Capri Id

How to identify your 1970-1977 Capri

You can learn a great deal about your Capri from the information on the identification plate under the hood.

The first thing on the plate is the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). It will look something like GBECTM98765. The first letter identifies the country that produced the car (actually the country of the Ford division that controls the production plant, not the actual plant). The second identifies the actual production plant. Possible letters are:

GA =	Cologne, Germany
GB =	Genk, Belgium
GC =	Saarlouis, Germany
BB =	Halewood, England

The vast majority of US cars came from Cologne, Germany. Halewood, England normally produced only right hand drive cars for the British market, but there is some anecdotal evidence that a few early Capri 1600s were produced there for the USA. This is not as unlikely as it might seem, because Halewood was producing left hand drive Capri 1600s for the Scandanavian market at the time.

The next two letters are the model code, and are always EC which indicates the Capri.

The next two letters are a date code, indicating the year and month the car is produced. They are interpreted as follows:

	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977
Jan	KL	LC	MB	NJ	PL	RC	SB	TJ
Feb	KY	LK	MR	NU	PY	RK	SR	TU
Mar	KS	LD	MA	NM	PS	RD	SA	TM
Apr	KT	LE	MG	NP	PT	RE	SG	TP
May	KJ	LL	MC	NB	PJ	RL	SC	TB
Jun	KU	LY	MK	NR	PU	RY	SK	TR
Jul	KM	LS	MD	NA	PM	RS	SD	TA
Aug	KP	LT	ME	NG	PP	RT	SE	TG
Sep	KB	LJ	ML	NC	PB	RJ	SL	-
Oct	KR	LU	MY	NK	PR	RU	SY	-
Nov	KA	LM	MS	ND	PA	RM	SS	-
Dec	KG	LP	MT	NE	PG	RP	ST	-

The sequence actually continues past August, 1977, but no European Capris were produced for the US market after this date.

The digits are simply a sequence number, and they have no special meaning. The factory simply assigns them in order from 01001 to 99999, and then starts over from 01001.

The sample VIN thus indicates a Capri produced in Genk, Belgium (a Ford of Germany plant) in March, 1977.

The remaining details the identification plate varies somewhat from year to year, but they all contain basically the same information.

The box marked "Motor/Engine" contains the two character engine ID code, which will be something like "NA". Engine codes for US Capris are:

Code	Nominal Displ	Type	Compr. Ratio	Years	Name
L1	1600	OHV I-4	8.0:1	1970-71	Kent
L4	1600	OHV I-4	7.5:1	1971-72	Kent
NA	2000	SOHC I-4	8.2:1	1972-74
NB	2000	SOHC I-4	9.0:1	1971
PV	2800	OHV V-6	8.6:1?	1977?	Cologne
PX	2800	OHV V-6	8.2:1	1974-77	Cologne
UX	2600	OHV V-6	8.2:1	1972-73	Cologne
YA	2300	SOHC I-4	9.0:1?	1976-77	Lima
Y8	2300	SOHC I-4	8.2:1?	1977?	Lima
Y9	2300	SOHC I-4	9.0:1?	1977?	Lima

The engine code will also be stamped on the somewhere engine block, followed by the date code and 5 digit sequence number from the VIN. This will result in something like "NA TM98765". If the numbers do not match the ID plate, the engine has been swapped! Alert readers may have noticed that the example indicates a 2000cc low compression engine in a 1977 Capri, which is invalid for the USA.

We don't have authoritative data on the "PV", "Y8", "Y9", or "YA" engines. (We strongly suspect "YA" doesn't exist, since the second letter "A" is normally associated with the earlier European SOHC engine.) If you have a Capri with these engine codes or if you can provide any other information, please e-mail Larry.

Incidentally, the US engines represent only a tiny fraction of the engines used in Capris. If you run across one with an engine code that is not on this list, it may be a European model that was imported privately; check our European Engine Code Table.

The box marked "Getr/Trans" contains a 1 character transmission ID code. Possible transmission codes are:

Code	Model	Type
5	1970-72	All 4 speed manual transmissions
7	1971-72	Borg-Warner Model 35 automatic
B	1973-77	4 speed manual, external shift linkages
C	1972-74	Ford C-4 automatic
D	1976-77	Ford C-3 automatic

The box marked "Achse/Axle" contains a 1 letter rear axle code. Possible axle codes are:

Code	Ratio	Years	Notes
C	3.89	1970-72	Light duty
V	3.89	1970-72	Heavy duty
Q	3.44	1971-73
S	3.44	1973-77	Possibly 1972 also.
R	3.22	1972-77
L	3.09	1976-77	Possibly 1974 also.

The box marked "Farbe/Colour" contains the paint code, while the one marked "Polst/Trim" contains the interior color code and material code. These codes changed almost every year, so they are difficult to sort out. We're working on it! Check our Partial Paint Code Table and Partial Interior Trim Code Table for the ones we've decyphered so far.