Mercur question

About 20 years ago I remember seeing a called called "Mercur" ( not sure
of spelling) I saw a numbe rof them come down from Canada. I often
wondered were they a "German Ford" ? They were a nice looking car. 4
door.I looked around the net and did not find anything.
Anyone have any info thanks..JFS

Merkur in the US/Cdn XR4Ti iirc with a turbo bean motor. In the US the
street cars were famously fragile. They are now just a weird orphan with a
small but cultish following.
In South Africa, the were allegedly available with a V8 and that model
became the basis for the winning Roush TransAm/GTO racers.
Again from memory, I think in Yurup they were Ford Sierra and were to be in
the old Cortina/Counsel class. Late 80s say. Another Ford could-have-been
that was abandoned instead of developed.
john

"S.rathbern" > wrote in message
...
> About 20 years ago I remember seeing a called called "Mercur" ( not sure
> of spelling) I saw a numbe rof them come down from Canada. I often
> wondered were they a "German Ford" ? They were a nice looking car. 4
> door.I looked around the net and did not find anything.
> Anyone have any info thanks..JFS

Yes, an import from Europe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkur

"S.rathbern" > wrote in message
...
> About 20 years ago I remember seeing a called called "Mercur" ( not sure
> of spelling) I saw a numbe rof them come down from Canada. I often
> wondered were they a "German Ford" ? They were a nice looking car. 4
> door.I looked around the net and did not find anything.
> Anyone have any info thanks..JFS

These were German Fords imported for and sold through selected Mercury
dealers. There were two models in North America, the Merkur XR4Ti, a 2 door
sedan with a rather strange side window arrangement, and the Merkur Scorpio,
a large 4 door hatchback sedan that competed directly with the domestic
Mercury only at a much higher price. As was by then usual for the
domestics, it wasn't long before these imports were stopped and the owners
were left with another orphan car that had zero resale value. Remember the
little Mercury convertible that was imported from Australia? Or the
Cadillac Catera? Or the Pontiac GTO? Here are some Merkur pictures.

Max

"S.rathbern" > wrote in message
...
> About 20 years ago I remember seeing a called called "Mercur" ( not sure
> of spelling) I saw a numbe rof them come down from Canada. I often
> wondered were they a "German Ford" ? They were a nice looking car. 4
> door.I looked around the net and did not find anything.
> Anyone have any info thanks..JFS

"S.rathbern" > wrote in message
...
> About 20 years ago I remember seeing a called called "Mercur" ( not sure
> of spelling) I saw a numbe rof them come down from Canada. I often
> wondered were they a "German Ford" ? They were a nice looking car. 4
> door.I looked around the net and did not find anything.
> Anyone have any info thanks..JFS

Google Merkur and XR4Ti and/or Scorpio. Lots of info is available.

DaveD