(first posted 10/9/2018) In Europe, the Scorpio was Ford’s last entry in the E-segment, also referred to as executive cars. At its introduction in 1985, the Scorpio -still marketed as Granada in the UK and Ireland- was only offered as a 5-door hatchback. Later on a more conventional looking sedan and wagon also became available.
Simply put, the Scorpio was an eXtra Large Ford Sierra with a 276 cm (108.7”) wheelbase. An updated version was launched in March 1992.
The power units were inline-4 and V6 gasoline engines, the 2.5 liter inline-4 (turbo)diesels were supplied by PSA and from 1993 onwards by VM Motori. The biggest engine in the Scorpio was the fuel injected 2.9 liter Cologne V6.
Ford’s “Brougham” crest, wearing the name of the Italian design and coachbuilding firm. It could be found on any mass-produced model, from the Fiesta to the Granada and Scorpio. The Ghia was the most luxurious trim level with a plush -all relative of course- interior and ride, preferably combined with a vinyl top. Yes, even on a Fiesta…
As an aside, our Royal Family switched to top model Euro-Fords after the 1973 oil crisis. Prior to that, US-FoMoCo vehicles were the preferred means of transport. They drove all Euro-Granada and Scorpio models, powered by a V6 and with the Ghia trim level; the paint color was always dark blue metallic, really neat.
And here’s where plush met performance. The Cosworth Engineering company from the UK started to work on Ford’s 146 DIN-hp, fuel injected 2.9 liter Cologne V6. The end result was a 195 DIN-hp, 2.9 liter DOHC (Quad Cam, if you wish) 24v engine with a Bosch LH-Jetronic fuel injection system. The machine is known as the Cosworth BOA engine.
The Scorpio Cosworth was introduced in 1991. Ford’s A4LDE (4R44E) 4-speed automatic was the standard transmission, the 2.9i 24v engine could not be combined with the 5-speed manual.
Dynamics combined with comfort, that’s what it’s all about. By no means the Scorpio by Cosworth (top speed 225 km/h – 140 mph) was supposed to be a true power sedan, although it looked pretty wild for an E-segment car. For sheer performance, Ford Europe offered the Sierra RS Cosworth and the later Escort RS Cosworth.
Generally, hatchbacks/sedans/wagons in this segment are decent (travel) trailer towers. This Scorpio’s registered maximum towing capacity is 1,590 kg (3,505 lbs).
Luckily I caught the original Scorpio, not the completely ridiculous 1994-1998 last model. Naturally I’ll post it, if I ever find one. Fingers crossed I won’t…
Related reading:
Curbside Classic: 1988 Merkur (Ford) Scorpio – Nice Landing, Wrong Airport
Curbside Classic: 1988 Merkur Scorpio – Yes, I finally found one!
It appears as though this staid but purposeful sedan follows the same philosophy as the Ford Cortina: make a car that could be melded into any configuration in order to get a decently competent competitor for whatever segment it’s aimed at. It could be an almost-luxury car, it could be a tough trail car, it could be a rallying tool, or it could be something else entirely. The choice is entirely up to the owner.
The British magazine Modern Classics did an article about this model a few months ago. It’s “competition” would have been a Lotus Carlton by Vauxhall.
The magazine was favorably impressed (they almost always are) and thought it was a shame that their high price when new kept the numbers produced so low. If I remember correctly, less than a thousand were produced.
And Johannes Dutch is correct about the 94-98 model. Ford basically re-styled the front and rear ends of this model and kept the (elongated Sierra) middle. The resulting car looks VAGUELY like a mid 90s Buick Roadmaster sedan with HUGE/fishbowl looking headlights flanking an anonymous oval grille. While the tail light was one thin strip that ran from left to right under a plain trunklid.
At best, I would imagine the turbo (?) diesel Scorpios were good taxis.
Pictures of the 94-98 model might be found on Google Images.
Howard, that’s this Lotus-Opel/Vauxhall:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/car-show-outtake-1992-lotus-omega-an-opel-executive-sedan-gone-berserk/
Almost twice the power of the Ford Scorpio…
Thank you for detouring me to that link. What a beautiful car, and that interior! The build quality, from the pictures astounds me that it’s a GM product.
Howard, the competitor would more likely be the Opel Omega/Vauxhall Carlton GSi, which was a normally aspirated 3 litre, along with the less sporty, more luxurious Senator. The Lotus was very exotic.
I had a brochure for the late 80s Granada/Scorpio and they actually listed a version of the base model as a taxi, I have no idea how it differed from the standard car but it was a 2.5 turbodiesel and 5 speed manual. I never saw a Granada in taxi use – in the UK it was more likely to be a Sierra or even an Orion.
Incidentally, the trim levels in the UK went Ghia, Ghia X, Scorpio – so the top trim level was actually badged as a Ford Scorpio, but it said “Granada” in little letters below “Scorpio”.
Quite right, contemporary competitors of a Ford Scorpio V6 were 6-cylinder E-segment/executive cars built by other mainstream automakers, like the Opel/Vauxhall you mention. Or cars like the Peugeot 605, Renault 25/Safrane, Fiat Croma, Toyota Camry, Mitsubishi Sigma and the Nissan Maxima.
Ohgawd, that turd—an eyesore coming or going!
Do I recall that this was a RWD platform? It seems like an attractive car and one that would have appealed to a higher income and education demographic than the Taurus (certainly by the early 90s) based on its European roots.
I wonder how it would have worked if Ford could have Americanized these just a bit (like more power) and sold them through Lincoln-Mercury dealers, so as to give them something not duplicated in Ford showrooms. I know that they tried with the Merkur but the styling on those was not what the US was looking for. Cars with more Audi-like styling might have gotten some traction here.
Yes, RWD it was.
This is the Scorpio that we got but after a facelift, Scorpio MkII effectively and in sedan form.
I think L-M’s failure to move Scorpio MkI effectively sealed the fate of Merkur, eliminating any chance of more.
The Sierra (XR4Ti) also spawned a wagon and very attractive sedan (Sierra Sapphire), but not over here of course. The Sapphire as well as the Sierra both had an extremely high performance Cosworth version that were quite competitive with the Germans (M3, etc).
.
Merkur was a debacle, as it was a great idea badly executed. This was when US buyers were migrating to anything European over American, and on paper, these should have been a hit. IIRC, the Scorpio we got looked a hell of a lot like a Taurus, which did not help telegraph “European” to buyers. Then, when you really started looking, you realized that the cars were the mainline Fords of Europe, not really something special, luxurious, sporty, or different. Add the dislike of hatches in America, and bingo!, sales went nowhere. Add to that the history of LM dealers sabotaging FoE product sales to move folks into a “real” Mercury, like what happened with the Capri, then it was bound to failure from the get-go.
…”Then, when you really started looking, you realized that the cars were the mainline Fords of Europe, not really something special, luxurious, sporty, or different”…
That’s exactly right.
I was a car-mad teenager when the Merkurs were being sold. A friend’s dad was seriously looking at them to replace his aging Fox-body Capri and I got to go with (my friend couldn’t care less about cars, so I got to tag along instead) Anyway I REALLY wanted one, but wasn’t nearly old enough. And I remember while we were checking out the Scorpio, multiple sales people suggesting my friends dad come look at Mercuries, or possibly a Lincoln instead of “that foreign job”… He ended up in a white XR4ti, but had even more problems with it than his Capri had (multiple trips back to the dealer on a tow truck) so that got replaced with a Mustang.
I just wonder if they could have just sold Merkurs as “Fords” here, to get away from the anti-import bias I saw salesmen have. (My dad had a “Buick Opel” and I can tell you, nobody at the Buick place wanted anything to do with him or his car whenever we were there)
…not to mention the vandalism Ford did to the Merkurs in the name of “Americanizing” them.
As I remember it they started 1) with a fairly high performance sport coupe – a segment with gobs of competition under the FoMoCo umbrella like Mustang/Capri/Thunderbird/Cougar. 2) The Xr4Ti was saddled with the polarizing biplane spoiler that looked completely goofy, especially for something fairly expensive. 3) They chose the strangest, most unpronounceable name they could come up with. Merkur? Really? And the only thing worse was a Merkur called Xr4Ti (I’m a car nut and have no idea if I got the capitalization right on this). 4) Ignored the sport sedan market (where there was virtually zero intra-corporate market) until after all of the above mistakes had been made.
I recall the Scorpio getting good reviews but by the time it was in dealers all of the above mistakes had been made, and to top it off the car was (like our Infiniti today) just not attractive. As I said in that discussion, a car with a moderate fan base might have had a chance. This one, looking as it did and with the mess that preceded it, did not.
It’s so funny how different people see things differently, you and others are completely correct that the XR4Ti overlapped with the Mustang and perhaps even versions of Thunderbird and that the average L/M dealer did a masterful job of steering their potential clients to the Sable side of the lot and in the end killing any deal. As if anyone looking at a Merkur and had an idea of what they were looking at would really be interested in a Sable…Total failure on FoMoCo’s part. Scorpio did at first glance look similar to Taurus/Sable but so did all the Ford Jellybeans of that era.
My point is that I (and some others but clearly not enough of them and I certainly didn’t actually run out and buy one at that period in my life) were of the opinion that the XR4Ti as well as (if not especially) the Scorpio were far and away better than the rest of the regular Ford/L/M lineup. I’m not saying they were but as far as the styling itself, I was/am a huge fan of the Ford Euro styling vs the pseudo-Euro style of T-Bird, Taurus, Temp etc. that to me ended up looking somewhat cut-rate, especially after the usual first refresh and in fact was so in order to keep the pricing down.
I don’t think I ever confused any Taurus with any Scorpio but see how the general populace (my mom?) could, the same way they might confuse a Passat with an Audi A6. The BiPlane rear spoiler on the XR was a carry-over from Europe as well, harkening to their XR4i as well as being used on the racing/rallying versions with an even more bonkers version on the Sierra Cosworth RS and Escort Cosworth RS. To me, that was the finishing touch on the car and when it went to a single it lost something. This is similar to some of the huge wings you see on a Subaru STI or a Mitsubishi EVO – As a standalone item with no context it’s goofy, however bring the connection to the racing cars in and all of a sudden, yeah sure. Or maybe the Plymouth Superbird is the better analogy if we are talking goofy wings. If someone just came up with that in their driveway we’d joke about it all day long but since it’s “racecar” it’s suddenly super desirable.
The XR4TI customers were often steered to a Mustang based Capri which sat on the same Mercury lot, cost less, and was more familiar. Ditto the Scorpio customer being steered into a Sable.
If you were of the mind that you wanted one, no one could dissuade you from it. If you were just looking, a shrewd salesman could easily convince you that the Capri or Sable was similar, but a much better value. I agree with Jim Klein that the FoE products were probably better, but they were too different to be sold alongside the US products successfully. People buy what they are comfortable with, and are adverse to anything “different”. And LM dealers, used to having cars that did not fit their demographics and that they did not want to sell foisted on their sales floor (the Euro Capri and the Pantera, for example), there was a history of this never going to work. GM had the same issue selling “real” Opels via Buick dealers in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. It was a bad marketing decision, which is too bad.
My only point is that in that era when Yuppies were buying European sports sedans with a vengeance, Ford had a pretty good one of its very own – and couldn’t figure out how to sell it here. A European Ford that had been styled, named and promoted like a proper European driver’s car might have gotten some traction. At least in numbers that might have been worthwhile in Lincoln-Mercury dealers.
JP, theres a 2.9 4×4 Scorpio in Napier theres nothing on it saying Cosworth so maybe only a cousin but the same body and model name.
JFrank,
I can’t say that I agree 100% with your assessment as to why Merkur failed in the U. S. Yes, the Scorpio did look like a Taurus/Sable, more so the Sable but I am not sure that was a bad thing in itself. What probably hurt the Scorpio is that on paper anyway, the Sable looked like a better deal. Bigger engine, bigger car, yet the Sable was easily discounted to undercut the Scorpio.
As far as folks realizing this was just Ford trying to foist a “mainline” sedan on customers while trying to pass it off as a luxury car, this is/was what would become known in the early 90s as “a near luxury car”. Honda did reasonably well with the Acura Legend at this price point a few years later.
It could be argued that a lot of what was wrong with Scorpio, and perhaps Sierra/XR4ti had to do with clumsy marketing, (neither car, AFAIK, was really pitched to car enthusiasts). clumsy dealer/sales experiences, but it also looks like both cars were ultimately marketing dead ends. The Scorpio got progressively uglier or blander with each facelift, and as Ford would eventually dump the Sierra for the Mondeo/Contour there would not be any replacement in the pipeline within a few years.
I know I just referred to the Acura overlap in the Q45 post, but I can’t help but think of the Sable as analogous to the TL in that they are FWD, nicely styled and built upmarket versions of the parent’s mid-size staple. It makes cars like the Scorpio and RL, as superior as they are mechanically and in build quality, hard sells because they look and feel so alike to the average person the premium isn’t worth it.
I don’t think anyone in Merkur’s target audience was in any danger of finding out it was a mainstream car in that pre-internet era, bar enthusiasts, who are not large enough to make/break a brand in sales anyway. The Sterling did well as a Legend clone from what I’ve read until the media exposed them after the quality scandal (also the Legend platform was never shared with a lesser Honda; that was the TL’s job.)
Interestingly, these three brands were ALL launched in 1986 and only Acura is around, and very much in the “Why do we have this, still?” phase that Mercury once occupied.
Both Acura Legend and Mekur are just rebadges of existing Honda and Ford cars.
Actually I believe the Legend was developed for Acura specifically as one of its launch cars, then rebadged as a Honda for other markets. I believe the same goes for the Integra, known elsewhere as the Honda Quint Integra. Honda was not a marque to support a near-luxury 6-cylinder car in the 80’s. Toyota, Honda and Mazda obviously tried with some success in the US (Cressida and Maxima, and 929 respectively) but all three then went on to develop a “luxury” sales channel, of which Mazda’s (Amati) was the only one to not come to fruition, and of course Lexus is the only one that could really be termed an unqualified success, albeit with a few stumbles along the way.
While all three continued to sell 6-cylinder sedans (generally as an option with the exception of Maxima) in their mainstream brands, that was really only to compete with the USDM competition, who didn’t have as good a range of 4-cylinder engines at the time and much of the US market simply demanded a 6-cylinder.
I think the name “Merkur” hurt the brand. It didn’t seem to mean anything to American ears and despite Lincoln-Mercury’s best efforts, everyone pronounced it as rhyming with “lurker”. If L-M wanted to keep the astrological/astronomical association with Mercury, they should have called the brand “Mars” instead (Saturn was obviously already taken by this point).
I agree it was marketing that was the main issue. The looks of the cars was really not that much of an issue, rather it was the fact that they were hatchbacks, not as sporty as they could (and should) have been, and not nearly the luxury car one expected based on price. When you are already at a dealer for “near luxury”, the car that costs more should be more luxurious, and these were not. The Capri and the Sable would offer 7/8ths of the luxury and performance, at about 3/4ths the price (or less). And LM dealers hated anything not Lincoln or Mercury. They did not understand the product, like they never understood the original Capri or Pantera, and did not care to learn. I don’t imagine FoMoCo gave great incentives to dealers to move these, while they did on the LM product.
I think we have about the same opinion on them, and perhaps I was not clear in why I considered the Merkur debacle the fiasco it was. FoMoCo had a viable product that they failed to market correctly.
Handsome car; it reminds me of a Rover 800/Sterling.
What was the interior like? I know that the next-gen (94-98) Scorpios could be absurdly plush, almost like a Renault 25 Baccara.
They had quite inviting seats, the leather ones looked a little broughamy, not very European, and they were generally a nicer place to be than a Sierra. They definitely felt like a Ford though, which might be an issue for a wealthy buyer comparing them to European rivals.
I always liked the interiors in these, more so than the GM equivalent anyway. I should point out I’ve never been in the Cosworth version.
I found a well used 1993 Scorpio Ghia for sale, so post 1992 update, just like the article’s Scorpio.
….
Merkur’s biggest problem was the interior looked cheap. Lincoln Town Cars and Crown Vic cop cars are very very similar but one is a go to for executive transport and the other is a cop car. Put a cop car interior in a Town Car and people will grumble all day about it. Put a Town Car interior in a Crown Vic and people might pause a second and then say how much they enjoyed the ride. (Yes, there are some exterior differences and some Town Cars have longer wheelbases. No, I am not talking about a cage and a plastic seat from a cruiser in an executive transport car)
I’m recalling a few things about the US version, the Merkur Scorpio. The leather was Connolly leather and smelled great in the showroom, and the interior was upscale for FMC at the time. The 5-speed manual was standard! They also offered a guaranteed resale value on the Scorpio, as the XR4Ti hadn’t done so great and they knew buyers might be leery. (I think Cadillac started this idea just prior with the Allante…?) I recall ads in print and on TV showing the Scorpio in Germany on the autobahn too. And lastly, this Scorpio sedan was set to come to the US in 1990 (it was announced and shown in press pics) but then they shut Merkur down for good.
The only thing that can guarantee resale is the marketplace. Anything else is a subsidy. And we know those never last, either. Truth of the matter, they had mind numbing depreciation for a reason. They were overpriced to begin with,
(horrendously so in Canada, Scorpio asking price 40 large)
and the market soon priced used ones at their intrinsic value.
While I wanted to like them at the time, I knew these economic realities would forever limit their sales success.
I had a ‘91 Scorpio 24v. Huge leather armchairs, even the rear seats were electric recliners…but that engine was an absolute jewel. Get it over 3000 rpm and it was like a Rocket ship. It was a realistic (and cheaper) 5 series competitor.
That is a sharp car. Doesn’t have a bad detail anywhere. The interior looks fantastic. Are those stock rims, as they resemble AMG. Or OZ. Either way, it all works for me. Sign me up today! Soon I will do my daily commute through Chicago traffic, where it is all Chrysler 300s and big pickups all trying to kill each other to get one space ahead. Like piglets fighting for a teat. Seeing something like this would be a nice change.
Wheels are stock. Not sure about the side skirts and chin spoiler. I don’t recall seeing one with those, they certainly were available without them.
Hey all,
All you see on the car is original Ford,
skirts, spoilers , rims, lowering, springs and rd shocks.
This Scorpio is as a Ghia should be, full option from factory and of course with the desired BOA v6 engine that still pushes the car to 250 km/h on speedometer.
Not bad for the old girl…
I like it although I consider the first generation of the Scorpio, from the mid-80s, which succeeded the Granada, to be more attractive. It was more similar to the Sierra, an evolution of Ford Europe, which at the time was a fairly conservative brand.
I was unaware of this OHC variant of the Cologne V6. It would be a fun swap into a Bronco II or Ranger. Of. Course I’m sure it’s unobtanium, or at least the cylinder head parts are. Exotic at the time, but it wasn’t many more years before DOHC V6-es became everyday sedan powerplants.
Instead of the wretched “Merkur” Ford should have just named the whole brand “Scorpio” in North America to begin with. Cool name, vaguely European, they already have the rights to it and tons of badges made up.
I’m with you 100% about the name. Would have even made a certain sense: The beast that competes with its stinger against the Euro imports from BMW, SAAB and the like.
The engine’s natural home: https://myclassics.co.uk/listing/1986-ford-capri-2-9-24v-cosworth/
I never understood why Ford in the UK made the same mistake, Twice.
First they launched the Sierra, without a Saloon / Sedan model option. Which alienated its mane client base, the Sale Rep, who always liked opening a Boot and taking out a Brief Case. Almost all of them switched over to Vauxhall Cavalier, in that 1983 to 1995 period.
Then, they did the same again with the Mk3 Granada. After British Leyland, had launched the Rover SD1, in Hatchback only form in 1976.
Which infuriated the Middle Managers, who liked, going to the Boot of their car, opening it and taking out their Brief Case or Golf Clubs.
And again, Vauxhall gained with sales of their Carlton & Senator models.
If their firms, allowed them, to order non-British marques, then the BMW 5-Series, Mercedes-Benz E & C Classes, and Volvo 264.
Though I’m American, I believe one of these (if they made them in ’96) was our rental car, though we got a wagon (which was automatic).
We flew into Zurich, and were on a vacation to visit my Mother’s relatives in Slovakia. There were 5 of us, and none are light packers, so we managed to fill up the back of the wagon. We’d actually requested an Opel Omega sedan, which probably wouldn’t have been able to fit our luggage, but it wasn’t available and they subbed us up to the Scorpio.
We probably stood out like a sore thumb, but it worked out for us. I got ill during the trip and it was good we got an automatic; though my Dad also drove standard none of my sisters nor Mother does, should have anticipated need for backup driver. I ended up getting a few speeding tickets with it, including failing to decellerate fast enough. My Dad was a bit pissed at me after the last one, as we exited Hungary to go to Slovakia, we went through the border crossing and they kept us awhile, but let us go through. However about 15km after crossing the border, they pulled us over and indicated we needed to go back to the border (my Mother’s first language is Slovak, so she translated for me). We went back to the border where they again looked at our passports but then wanted to look in the trunk…we’d previously gone to a liquor store to shop for gifts for our relatives, and were a bit concerned, but they only got as far as my Dad’s overnight bag which on top contained packets of instant oatmeal…seemed they got bored after that and finally flagged us to go on. It was our last family trip; haven’t been back to Slovakia (though we’ve had several relatives visit us here in the states) and 12 years later my youngest sister who’d gone with us on the drip died of Ovarian cancer at age 37.
Oh, the Scorpio was fine….probably nothing to impress an enthusiast but we got something like an American station wagon which had disappeared even in the US by then. Our relatives were careful to indicate we should be careful where we parked it, at one point one of the cigány (gypsy) came up and started admiring the car’s wheels and wouldn’t leave us alone. We paid more for parking (inside a gate) than we did for our accomodations for 5 persons, my record low of $.50 per night for all of us (whereas parking was $1.00) translated from Slovak korona. Four weeks later turned it in at the airport back in Zurich.
Thanks for the story, zwep.
And they certainly still made them around 1996, at which point they looked like this one below, a (RHD) Ford Scorpio wagon. You certainly would remember its snout, that hideous snout!