Ford’s Merkur brand was one of the shortest-lived car brands in North America in the late 20th century, existing only from 1985 to 1989 and consisting of only two models: XR4Ti And ScorpioOf the two signs, Scorpio is the hardest to find now; I was so excited to discover this ’89 a car graveyard in Carson City, Nevada.
Dearborn brought some vehicles from operations in Europe for decades, with varying degrees of sales success. Thousands of left-hand drive cars Manager, Consul, Gentle And England appeared in the 1950s, with the Cortina available here throughout the 1960s. The West German-made Ford Capri sold in North America through Mercury dealers (albeit without Ford or Mercury badges) for model years 1970 through 1977, followed by West German Ford Fiesta from 1978 to 1981.
American car buyers were increasingly interested in European sports cars in the early 1980s, and Detroit tried to give some of its models a more European feel during that time. Ford was already a sales giant in Western Europe and had been for decades, so why not bring it over? actually European market machinery from the Blue Oval Empire? The Merkur brand (German for Mercury, pronounced “mare-KOOR”) was born.
The first person to arrive was an American. Ford Sierra XR4ipowered by a turbocharged 2.3-liter inline-four from the Thunderbird Turbo Coupe And Mustang Turbois labeled as Merkur XR4Ti. It was sold as a 1985 model. For 1988, Ford Scorpio (itself based on Sierra) came as Scorpio Merkur.
The engine in Scorpio is good old Cologne V6 enginein this case, a 2.9-liter engine rated at 144 horsepower and 162 pound-feet. Members of the Cologne family have gone into everything from Pintos ARRIVE Wild Horse ARRIVE Rangers in North America for decades, but has a much wider range of applications in Europe.
A five-speed manual transmission is standard, but this car has a four-speed automatic option for $550 ($1,427 in 2024 dollars). This is the fourth Scorpio to be discontinued. I have taken notesand all are two-pedal vehicles.
The suggested retail price of this car is $25,167, or about $62,292 after inflation. Cheaper than the smaller car BMW 325i four-door for 1989 ($25,450) and much $37,000 cheaper Car 525i. 1989 Volvo 740 GLE sedan with automatic transmission is listed at $25,045, while the Mercedes-Benz 190 sedan starts at $31,840.
Despite the bargain price for a European rear-wheel-drive car, few American car buyers wanted a new Scorpio; the model was only available for the 1988 and 1989 models.
This car has just passed the 100,000 mile mark in its lifetime.
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Jackie Stewart enjoys a comfortable back seat.
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It learned to run in the Black Forest of Germany.
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Drive a Ford Scorpio from Germany to Paris!
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Or sleep in a new Scorpio room in the UK.
