Contrary to the overused and inappropriate description "boy racer", the Capri was an extremely popular and an extremely versatile car, setting the standard for European "super coupes" for decades. The Capri was one of the first production cars to utilize McPherson strut suspension and was one of the first autos whose suspension was designed to maximize the advantage of radial tires.
The Capri was indeed designed to be the European Mustang, and the codename for the Capri while under design was "Colt", the intended name for the car until Chrysler branded their import by the same name prior to the Capri's introduction.
The Capri was available with very small, economical 1600cc four cylinder engines for economy, up to 3000cc "Kent" English V6 engines and 2600 & 2800cc "Cologne" V6 engines for the rest of the world. The car remained very popular well into the 1980's, remaining in production (and demand) until 1987. The Capri, in America, also could be equipped with the "Pinto" 2000cc four cylinder, and the 2300cc four cylinder engines. So, very much in the same vein as the Mustang, the Capri could be purchased in every performance variation you could desire from a basic 1600 cc economy car, to a ground pounding RS2600/3100 or even a v8 powered monster. But no matter what performance level was selected, the same good looking, great handling and comfortable platform remained.
The Capri Mk1 was introduced in 1969 as a 2+2 Coupe, and in 1973 (in Europe, 1975 in the US) the car was transformed into a hatchback (MkII). The hatchback version remained in production in Europe until 1987, with minor cosmetic and equipment changes resulting in a later MkIII version. The car was also a true world car, manufactured in England, Europe and even South Africa. The South African variant, the "Piranha" came equipped with a 302ci (5 liter) Ford V8, and is still the scourge of rally competitions across the world.
In fact the car had a terrific racing history as well, regularly winning the European GT Championship year after year, regularly trouncing the more powerful and expensive BMW's, again well into the 1980's. The Capri also had overall wins or class wins or in every major European competition, including a class win at LeMans.
In the US, the Capri was the only import to outsell the VW at the height of the VW era.
The Capri ceased to be imported to the US in 1977, after Ford decided that its continued sales were detracting from its domestic counterparts, the Pinto and the Mustang II. This was not a surprise, as the Pinto and Mustang II used drive components (the 2.8 engine and transmissions) from the Capri, but were between 600-1000(+) pounds heavier than the Capri, resulting in much poorer performance when compared to the Capri.
The Capri V6 was manufactured in Cologne Germany, and started as a 2000cc power plant, which later became 2300cc, 2600cc, then 2800cc, and continued as a 2900cc used in the Ford Ranger and even into the 21st century as a 4.0 version in Ford trucks and SUV's.
The Capri is, as is its American "cousin" the Mustang, extremely collectible in the US and throughout the world.