I see a Laforza every so often on the streets near my house. He must live in the area. It'd been a good 20+ years in between sightings, 1989 I believe was the last one until recently. Model years 1989-2003, somehow.
The Laforza was the name applied to a V8-engined version of the Italian-designed and built luxury off-roader Rayton-Fissore Magnum 4x4. The car began life intended for military and police use, but the Tom Tjaarda designed car, fitted with Italian leather interior and a fuel injected Ford Windsor engine was marketed as a "luxury 4x4" competing with the Range Rover. The vehicle was refreshed in 1998 with a "new" design to include more modern amenities, but still used the same basic body and drivetrain. European-market Magnums received a range of more fuel-efficient smaller engines, to reflect European market conditions, including turbodiesels.
Capri
While not nearly as rare as the Laforza, I saw a Mercury Capri yesterday. This would be a very nice project/2nd car. Turbo or nothing, however. Model years 1991–1994.
Ford sought to import the Australian convertible in response to Mazda's Miata, necessitating the addition of a driver's airbag for the US market. The Capri featured four usable seats, a lockable top storage and lockable fold down back seat that made the trunk accessible through the interior when the soft top is up. Popular options included a removable hard top.
Two versions were offered for all model years: base and XR2. The base model featured a Mazda 1.6L DOHC 4-cylinder rated at 100 hp (75 kW). The XR2 featured a turbocharged version of 1.6L engine rated at 132 hp (98 kW). Both the base model and the XR2 had a 5-speed manual transmission standard; a 4-speed automatic was optional only for the base model.
