At most events, Harget’s car is one of the few, if not the only Capri on the property.
The Mercury Capri is a brand marketed by the Lincoln- Mercury division of the Ford Motor Company on three different series of automobiles from 1970 to 1994.
From 1970 to 1978, the “Ford” Capri was dubbed a sport compact known as a “captive import” produced and sourced from Ford of Europe. With their euro styling, some models came with a decently powered V6 stick combination, and despite being wildly popular in Europe and abroad, not many were sold in North America.
The rear spoiler is a one of one prototype from Steeda. People often ask Matt about it and where they can find one.
Nothing
Then, from 1979 to 1986 it was a Mercury branded pony car based on Ford’s Fox Body platform with multiple engine offerings including the famed 5.0 liter. Finally, from 1991 to ’94, the Capri was a roadster style model from Australia and had disastrous sales figures in America, eventually being discontinued with just over a few thousand units sold in its last year of production. In its second generation though, the Capri saw solid sales, but despite the similarities it still took a back seat to the Mustang. Long story short, when we find one, we grab it!
Wyandotte Michigan is just a stone’s throw away from the famous Motor City, where all things cars started. Growing up near Detroit had many advantages for Matt Harget, especially for sports and hot rods and he got involved in both at an early age. “My first love was ice hockey and I competed in high school and played one year of juniors before enlisting in the United States Marine Corps. I was also hot rodding around in a 1979 Malibu with a stout 305!” Soon after, Matt was off to Camp Pendleton, California to serve his time in the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment. After being discharged from the Marines 4 years later, Harget started working at a fire protection company as an apprentice and 5 years later he turned out as a journeyman, now working for Falcon Fire Protection out of Jackson, Michigan.
...I got the Capri for one reason, and one reason only, to race...!
Matt Harget
During it all he never lost his love for cars and horsepower and knew one day he would find something special to build. Soon Matt, like many of us, was driving a Fox body Mustang (a 1991 GT to be exact), and somehow a Capri caught his eye, and he has no idea why. “Back in ’97 a buddy of mine pulled in my driveway with a 1979 Mercury Capri RS. I was intrigued by the car but I have to say I wasn’t sure why,” admitted Harget. “Some time had passed but we continued to talk, and he asked if I’d like to trade my Mustang GT for his Capri. After giving it some serious thought, I decided to take him up on the offer. I got the Capri for one reason, and one reason only, to race! The only time I drove it on the streets was for an occasional A&W or Dairy Queen trip. The car was in good shape and really just needed some tender loving care.”
Matt’s journey went from racing in high school to becoming a major class racing competitor in the NMRA and the car has had just 3 engine combinations in it since Matt has owned it. The first was a 302 with some older cast iron heads, running 12.7s, and then a 347 stroker with AFR 185 heads and Super Victor intake would find its way between the rails and the car would slowly dip into the 10-second range, eventually turning 10.67 at 125mph. Believe it or not, Matt ran that combination for almost 20 years while raising and taking care of his family, proving that he has a boatload more restraint than most of us crazy gearheads who dive in with both feet and a full wallet to the next go-fast goodie that catches our eye.
The stock Gen 1 Coyote mill was treated to a 2018 model intake and trick tune, but otherwise it’s stock.
Matt Harget’s Coyote Powered 1979 Mercury Capri RS
Body & Paint:
Silver Metallic paint, factory body with fiberglass cowl hood.
Chassis Modifications:
Factory chassis with frame connected and 8-point cage.
Suspension:
Front: UPR front with Viking adjustable struts.
Rear: Currently ladder bars and Koni coil-overs but being changed back to OEM location suspension at the end of 2022.
Engine:
The engine was a 2013 sealed Gen 1 Coyote out of Frank Paultanis’s Coyote Stock class car. It now has a 2018 intake and has been tuned by Samantha Moore at Vector Motorsports.
Rotating Assembly:
Factory rotating assembly.
Cylinder Heads:
All stock heads with new PAC springs
Induction & Fuel Delivery:
Weldon Fuel Pump and a JLT cold air intake.
Power Adder:
Naturally aspirated
Transmission:
C4 transmission with an Ultimate Converter Concepts 6,000 stall converter.
Rear End:
Ford 9-inch rear end, 4.63 gear (lightened, polished and micro-blued), spool, 35 spline Strange axles.
Brakes:
Strange at all four corners .
Tires & Wheels:
RC Comp Torx rims and Mickey Thompson 26 x 9 x 15 slicks.
Interior:
Aftermarket Pro Comp Oil pressure, voltmeter, engine temperature gauges and tachometer. Grant steering wheel with Racecraft quick disconnect, Jaz driver’s seat, Winters shifter, RaceQuip 5-point harnesses RJS Fire jacket and pants, RaceQuip helmet.
ET & MPH:
10.22 at 128 mph personal best ¼-mile and runs in the NMRA Modular Muscle Class.
Special Thanks:
• Frank Paultanis and I performed the Coyote engine swap in his garage. Frank rewired the car and ran all new brake lines and fuel system.
• Andy Ransford for helping get the car ready for the next round.
• My 3 kids Tyler (18) Evan (16) and Natalie (14) and a future drag racer.
• My girlfriend Shannon is a huge part of my program and has even purchased items for the car such as new carpet, a Racepak data logger and makes the stickers for the car as well and she travels to every race checks the air pressure and makes sure the car is ready to go for the next round.
The most memorable experience for Matt Harget is winning the NMRA Race in July 2021 and cutting his first perfect light at the NMRA Norwalk Race in June the same year.
Not Matt though, he had priorities back then, and even to this day he is very comfortable class racing at a level that fits his needs and lifestyle. He was however, more recently wooed by one thing; the thought of adding current technology to his combination, and that technology would be in the form of a Ford Coyote motor.
It’s no secret that the Coyote makes pow er right out of the box, and if you want proof of that just turn your attention to the NMRA, where specific classes feature the small block modular mill. In fact, Matt acquired his Gen 1 Coyote from 2020 NMRA Coyote Stock Champion Frank Paultanis.
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The Modular Muscle class is designed for any year, make, and model Ford vehicle using Ford Modular 4.6L, 5.4L, Coyote, & V10 engines only. The class runs on an Open Comp format with a 1-tenth (1/10th) breakout.
“We installed a 2018-year model intake and had Samantha Moore at Vector Motorsports in Brighton, Michigan install a tune,” Harget added. “We put it on the dyno before the St. Louis race last season and picked up 4-tenths in the quarter mile and a 10th alone in just the 60ft.” The best pass before Samantha touched the car was a 10.62 .... and after she performed her magic, it ran a best of 10.22 in St Louis, all done naturally aspirated.
Initially, Matt planned on running in
the Factory Stock class, but since the car has a ladder bar rear suspension it did not fit within the rules, so they chose to run in the Modular Muscle class instead. Before long, Matt’s keen military instincts would prove to be an asset on the track, his fast and consistent lights off the hit and deadly consistent numbers at the big end would make him a feared competitor among his peers, and there’s more to come.
At the NMCA/NMRA All Star Nationals this past April at Rockingham,
North Carolina, David Woodside of Woodside Motorsports came onboard as a sponsor for Matt’s Capri which means bigger things to come. After the season finals in Bowling Green Kentucky, Woodside will be installing an 8.50 legal roll cage, a Team Z 9” rear-end and new suspension components to get it back to an OEM location should they decide to run Factory Stock, or any other stock suspension class for that matter.
Exterior wise, Matt’s Capri retains
a lot of its factory equipment. The body is mostly OEM with the exception of the ’glass cowl hood and rear hatch. The Capri came with its very own front air dam and front grill and we love the fact that Matt kept them all in place. Heck, he even kept the factory sunroof, a testament to the condition of the car itself as most sunroofs in northern cars have long since rotted away. The rear spoiler, something that Matt gets a lot questions about, it is actually a one of one prototype from Steeda.
Inside the Capri, the original door and trim panels are mated with a later model Mustang dash filled with a complete lineup of aftermarket gauges. Just one race seat is required as the Capri sees only track duty these days and a slick Winters race shifter commands gear changes through the tricked out C4 trans. An 8-point bar painted body color will soon be replaced by an 8.50 ET-legal cage, which may indicate signs of motor mods coming for the currently naturally aspirated, and almost stock, Gen 1 Coyote.
No matter how you slice it, seeing any Capri is a rare sight, let alone one powered by a Coyote and doing mile-high wheelstands, which this one is known to do from time to time. Although he doesn’t know exactly why, Matt Harget fell in love with his ’79 Mercury Capri RS from the moment he saw it, and all these years later he wouldn’t have it any other way! SUBSCRIBE TODAY
