01
Origins
The Merkur XR4Ti of 1984 was Bob Lutz's attempt to sell Ford of Europe's Sierra XR4i to America: German-built, rebadged under a new marque (pronounced 'mare-COOR', a battle lost immediately), and powered — unlike the European V6 — by the turbocharged 2.3-litre four from the Thunderbird Turbo Coupe. Sold through Lincoln-Mercury dealers, it offered European chassis manners, a distinctive biplane rear spoiler and hot-hatch pace in a market that did not know where to file it. Dealers accustomed to Town Cars struggled; the strong Deutschmark squeezed prices upward yearly; and around 42,000 were sold before the plug was pulled in 1989. Racing success in Trans-Am polished the legend after the fact. It was a good car mismarketed — the definitive cult Ford of its decade.
Merkur XR4Ti GTO rear · The359 · CC BY-SA 4.0
