Rare Rides: The 1988 Merkur Scorpio, a Luxury Liftback for Nobody

Rare Rides broached the subject of Merkur in the past with a very clean XR4Ti. Today we have a look at Merkur’s only other offering — the luxurious liftback called Scorpio.

As mentioned previously, Merkur was the brainchild of Bob Lutz when he was in charge of Ford Europe. Lutz oversaw development of the European-market Sierra, then convinced executives at Dearborn that a new brand should shift Ford’s European offerings onto U.S. shores. Re-engineered and clothed as XR4Ti, the sporty hatchback went on sale in 1985. XR4Ti was sold at select Lincoln-Mercury dealers, and was in fact the only Merkur until 1988. At that point, its big brother the Scorpio arrived.

Designated as the flagship of the Merkur brand, the Scorpio was intended as competitor to the Mercedes-Benz 190E, Audi 5000, and the Saab 9000. Perhaps the most similar competitor for Scorpio was the Sterling 825/827, which was foisted upon the U.S. by Rover at the same time.

Scorpio was built on the same rear-drive DE-1 platform as the XR4Ti, but at a different factory: All examples rolled out of Cologne in West Germany. While European-market Scorpios were sold as sedans, liftbacks, and wagons with a variety of engines, all North American Merkur Scorpios were of liftback variety. Establishing its flagship status, the Scorpio came equipped with the model’s largest engine, a 2.9-liter Cologne V6. The potent 144-horsepower mill was paired to a five-speed manual, or (more commonly) a four-speed automatic.

Ford intended the Scorpio to impose a more upscale and European image than its domestic counterparts. This was especially true for the Mercury Sable, with which the Scorpio shared a showroom. Though differing in door count, the Sable and Scorpio were similar in appearance.

While Scorpio was slightly smaller in all dimensions, it cost more because of its “premium” European heritage. And the more money part should be emphasized here; the Scorpio asked $23,390 in 1988, or just over $52,000 today. Said price was without options like the automatic transmission, electric moonroof, and the Touring Package, which raised the ask to an adjusted $58,232. The Sable GS asked $14,145 ($31,462 adjusted) in 1988. Obviously, Lincoln-Mercury dealers had a hard time justifying the price for Scorpio.

It was perhaps no surprise, then, that the Scorpio lasted just two model years: 1988 and 1989. In October of ’89, Ford announced there’d be no more Scorpios imported, as the liftback joined the already cancelled XR4Ti in the Merkur funeral pyre. Some 22,010 Scorpios were sold in total, most of which vanished from the roads long ago.

Today’s Rare Ride is listed on one of those odd sites which hangs onto old eBay listings. Located in Oregon, the loaded Scorpio had 70,827 miles at the time of sale.

[Images: seller]