AUTOS: Top Down, Hopes Up

Top Down, Hopes Up

No sports car in years has so quickly won the hearts of U.S. car buffs as Mazda's pert Miata MX-5. But Detroit automakers are not content to sit back and watch foreign roadsters whiz by. Next month Ford will begin selling its own cosmopolitan contender, the Mercury Capri. The car's body was designed in Italy, and its engine and chassis were developed jointly by Ford and Mazda. The Detroit automaker has a 25% stake in the Japanese company. The convertible, which will be built at a Ford plant near Melbourne, will be the first Australian-made car sold in the U.S. The...

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