When I was car shopping last month, I eventually had my choices narrowed down to the New Yorker I ended up buying, and one other car: a 1989 Merkur Scorpio...had I not found the New Yorker, I might have bought this. So, does anybody here have any experience with these cars, were they any good? They were always quite uncommon in this neck of the woods.
This particular one had 150,000 miles on it, and the dealer wanted 1799 for it (though I got him to admit he'd take 1500). Condition was OK for a 20 year old car, though I noticed the leather seats hadn't worn well. As reluctant as I am to buy imports, this one had a certain flair about it that really interested me, likely because Merkurs were such a rare bird here.
It's still sitting on the lot, BTW--anyone want it?
Thanks.
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 04/11/2007 at 15:05
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Scorpio
More information here, apparently the same as our very own Ford Scorpio
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Not sure if it's the same, but in about 1990 had for 2 years or so, a Scorpio Cosworth 2.9 24v.
Remarkable car but expensive to run, even at fuel prices then .Tyres were about £160 a corner .
Fabulous smooth and very rapid acceleration, comfortable and spacious.
It was a shame when Ford produced the final version of the Scorpio and just turned it into a bland barge.
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European Scorpios were far superior to Merkur;the car had been modified to suit American driving styles and was not as goog as the EU version.
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Not sure if it's the same but in about 1990 had for 2 years or so a Scorpio Cosworth 2.9 24v.
I used to find excuses to drive these when I worked at a Ford dealership. The ordinary Granada/Scorpios were nice cars let down by nasty engines. The 2.0 became quite a nice engine when it got its twin cam head, but was completely overwhelmed by the bulk of the car. The pushrod 2.4 and 2.8/9 V6's performed OK, but were horrible breathless things with little of the refinement or smoothness you might expect of a six.
The Cosworth version though was a peach! This engine was an absolute gem as I recall, and more than a match for anything BMW were knocking out at the time. It was free revving, smooth, grunty and sounded wonderful at 6,000 RPM with the throttles wide open. Even saddled with a nasty, unreliable, power sapping Ford 4 speed auto box it could crack 60 mph in the 7's and would pull over 140mph top end. A manual was never offered, which was a crying shame.
Yes, it drank fuel (mid teens average with spirited driving) and I seem to recall it had very stringent maintenance needs as well. Not a good combination with a car now worth as little as 500 quid and well into banger territory. When you consider the technology and engineering under the bonnet, and the fact they were pushing 30 grand fully loaded when new, it's such a waste that so many will have spluttered to a halt through the total absence of maintenance that most buyers of cheap cars tend to inflict.
The Granny itself was a nice old bus as well. Acres of room, loads of toys, great comfort levels, and solidly screwed together in Germany. Granted it became one of the ugliest monstrosities on the planet in later life, but overall it's a cruelly underrated car. I reckon if you could find a fit one with a history now it would still be a fun old barge to tool about in, and would certainly be more than capable of keeping a lot of more modern stuff honest in most real world situations.
Cheers
DP
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04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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I had a 2.9 ghia. Best car I ever owned. Lazy lump or go like stink for 150bhp. Miss it like hell.
MD
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BIl worked for Ford and had several Granada estates incl a 2.9 Cosworth. very nice but iirc the Auto gearbox had a fault: a nut came loose at around 80k miles.. rebuild needed.
He got fed up and bought a Mercedes 300D estate 1995 when he left Ford: still going strong. Not as fast but lasted far better and much better built/reliable.
madf
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10 years ago I sold an manual 1989 Granny with 130K on the clock after 5 years and 80K miles. It was only the 2L version (but with the twin cam engine and injection) - nevertheless I loved it. A smashing car. Mid-30s to the gallon, comfortable, plenty of space. The hatchback was really useful too - a big load area.
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Well, it sounds like I probably got more car for the money with the Chrysler, but it would have been interesting nevertheless to try and keep a Merkur running (I asked our local Lincoln-Mercury dealer about parts, and they told me they'd washed their hands of providing parts for Merkurs).
The Chrysler is one soft ride, and I've got the miles per gallon up to 13 now! Woo hoo!
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There is a 98 Cossie 2.9 Scorpio on auto trader gen 300 miles for 11K!
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Drove a 2.3 DOHC auto-good on performance and good on economy-in the 30's which for a car of that size and carrying capacity was excellent.
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