Merkur: Fords attempt to lure Yuppies in the 80's
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ค. 2024
- Welcome to Auto Chatter! Todays episode is about the Merkur brand in the U.S. This was a blink or you miss it brand that didnt last long, but it doesnt mean they didnt have a story to tell. So break out your best skinny tie, grab a Perrier , and lets see how Ford tried to attract young urban professionals to Lincoln and Mercury showrooms!
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Congrats on the 3K subs- glad to see this channel grow!
Lots of "what if"s about Merkur. I think the biggest mistake was not introducing a second model right away. And people either loved or hated the biplane spoiler; some people even removed them rather than hearing more comments about them. They were nice cars and good cars within reason. And the Scorpio was a huge hit in Europe, so why not here? Maybe look to the Yuppies for that answer. Same as Harley created for itself later, there was a certain image to be attained as a Yuppie, and that required certain possessions used and spoken of daily to the exclusion of anything seen as "lesser" by your peers. Merker never made it to their "must have" list and in some circles was disdained. Can anyone answer when someone asked "Why didn't you get a BMW?" adequately among people like that? So when sales didn't take off quickly Merkur was probably already doomed.
I drove one of the XR4Ti's numerous times, as one of our shop's longtime customers bought one for his kid who used to stoplight-race it. One of his buddies knew something about turbo's and added a few pounds of boost which really woke it up and broke it regularly. It wasn't a race car to be driven on boost all the time; it was a mature person's car which could be driven with verve,the boost being used for passing and occasional bursts of speed. Driven as intended it held up well, but raced it couldn't take it. We named that Merkur "Back Again" because we kept getting it back again with something else broken from head gaskets to turbos to clutches and more. It was very quick when cool, but after a few WFO runs power dropped and slowed it. Rather than take the hint, the kid just kept thrashing it till something else went out. In the mountains it was a blast with the turbo kicking in fairly hard but smoothly, which made keeping control easy as long as you let off when you should. In the right gear with the right revs, it could exit a corner harder than anything else I've ever driven, but you have to be precise with the boost or it would drift badly out like a Carrera. Good thing that kid only hossesd it in a straight line- it would have killed him to drive it like I did.
Maybe Ford remembered the Edsel and wasn't ready to fully commit to Merkur without promising sales. There were lots of things Ford could have done better, but the car itself didn't need any help unlike the Edsel's. It only needed more stablemates with appeal and a longer effort to get the brand going; it should have replaced Mercury as Ford's upscale division. I was not alone in being sad to see the XR4Ti go away though TBH I never cared for Merkur's Scorpio,which was too little too late to save the dying patient. RIP Merkur
Well said as usual and thank you! Seems cars like this never work out like the Cadillac Caterra and Eagle Premier. Being a single model most of the brands existence surely didn't help, and the Scorpio was expensive and odd looking from certain angles to me.
"XR4Ti" was a mix of letters/numbers that lived rent-free in my head when I was a kid.
It was cool, but too long to me. 325i...Just works...Audi 5000...Ok...XR4ti? Ehhhh. Sounds more like a Droid from Star Wars.
@@autochatter XR4 would of sufficed. People knew of the xr7 and would of understood somewhat.
@@blue_lancer_es Excellent point!
Same. Still does, honestly.
I remember this brand well from my high-school years. My uncle had a Merkur XR4Ti and that was the car that I learned how to drive a manual transmission in. It was also one of my first experiences of driving a turbocharged car. There was a time while his XR4Ti was receiving a warranty replacement of the leather interior in his car, and he was provided a Scorpio as a loaner car. I distinctly remember being sooo impressed with the smoothness, room, comfort, and composure of that car. It really felt quite special. I regret that these cars couldn't "make it" in the USA due to the myriad of issues and blunders. In my mind, it was something of a German alternative to SAAB. It would have been nice having a different and more unique option in today's market.
A comparison like that with Saab makes sense actually!
I always enjoyed the look and feel of the Scorpio. If only they were still around when I got my drivers license.
I was given the opportunity to purchase an ‘88 Scorpio with reasonable miles for just 300$ way back in the day, like ‘03 or ‘04, but passed up on it.
Looking back, wish I went ahead and copped it. Definitely much harder to find now.
Great chatter.
I saw so few Scorpios on the road, I don't know how reliable they were or how parts availability was/is. I set this vid to launch tommorow at 4 LOL....Oh well. Thanks for the props Rob!
Once Merkur went defunct these were cheap to buy, and a lot of them were bought by nascent 'boy racer' types who promptly destroyed them, and by people wanting a drivetrain upgrade on the cheap for their plain-jane Fords. Not so cheap now especially in VGC+ condition or better.
@@P_RO_ To be fair, the XR4ti kinda looked boy racer LOL.
I owned a 1985 xr4....black over gray. It was the most attention-getting car I ever owned. It was also constantly in the shop for engine-related issues. I traded it on A 1991 Honda Civic Si: not as much fun or attention, but I never had a single issue with it.
Ive owned a Xr4ti couples year back what a awsome car !
The handling was insane and the build quality too ! And on top he have the complete RS500 body kit !
Miss this car everyday !
Cool!
I grew up in a small town and I remember seeing a Merkur back when they were new. I'm sure I didn't pronounce the Merkur name correctly. It was an oddity that just didn't register. I understand what Ford was attempting but the execution was somewhat lacking. Now it is an interesting historical footnote. (Congratulations on topping the 3K mark in subscribers!)
As a european I find the brand fascinating... Also great ways to spoil cool looking cars... Scorpio cosworth was an interesting discrete beast in the early 90s
LOL..I'd agree some styling elements were better on the original versions you had! I HATE the taillights of the Merkur Scorpio. I'm sure the Cosworth was quite the sleeper!
My Mom told me about this Car Brand .But I was a little kid in the late 80s and couldn't remember these. Whiles looking for a new Vehicle. My Mom told me she took my Aunt along with her to a Mercury Dealership. Whiles shopping my Aunt liked the Scorpio and test drove it. My mother just said it was too Pricey. My Mother ended up buying a Brand New '89 Mercury Cougar. And later on my Aunt ended up getting a new '90 Chevy Beretta. Looking at this these Models they look similar to the Peugeot and Saabs late 80s and early 90s styles
I'm a little older than you..I didn't get my license untill the last year you could buy a Merkur...So I certainly wasn't in the market for a new car LOL. They were not sold in my home town and I generally saw 5 to 10 year old ones that could be had on the cheap as it was a orphan brand.
@@autochatter lol 😄
The Ford Sierra were nice cars in the 80s. My mom had a Sierra Ghia 2.8l here in Trinidad and it was considered a luxury vehicle.
I understand the Sierra lineup overseas was quite successful.
@@autochatter Congratulations on building your subscription base. I've been watching your videos from the onset. It's interesting and informative. Wishing you success in this.
@@riazbaksh1794 Thank you for the kind words!
Once I went to a dealership to test drive an Audi 5000 and an XR4Ti. There was a good bit of snow on the ground. The rear wheel drive Merkur had to be pushed out into the pavement, the FWD Audi plowed through the snow like it wasn't there. Chose the Audi but I wished the XR4Ti had been FWD. Loved the look and the driving experience but not a car for the snow in the mountains of NC.
I'm a RWD fan myself, but snow isn't a issue where I'm living.
Just such an oddball sub-brand...This is right up my alley, I may have to make a video related in the future! Great video as always man!
Thank you! Does seem like a brand you could do something with!
Congratulations on your subscribers I think your channel is well narrated professional an incredibly informative I am a baby boomer and car enthusiast I truly enjoy your videos I subscribed hit the notification and binge watch thanks again and keep up the great work Mr Auto chatter😊 northern Maine
Thank you very much! Northern Maine? Stay warm!
Congrats on growing your channel. You did an excellent on this video. You had great footage and photos. You explained how the models were sold in the United States. I liked the information on Bob Lutz/ Bob The Builder/ Bob Lutz The Man with Guts. He is a true industry vet. I liked how you broke down each year and what happened. I was aware of the European versions also. I liked how you mentioned they could not use the name Sierra because of GMC and Oldsmobile with Ciera. During the same period in the 1980's GM was looking to bring the Omega and Senator from Opel to the United States. They did not bring the Omega until years later in 1997. There is a video this on You Tube when it was on Motorweek where they test drove the Omega and Senator. The other interesting thing you said that was true is how Scorpio looked similar the the Mercury Sable. This is true. It is interesting how Ford and GMC chased the European market for so long unsuccessfully until recent times with the Lincoln LS and Cadillac CT4 and CT5. The Scorpio had so much potential. Thank you for the video.
Thanks Olds! Yeah the Caddy CTS was a real turning point for them kicking off the whole "art and science" thing..Even more so than the Lincoln LS IMO.
@@autochatter The Opel Omega which flopped in the United States as the Catera is what started it off actually. When the CTS arrived Cadillac got the formula right for European themes. People are just now starting the see the Lincoln LS as well long after it has been gone. MKZ/ Zephyr was not Lincoln enough and was missing something. You are most welcome.
@@OLDS98 The LS platform was basically European anyway I think..Ford of Europe and Jaguar as Ford owned them then?
@@autochatter It was. the Jaguar S type , Lincoln LS and Thunderbird used the same platform.
Thanks for doing this. I've always wondered about this brand. There were a lot of these running around the Denver area growing up.
Denver had a lot of yuppies when I was there in the early 1980s (I joined the AF before Merkur showed up). I remember a lot of Saab 900s, Volvo DL coupes and BMW 320is. The Merkur XR4TI would’ve fit right in
A friend of mine over here in Sweden bought a Sierra 4x4 with the V6 new back in the day, but it spent more time at the dealer being repaired than it did on the road...
The Sierras and Scorpios (Granada in the UK) was´nt great quality cars. Only Sierra I would love to get my hands on is the South African made XR8 with the 302 V8 🙂
The XR8 version sounds pretty cool with a 5.0 under the hood!
Ford should've ditched the traditional Mercury line up of "Fords in a frock" and re-branded Mercury as the brand for Fords European captive imports. That would've made sense, as it had given Mercury a reason to live and given Ford a channel for alternative cars, like the Sierra and Scorpio. Imagine a world where the Sierra had become the new Mercury Capri, and Ford had ditched its slow selling Mustang-based Capri.
Yeah...It may have worked.
Owned a XR4Ti, loved its style but too bad the dealer support was garbage. Vehicle was in the shop 1/3 of the time. I had the opportunity to talk to Bob Lutz for quite a while about these vehicles and we both agree that corporate pulled the plug way too soon
He seems like a cool guy
Back in 1993, I went on a ski trip weekend from Massachusetts to New Hampshire in a Murkur XR4TI. My impression was that it was a sporty turbo coupe in the similar class as my brother’s 1989 Dodge Daytona SC 2.5 Turbo. It was an interesting car but the price/profit/value factor was the obvious root of the commercial failure.
I agree!
@@autochatter, I agree with your thoughts on the Scorpio. It basically had middle child syndrome between the Sable, BMW and Lincoln/Cadillac. The middle class, Yuppies and Traditional customers were not drawn to the Scorpio. Although personally I would have loved the more unique Scorpio if the value factor was right.
I personally don't care for the Scorpio styling wise.Especially the front and rear.
I would have easily picked that cheaper 1986 Capri RS over that XR4TI in the showroom back then. The 5.0 liter horsepower was back over 200 at that point.
@AsteroidsDeluxe I would have made the same choice...It wasn't as sophisticated, but for that price difference and you get a V8?
What would merkur have been like if it didn't fail after 1989? I think merkur would've become fords version of Pontiac and Saturn, I think the 1998-2002 cougar would've been sold as a merkur. I think merkur would've had a peculiar suv to compete with the Pontiac aztek and maybe a small roadster to compete with the Pontiac solstice.
Yeah...If marketed differenty, who knows?
@@autochatter I could see the merkur Scorpio competing with the Pontiac g8. Merkur having a hot hatch to compete with the Pontiac vibe. I think the 2003-2005 Lincoln aviator and the 2004-2011 Mercury Mariner being sold as merkurs. And I think merkur would've been cancelled around 2010 as a result of the recession.
@anthonyrivera0917 maybe if Merkur had its own dealerships and was considered basically another European brand, it would still be around today.
Merkur Puma 😅
Awesome take on these Merkurs
Thanks! Wasn't sure how it would go as I didn't get into the actual cars for awhile!
@@autochatter do the 2006 to 2012 first generation Ford Fusion and its cousin cars from Lincoln and Mercury next!
@InnocentAnacondaSnake-xk9ew They will have a vid. Wont be next though.
Back in the early 90's I had a Scorpio. Absolutely gorgeous car inside and out. Somewhat underpowered though..
I think your the first...or second comment at most that actually owned one..I liked the interior and side profile. Didn't care for the tail amp treatment for U.S. versions.
Congrats on 3k subs!!
Thank you!
Sierra and Scorpio with Cosworth tuned engines were great, these are poor man Cosworths
I bet they were!
4:19 - Bob was right. And Genesis should have learned from that. Same for Chrysler, though that brand equity was dead in the 70s.
I believe he was too...and Ford could have spent alot more money doing his plan,it still flopped, and Merkur went deduct by 94..The World will never know 😉
@@autochatterdoug6191 is actually Doug DeMuro. I hope you’re aware of that, lol.
😂@@upbeattvraw-hiphop8242Doug's comments are suspiciously Doug sounding ( which I enjoy reading)
They should have sold under the Lincoln brand.
How did the Cologne V6 pass US emissions in the Scorpio but not the XR4?
That's actually a good question! I read from several sources on that, but couldn't find a solid answer. Somthing must have changed on the Colonge engine between 85 and 88. Maybe with the U.S. emissions in place, the V6 would have lost too much power? The DeLorean would have had another 30 ponies if not for that.
Love your videos. With respect - you might consider working on your speech cadence. Your cadence and choice voice style sounds a lot like a 'news' reader.
LOL..Ill work on that! Total unprofessional at work here!
The xr4ti was weird then and weird now
The Scorpio looked too much like a mercury sable and cost a whole lot more
Yeah it looked like a "weird" Sable and started about 10 grand higher then...Which is close to 27k now!
From back then til now, everything, everything was weird about that whole brand.
Kinda was yeah.
Cool cars, but people paid a premium for bmw just because of the name and perceived prestige. Merkur had no history, nor brand awareness and value to upcharge.
Lutz is revered, but this is one of his lesser moments. He also killed off some of the more tech appealing features at chrysler such as digital gages and electronic voice alert. Lutz thought people bought bmw, audi, and benz just because they were german. Thats only partially true. Euro cars had spent years cultivating an engineering focused image that made them seem prestigious.
I could see his point of view though. You sit in most Euro cars at that time, and it was often well laid out, but rather plain and understated..Even cars like a Porsche. I gravitate to driver focused cars myself, so "whiz bang" while neat, I dont find as interesting.
Totally agree Merkur wasnt a Lutz Highpoint, but his grand idea was kind off kneecapped and reduced to selling and servicing them in the wrong stores.
talk about Chinese cars manufacturers international expansion
That's a interesting topic. I will tackle something like that in the future.
Marketing killed this car.
Acura had the same idea and did a new dealer network and a name that was easy. Merkur sounded pretentious. A better name and some better marketing would of helped these a lot.
I agree.
The American automakers are dumb, instead of bringing European cars in their European specs they had to ruin each car. The public want European cars? Great let’s bring great cars from Europe and change them.
I know back then especially we had different emmision and safety regs, which led to alot of our cars from Europe being gimped.
@autochatter what's weird to me is that I got a 1985 TVR 280i parked outside, been a claifornia car since 85, equipped with that 2.8l cologne engine producing 160hp.
In general I think that Ford messed up with the Sierra and the escort as well as the Fiesta MK1 that was such a success world wide.
@Bentsi2002 was the TVR more "exempt" because it wasn't a mainstream car? Sweet ride by the way and quite rare as you know!
@autochatter I don't think so, there's california emissions sticker and I do have to pass smog.
@Bentsi2002 I wasn't implying it didn't have to have any emissions. I'm not sure how the first gen Dodge Viper were sold without passive restraint systems like airbags or auto seatbelts...They were required by 90. Even a Omni had a airbag in 90! I recall reading that specialty low volume cars could get away with more...Your car would definately fall in that category! I've never lived anywhere requiring smog tests. Some Counties in N.C. did, but I think once the car hit a certain age its exempt.