![Merkur Scorpio | by [jonrev]](http://staging-jubilee.flickr.com/7104/6870701270_9a3d8feefb.jpg)
Merkur Scorpio
Merkur was a short-lived division of Ford in the late-80s, and was their method of importing European cars into the US. The brand only produced two models: the Sierra-based XR4Ti hatchback, and the Scorpio hatch-sedan.
There were many reasons this car didn't succeed in the US; namely poor marketing by Ford, and much-like the Edsel brand before it, this particular car found itself competing in the same showroom with the wildly-popular Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable. Converting the European cars to accommodate US safety standards was, and still is also very costly (why do you think all the fun cars are in Europe or Australia?).
XR4Ti's are still slightly plentiful, though the Scorpio seems to be harder to run across these days. This one was in the Gurnee Best Buy parking lot a few years ago, and I haven't seen one since.
Merkur Scorpio
Merkur was a short-lived division of Ford in the late-80s, and was their method of importing European cars into the US. The brand only produced two models: the Sierra-based XR4Ti hatchback, and the Scorpio hatch-sedan.
There were many reasons this car didn't succeed in the US; namely poor marketing by Ford, and much-like the Edsel brand before it, this particular car found itself competing in the same showroom with the wildly-popular Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable. Converting the European cars to accommodate US safety standards was, and still is also very costly (why do you think all the fun cars are in Europe or Australia?).
XR4Ti's are still slightly plentiful, though the Scorpio seems to be harder to run across these days. This one was in the Gurnee Best Buy parking lot a few years ago, and I haven't seen one since.