The Merkur Scorpio is a

mid-size luxury car Executive car is a British term for a large car, and is considered equivalent to the European E-segment and American full-size classifications. Executive cars are larger than compact executive cars (and the non-luxury equivalent mid-size cars), ...

that was marketed by the

Lincoln-Mercury Mercury was a brand of medium-priced automobiles that was produced by American manufacturer Ford Motor Company between the 1939 and 2011 motor years. Created by Edsel Ford in 1938, Mercury was established to bridge the gap between the Ford and ...

division of

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

for the 1988 and 1989 model years through its

Merkur Merkur (, '' Mercury'') is a North American brand of automobiles marketed by the Lincoln- Mercury division of Ford Motor Company for model years 1985–1989. Drawing its name from the German word for Mercury, Merkur, the brand targeted buyers ...

sub-brand. Marketed above the

Merkur XR4Ti The Merkur XR4Ti is a performance-oriented 3-door hatchback sold in North America from 1985 to 1989. A product of the Ford Motor Company, the car was a version of the European Ford Sierra adapted to U.S. regulations. The XR4Ti project was champion ...

in the model line, the Scorpio served as the brand's flagship. As a captive import from

Ford of Europe Ford of Europe GmbH is a subsidiary company of Ford Motor Company founded in 1967 in Cork (city), Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with headquarters in Cologne, Germany. History Ford of Europe was founded in 1967 by the merger of Ford of Bri ...

, selected Lincoln-Mercury dealers marketed the Scorpio in the United States and Canada. A near-direct counterpart of the Ford Scorpio Mk I ( Ford Granada Mk III in the United Kingdom), the Merkur Scorpio was developed to give Lincoln-Mercury a competitor against European executive cars sold in North America, including the

Audi 100 The Audi 100 and Audi 200 (and sometimes called Audi 5000 in North America) are primarily mid-size/executive cars manufactured and marketed by the Audi division of the Volkswagen Group. The car was made from 1968 to 1997 across four generations (C ...

BMW 5-series The BMW 5 Series is an executive car manufactured and marketed by BMW since 1972. It is the successor to the BMW New Class sedans and is currently in its eighth generation. The car is sold as either a sedan or, since 1991, a station wagon (marke ...

, Mercedes-Benz 190E,

Saab 9000 The Saab 9000 is an automobile produced by the Swedish company Saab from 1984 to 1998. Representing the company's foray into the executive car scene, it was developed as a result of the successes of the turbocharged 99 and 900 models. The 90 ...

, Sterling 827, and Volvo 740/760. Following the 1989 model year, Ford ended imports of the Scorpio, closing down the Merkur brand. Lasting only for two model years, the Merkur Scorpio is among the shortest-lived Ford Motor Company nameplates in modern history. Along with unstable pricing due to fluctuating exchange rates and insufficient sales figures, the model line would have required a costly redesign to remain in compliance with upcoming American safety regulations. The Scorpio was manufactured in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, by

Ford of Germany Ford-Werke GmbH is a German-based car manufacturing company headquartered in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a fully-owned subsidiary of American Ford Motor Company. It operates two large manufacturing facilities in Germany, a plant in Co ...

(

Cologne Body & Assembly Cologne Body & Assembly is an automobile manufacturing plant owned by the Ford Motor Company and located in the Niehl quarter, Nippes district of Cologne, Germany. This factory is not to be confused with the smaller development and spare parts ...

). In total, 22,010 examples were imported.

Model overview

While offered as a five-door hatchback, the Merkur Scorpio was similar in appearance to the

Mercury Sable The Mercury Sable is a range of automobiles manufactured and marketed by the Mercury brand of Ford Motor Company. Introduced on December 26, 1985, as the replacement for the Mercury Marquis, the Sable marked the transition of the mid-size Mercur ...

. In comparison to the first-generation (1986-1991) Mercury Sable, the Scorpio was 4.5 inches shorter in length (2 inches shorter than the

Ford Taurus The Ford Taurus is an automobile that was manufactured and marketed by the Ford Motor Company in the United States from 1985 to 2019. From 1985 to 2009, Ford marketed the Taurus alongside its rebadged variant, the Mercury Sable. Four generati ...

), 1.3 inches narrower, and 2.7 inches longer in wheelbase; the two models were nearly identical in height. Styled as a fastback, the Merkur Scorpio provided Lincoln-Mercury an opportunity to market a premium alternative to its traditional

Lincoln Continental The Lincoln Continental is a series of mid-sized and full-sized luxury cars produced between 1939 and 2020 by Lincoln, a division of the American automaker Ford Motor Company. The model line was introduced following the construction of a per ...

and

Lincoln Town Car The Lincoln Town Car was a model line of full-size luxury sedans that was marketed by the Lincoln division of the American automaker Ford Motor Company. Deriving its name from a limousine body style, Lincoln marketed the Town Car from 1981 t ...

sedans with (far) better road manners.

Chassis specification

The Merkur Scorpio shares its rear-wheel drive Ford DE-1 chassis with its Ford namesake, configured as a long-wheelbase version of the Ford Sierra (extended from 102.7 inches to 108.7 inches). In contrast to American-designed rear-wheel drive Ford chassis (i.e. Fox, Panther), the DE-1 platform was fitted with four-wheel independent suspension. In one of the first vehicles sold in North America, the Merkur Scorpio was equipped with standard

anti-lock brakes An anti-lock braking system (ABS) is a safety anti- skid braking system used on aircraft and on land vehicles, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, and buses. ABS operates by preventing the wheels from locking up during braking, thereby maintai ...

(ABS) and four-wheel disc brakes. Within Ford Motor Company, the latter two features were previously exclusive to the

Lincoln Mark VII Mark 7 is the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It explores Jesus' relationships with both fellow Jews and Gentiles. Initially Jesus speaks with the Pharisees and scribes, and then with his discipl ...

. In contrast to the XR4Ti, the Merkur Scorpio was fitted with a specific engine for North America. The model line was fitted exclusively with a 144hp 2.9L V6 (the largest engine of the Ford Scorpio). Shared with the Ford Ranger/Bronco II, the V6 was paired with a standard 5-speed manual transmission; a 4-speed overdrive automatic was offered as an option.

Body

In contrast to many of its European counterparts, the Scorpio was offered solely as a five-door hatchback (a sedan was not introduced until 1990). As with the Mercury Sable sedan, the Scorpio was designed with blacked-out B and C-pillars for a "floating-roof" effect). Closer in style to the Ford Taurus, the front fascia was designed with a minimal front grille opening. While less extensive than the redevelopment of the XR4Ti, several changes were made to distinguish the Merkur Scorpio from its Ford counterpart. The rear fascia is unique to Merkur, styled with a full-width taillamp lens (similar to the Mercury Sable). With the exception of divisional badging, the front fascia was largely unchanged; Merkurs are fitted with modified foglamps and headlamps (in compliance with American lighting regulations). Along with standard two-tone lower body trim, the Merkur Scorpio received its own model-specific alloy wheels. Sharing much of its interior with the Ford Scorpio, the Merkur Scorpio was solely offered in a five-passenger configuration. In contrast to the Sable (or the Lincoln Continental or Town Car), the Scorpio was offered with power-reclining rear seats and a tilt-telescope steering column. File:Merkur Scorpio 2.9 Ghia (34993645283).jpg, Merkur Scorpio Ghia File:Merkur Scorpio 2.9 Ghia (34963374544).jpg, Merkur Scorpio dashboard File:1989 Merkur Scorpio in black, front left.jpg, 1989 Merkur Scorpio (Ford Scorpio wheels) File:1989 Merkur Scorpio in black, rear left.jpg, 1989 Merkur Scorpio, rear (Ford Scorpio wheels)

Pricing

At its launch, the Merkur Scorpio was sold with a base price of $23,390 (). Options included automatic transmission, power moonroof and Touring Package. Most North American Scorpios were sold with automatic transmission and the Touring Package which raised the sticker price to $26,405 (). Although smaller in size, the Scorpio rivaled the Lincoln Town Car in price. To attract customers to the model line, Lincoln-Mercury offered potential Scorpio customers a Guaranteed Resale Value Program, matching the resale value of the Scorpio to the Mercedes-Benz 190E.

Discontinuation

On October 20, 1989, Ford announced it was ending imports of the Scorpio to the United States. As the XR4Ti had ended sales earlier in the year, the decision effectively closed Merkur; lasting only two model years longer than Edsel, it is among the shortest-lived American car brands in postwar history. Coinciding with lower than anticipated sales (Ford had sought 15,000 sales a year for the brand), Merkur fell victim to unstable exchange rates between the dollar and German mark, leading to increases in price. As passive safety regulations were to be adopted in 1990, the Scorpio was required to adopt automatic seatbelts or airbag(s). The Ford Scorpio was developed with neither feature and passive safety compliance proved too expensive to justify the conversion cost of redeveloping the slow-selling model line for North American sale. Following the discontinuation of the Merkur Scorpio, Ford of Europe expanded the Granada/Scorpio range by introducing a sedan model at the beginning of 1990 and a wagon model two years later. The Scorpio MkI was produced until 1994.

Sales

References

External links

MerkurMidwest

The Merkur Club of America

Merkur encyclopedia
{{Ford Motor Company Scorpio Cars introduced in 1987 1980s cars Coupés Sedans Executive cars Hatchbacks Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Cars discontinued in 1989