Merkur XR4Ti

kebabaluba

kebabaluba

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Just finished watching this awesome YT video from Hagerty about Merkur XR4Ti. Is it true that it was sold poorly because it was sold in "wrong" dealerships? Considering amount of sport coupes that was available in the US at that time it`s kinda funny how a pretty rapid car like that sold badly, it was decently equipped too compared to popular mundane Sierras in the EU. Ford Sierra is my childhood car, my family had one when i was a young kid. And Sierra is a cult car, european conterpart to AE86.

Search YT for "Merkur XR4Ti and Sierra RS Cosworth"

(link removed; rules violation - MOD)
 
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Considered buying one of these about 15 yrs ago when CL was still a thing lol. I really liked how it rode but the specific one I looked at had major electrical gremlins. Then life happened and I still regret not looking for one over the following years.
 
jsean said:
Considered buying one of these about 15 yrs ago when CL was still a thing lol. I really liked how it rode but the specific one I looked at had major electrical gremlins. Then life happened and I still regret not looking for one over the following years.
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They did rust a lot so most of them are crushed. Cosworth versions were popular to tune and modify, many of them are ruined and smashed too.
 
Title said "Scorpio" - you meant "Sierra" ?

The Sierra Song (wish I could understand the lyrics!) -
 
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I saw one of these at a new car show in the Convention Centre back around 1986. I thought it looked amazing, but as I recall it was really expensive.

I don't remember the actual price, but do remember seeing a stripped V6 Camaro listed at around C$12,000, which seemed like a good price.

The Merkur was way more.
 
Number_35 said:
I saw one of these at a new car show in the Convention Centre back around 1986. I thought it looked amazing, but as I recall it was really expensive.

I don't remember the actual price, but do remember seeing a stripped V6 Camaro listed at around C$12,000, which seemed like a good price.

The Merkur was way more.
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Aren`t a V6 Camaro from the same era a bit of a dog in comparison?
 
Because of my involvement with the Lima engine, I owned a number of cars with the 2.3L Turbo. Merkur Xr4tIxyzmouse included. The post above was correct, it was not a very reliable car. Non stop issues. Although it was fun to drive, especially with over 30 pounds of boost. In the end I sold it for the very same reasons others sold theirs. I spent more time working on it, than driving it.
 
Cujet said:
Because of my involvement with the Lima engine
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How were you involved with the Lima?

I have a 2.3 in my Ranger and I'm pretty positive on it. 315k miles, seems to run fine with minimal oil consumption and the engine is clean as a whistle inside.
 
The great thing about these videos is that they never address the REAL issues.
Cars like the e30 BMW and MB w124 (the Ford's main competitors) were far superior in overall performance and reliability.
 
I was so close to getting an XR4Ti but opted for a VW Corrado G60, instead. I recently watched an vintage Motorweek episode covering this car.
 
kebabaluba said:
Just finished watching this awesome YT video from Hagerty about Merkur XR4Ti. Is it true that it was sold poorly because it was sold in "wrong" dealerships? Considering amount of sport coupes that was available in the US at that time it`s kinda funny how a pretty rapid car like that sold badly, it was decently equipped too compared to popular mundane Sierras in the EU. Ford Sierra is my childhood car, my family had one when i was a young kid. And Sierra is a cult car, european conterpart to AE86.
Click to expand...

Part of the issue was that Ford/mercury dealerships didn't know what to do with a European model. According to Tanner Faust from TG USA the name was so weird that nobody knew how to pronounce it. I don't think Ford ran ads nor pushed it either.
 
Merkur.webp

I owned this one, A 1986 double wing. Of course I took off the "phone dial" wheels (for those of you that remember dial phones! :ROFLMAO: )
I replaced those 14" wheels with 15" from a 1989 Merkur. It looked much better.
While I was at it I upgraded the suspension, and exhaust manifolds from that '89, as well as the turbo cooling pipe.
I never had a bit of problems with mine, and I loved that car! Ran about 24 lbs of boost on it, being warned of melting pistons if you went too high.
The Scorpio, here in the US, was a 4 door sedan. V6, non-turbo, with RECLINING REAR SEATS!

They were sold at Lincoln/Mercury dealerships, so the OP is correct. This car, as above sold for $21,000 dollars, but right next to it was a Lincoln Continental which could be had for $23,000.00!
 
Number_35 said:
Not apples-to-apples, but I thought that generation of Camaro was very sharp-looking.
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Correction: the IROC-Z from that generation of Camaro was very sharp-looking.

The base model Camaro of the mid eighties was the kid in grade school who had athletic tape around the bridge of his glasses and got atomic wedgies on the playground because he was such a dweeb.
 
I had a close friend who owned a XR4Ti and he loved it. Put an insane amount of miles on it; something near 250k. He had some minor issues over the years but it was his DD and was generally reliable. He was very good about preventative maintenance. Rust finally did it in; being in the midwest ... Salt ... etc ...

After that he got a Contour SVT. Ran that thing into the ground also; around 300k miles.
 
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