Merkur
Encyclopedia
Merkur Mercury
) was an automobile brand which was briefly marketed by Ford Motor Company
in the United States and Canada from 1985 to 1989. The brand made only two entry-level luxury cars (as a smaller companion to Lincoln's
large luxury cars).
-Mercury
dealers, of which only about 800 accepted.
When the Merkur name was launched in North America, advertising and PR materials strongly urged the proper German
pronunciation. Below the Merkur badge was a script stating FORD WERKE AG-Cologne, West Germany, indicating the car's place of manufacture.
Like the Capri
before it, the Merkur was Ford's attempt at selling a Europe
an car in the North American market. However, Ford could not just import the cars and sell them; American government-mandated safety regulations dictated that Ford modify the design of the XR4Ti
and Scorpio
. This meant that the two cars were manufactured in Europe in a manner different from other European Fords. The XR4Ti was manufactured by Karmann
in Rheine
, Germany, with a turbocharged Ford Lima 2.3 L 4-cylinder engine from the Ford engine plant in Taubate
, Brazil
, and the Scorpio was manufactured in Ford's Cologne
plant and fitted with the Cologne 2.9 L V6.
Only two models were sold under the Merkur badge: a performance-oriented three-door hatchback version of the Ford Sierra
XR4i called the Merkur XR4Ti
and nicknamed Merkur XR (1985–1989), and the Merkur Scorpio
(1988–1989), which was an American version of the Ford Scorpio Mark I (Scorpio being the top trim level for the Mk III Granada in the UK) 5-door hatchback.
Neither model was particularly successful in Ford North America's eyes. Exchange rate fluctuations were one explanation. Also, the Scorpio bore a strong resemblance to the Mercury Topaz
, and the similarly-sized Mercury Sable
, which were sold on the same showroom floors and were considerably cheaper.
Merkur Scorpios are well known for being nearly identical to each other in appearance and options. All of them had standard features, such as Automatic Climate Control, and the optional Touring Package upgrade was included with nearly every Merkur Scorpio sold. The original cost of a Merkur Scorpio was nearly US$
30,000.00. A major factor in the decision to drop the cars was the US government's requirement to add either a passive restraint system or air bags for US models since these were not requirements for European models. The XR4Ti was dropped first and the Scorpio a few months later in 1989.
Merkur eventually joined Packard
and Chrysler
's Imperial
in the fray of defunct luxury automotive brands. In addition, Merkur was also the shortest-lived luxury automotive marque.
/Ford Taunus
, which was a bold move at the time considering that the Cortina/Taunus was one of Ford's best selling cars. Despite Ford's initial misgivings about the styling, Sierra went on to be the second best selling car in Europe , second only to Ford's own Escort
.
European Sierras were available in 3-door hatchback, 5-door hatchback, 4-door sedans, 5-door station wagons, and even a pickup truck called the P100. Engines were available from a 1.3 litre 60 hp 4 cylinder, to a 160 hp 2.8 litre V6, or a 2 litre, 16 valve, turbocharged and intercooled 4 cylinder as fitted to the Sierra Cosworth
. According to British government test figures, fuel efficient models such as the 1.6 Economy could do 51 mpgimp at a steady 56 mi/h, and 30 mpgimp simulated urban driving.
At the other end of the spectrum the Sierra Cosworth would do 0-60 mph in 6.2 seconds and go on to a top speed of almost 150 mi/h (and still be capable of over 20 mpgimp if driven gently). Oddly, the Sierra XR range and the Cosworth models are not viewed as sales flops in Europe, despite individual models selling fewer cars than the XR4Ti.
Like the Sierra, the Scorpio was also introduced to replace another popular model, the Ford Granada
, so popular in fact that in the UK and Ireland the Granada name was still used with the Scorpio name reserved for the top of the range Granada models. The Scorpio started life as a 5-door hatchback, and it later became available as a 4 door sedan and a 5 door wagon. An "executive express" in the form of the Scorpio Cosworth was produced, powered by a 2.9 litre, 24 valve Cosworth V6 motor. This featured 16" aluminum alloy wheels similar to the AMG
Mercedes
wheels, a rear spoiler, and additional ground effects.
Mercury (planet)
Mercury is the innermost and smallest planet in the Solar System, orbiting the Sun once every 87.969 Earth days. The orbit of Mercury has the highest eccentricity of all the Solar System planets, and it has the smallest axial tilt. It completes three rotations about its axis for every two orbits...
) was an automobile brand which was briefly marketed by Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
in the United States and Canada from 1985 to 1989. The brand made only two entry-level luxury cars (as a smaller companion to Lincoln's
Lincoln (automobile)
Lincoln is an American luxury vehicle brand of the Ford Motor Company. Lincoln vehicles are sold mostly in North America.-History:The company was founded in August 1915 by Henry M. Leland, one of the founders of Cadillac . During World War I, he left Cadillac which was sold to General Motors...
large luxury cars).
Merkur
Ford introduced the Merkur brand as a franchise separate from its other brands, and it was only offered to LincolnLincoln (automobile)
Lincoln is an American luxury vehicle brand of the Ford Motor Company. Lincoln vehicles are sold mostly in North America.-History:The company was founded in August 1915 by Henry M. Leland, one of the founders of Cadillac . During World War I, he left Cadillac which was sold to General Motors...
-Mercury
Mercury (automobile)
Mercury was an automobile marque of the Ford Motor Company launched in 1938 by Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford, to market entry-level luxury cars slotted between Ford-branded regular models and Lincoln-branded luxury vehicles, similar to General Motors' Buick brand, and Chrysler's namesake brand...
dealers, of which only about 800 accepted.
When the Merkur name was launched in North America, advertising and PR materials strongly urged the proper German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
pronunciation. Below the Merkur badge was a script stating FORD WERKE AG-Cologne, West Germany, indicating the car's place of manufacture.
Like the Capri
Ford Capri
Ford Capri was a name used by the Ford Motor Company for three different automobile models. The Ford Consul Capri coupé was produced by Ford of Britain between 1961 and 1964. The Ford Capri coupé was produced by Ford of Europe from 1969 to 1986...
before it, the Merkur was Ford's attempt at selling a Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an car in the North American market. However, Ford could not just import the cars and sell them; American government-mandated safety regulations dictated that Ford modify the design of the XR4Ti
Merkur XR4Ti
The Merkur XR4Ti was a short-lived United States and Canada-market version of the European Ford Sierra XR4i. It was the brainchild of then Ford Vice President Bob Lutz. It was sold in the US from 1985 to 1989. It was the first vehicle of Ford's Merkur range, followed in 1988 by the Merkur Scorpio...
and Scorpio
Merkur Scorpio
The Merkur Scorpio is a modified European Ford Scorpio with 4 doors and lift gate which was manufactured and sold as 1988 and 1989 models...
. This meant that the two cars were manufactured in Europe in a manner different from other European Fords. The XR4Ti was manufactured by Karmann
Karmann
Wilhelm Karmann GmbH, commonly known simply as Karmann, in Osnabrück, Germany was until 2009 the largest independent motor vehicle manufacturing company in Germany...
in Rheine
Rheine
Rheine is a city in the district of Steinfurt in Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city in the district and the location of Rheine Air Base.-Geography:Rheine is located on the river Ems, approx. north of Münster, approx...
, Germany, with a turbocharged Ford Lima 2.3 L 4-cylinder engine from the Ford engine plant in Taubate
Taubaté
Taubaté is a city in the State of São Paulo, in southeastern Brazil. Its strategic geographical location, between the two most important Brazilian cities , being crossed by Presidente Dutra Highway which connects the two megacities, and between high, cold mountains and the Atlantic Ocean has...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, and the Scorpio was manufactured in Ford's Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
plant and fitted with the Cologne 2.9 L V6.
Ford Sierra
The Ford Sierra is a large family car that was built by Ford Europe from 1982 until 1993. It was designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz and Patrick le Quément. The code used during development was "Project Toni"....
XR4i called the Merkur XR4Ti
Merkur XR4Ti
The Merkur XR4Ti was a short-lived United States and Canada-market version of the European Ford Sierra XR4i. It was the brainchild of then Ford Vice President Bob Lutz. It was sold in the US from 1985 to 1989. It was the first vehicle of Ford's Merkur range, followed in 1988 by the Merkur Scorpio...
and nicknamed Merkur XR (1985–1989), and the Merkur Scorpio
Merkur Scorpio
The Merkur Scorpio is a modified European Ford Scorpio with 4 doors and lift gate which was manufactured and sold as 1988 and 1989 models...
(1988–1989), which was an American version of the Ford Scorpio Mark I (Scorpio being the top trim level for the Mk III Granada in the UK) 5-door hatchback.
Neither model was particularly successful in Ford North America's eyes. Exchange rate fluctuations were one explanation. Also, the Scorpio bore a strong resemblance to the Mercury Topaz
Mercury Topaz
The Mercury Topaz is a compact car that was manufactured by the Mercury division of Ford Motor Company for model years 1984 to 1994 as a slightly upscale variant of the Ford Tempo...
, and the similarly-sized Mercury Sable
Mercury Sable
The Sable was a very important sedan for both Mercury and the American auto industry.Ford had lagged in introducing mid-size front wheel drive cars to compete against General Motors' Chevrolet Citation and its best-selling Chevrolet Celebrity/Pontiac 6000/Oldsmobile Cutlass/Buick Century quartet as...
, which were sold on the same showroom floors and were considerably cheaper.
Merkur Scorpios are well known for being nearly identical to each other in appearance and options. All of them had standard features, such as Automatic Climate Control, and the optional Touring Package upgrade was included with nearly every Merkur Scorpio sold. The original cost of a Merkur Scorpio was nearly US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
30,000.00. A major factor in the decision to drop the cars was the US government's requirement to add either a passive restraint system or air bags for US models since these were not requirements for European models. The XR4Ti was dropped first and the Scorpio a few months later in 1989.
Merkur eventually joined Packard
Packard
Packard was an American luxury-type automobile marque built by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana...
and Chrysler
Chrysler
Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....
's Imperial
Imperial (automobile)
Imperial was the Chrysler Corporation's luxury automobile brand between 1955 and 1975, with a brief reappearance in 1981 to 1983.The Imperial name had been used since 1926, but was never a separate make, just the top-of-the-line Chrysler. In 1955, the company decided to spin it off as its own make...
in the fray of defunct luxury automotive brands. In addition, Merkur was also the shortest-lived luxury automotive marque.
Contrast to Ford of Europe
The Sierra was introduced as a replacement for the aging Ford CortinaFord Cortina
As the 1960s dawned, BMC were revelling in the success of their new Mini – the first successful true minicar to be built in Britain in the postwar era...
/Ford Taunus
Ford Taunus
The Ford Taunus is a family car sold by Ford in Germany and other countries. Models from 1970 onward were similar to the Ford Cortina in the United Kingdom...
, which was a bold move at the time considering that the Cortina/Taunus was one of Ford's best selling cars. Despite Ford's initial misgivings about the styling, Sierra went on to be the second best selling car in Europe , second only to Ford's own Escort
Ford Escort (European)
The Mark I Ford Escort was introduced in the United Kingdom at the end of 1967, making its show debut at Brussels Motor Show in January 1968. It replaced the successful long running Anglia. The car was presented in continental Europe as a product of Ford's European operation...
.
European Sierras were available in 3-door hatchback, 5-door hatchback, 4-door sedans, 5-door station wagons, and even a pickup truck called the P100. Engines were available from a 1.3 litre 60 hp 4 cylinder, to a 160 hp 2.8 litre V6, or a 2 litre, 16 valve, turbocharged and intercooled 4 cylinder as fitted to the Sierra Cosworth
Cosworth
Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...
. According to British government test figures, fuel efficient models such as the 1.6 Economy could do 51 mpgimp at a steady 56 mi/h, and 30 mpgimp simulated urban driving.
At the other end of the spectrum the Sierra Cosworth would do 0-60 mph in 6.2 seconds and go on to a top speed of almost 150 mi/h (and still be capable of over 20 mpgimp if driven gently). Oddly, the Sierra XR range and the Cosworth models are not viewed as sales flops in Europe, despite individual models selling fewer cars than the XR4Ti.
Like the Sierra, the Scorpio was also introduced to replace another popular model, the Ford Granada
Ford Granada (Europe)
The March 1972 released Granada succeeded the British Ford Zephyr, and the German P7-series as Ford's European executive car offering. At first, lower models in the range were called the Ford Consul, but from 1975 on they were all called Granadas. The car soon became popular for taxi, fleet and...
, so popular in fact that in the UK and Ireland the Granada name was still used with the Scorpio name reserved for the top of the range Granada models. The Scorpio started life as a 5-door hatchback, and it later became available as a 4 door sedan and a 5 door wagon. An "executive express" in the form of the Scorpio Cosworth was produced, powered by a 2.9 litre, 24 valve Cosworth V6 motor. This featured 16" aluminum alloy wheels similar to the AMG
Mercedes-AMG
Mercedes-AMG GmbH, commonly known as AMG, is a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz car company specializing in high-performance luxury cars....
Mercedes
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
wheels, a rear spoiler, and additional ground effects.
External links
| Merkur road car timeline, 1985-1989 | ||||||||||
| 1980s | ||||||||||
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| Compact Compact car A compact car , or small family car , is a classification of cars which are larger than a supermini but smaller than or equal to a mid-size car... |
XR4Ti Merkur XR4Ti The Merkur XR4Ti was a short-lived United States and Canada-market version of the European Ford Sierra XR4i. It was the brainchild of then Ford Vice President Bob Lutz. It was sold in the US from 1985 to 1989. It was the first vehicle of Ford's Merkur range, followed in 1988 by the Merkur Scorpio... |
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| Mid-size Mid-size car A mid-size car is the North American/Australian standard for an automobile with a size equal to or greater than that of a compact... |
Scorpio Merkur Scorpio The Merkur Scorpio is a modified European Ford Scorpio with 4 doors and lift gate which was manufactured and sold as 1988 and 1989 models... |
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