vette but a Z beats it in almost every way except for how long the car has been produced which seems to be the crunch with most car snobs - they can't respect that for a small emerging mass market producer to throw out a car like the Z so soon was what helped make it an 'instant' classic !

When LOtus put out the 'new' Elan there was criticism of it being front wheel drive but it calmed - after all it was LOTUS ! Since then we've seen many performance pullers (as opposed to pushers), perhaps as a direct consequence of the touring car series of races ?

Yeah me too I like early '70s 'sports cars/slaoon sports - perhaps we should start a new thread ?

[Alfadog]

Here is a link to an XR2 Turbo Capri. This one went alright, but suffered much of the same poor build quality problems as the others. The "normal" ones looked the same except without the go-fast bits (bonnet buldges, agressive front/rear bumper)

http://members.optusnet.com.au/~engtwn/xr2/xr2t.html