It Came From Planet Mercury
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- čas přidán 7. 08. 2024
- In an era of wholesale conversion to front wheel drive, the 1985-‘89 Merkur XR4Ti put its’ power to the rear wheels and offered traditional thrills with an accent on aerodynamics and handling. But what does THE Merkur XR4Ti have in common with Pontiac’s re-born 2004-2006 GTO? Watch and see!
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It is strange to see such a complete and overall good XR4Ti abandoned it the junkyard. In my country the Ford Sierra XR4Ti is a highly collectible car with value rocketing to the skies.
I would happily save this very car from the yard.
Everything I feature is in a working salvage yard and though I'm not in the chain of ownership or a flipper in this role, one can always call Classic Heaven / One Stop Towing 413/245-0901) to ask about buying this XR4Ti. Ask for Dave, who owns the business. Thanks for watching and writing, Steve Magnante
@@SteveMagnante Thank you for posting this. I missed a lot about the XR because of the Valiant in the background. Now I know who to call....
@@SteveMagnante Thank you Steve for the answer. Sadly I was just dreaming. I live on the other side of the world. :(
Are in Hungary , Lazlo? I just arrived here to work 2 months ago and the surname made me wonder.
@@roger628 Yes, I am in Paks, Hungary. :)
Steve could Talk about a Yugo and I would still watch the whole video he is so knowledgeable.
Daniel my Brother (sorry about that Elton John reference...) I'll tell you that IFFFF I find a Yugo in the boneyard I WILL BE SURE to make a video about this amazing little import. As you may know, Malcolm Bricklin (the man behind the Bricklin Safety Car of the mid-1970's) was the guy who brokered the dealership deal to import Yugos! He made out pretty well even if the Yugo franchise eventually fizzled. But there's GOOD NEWS!!! I have it on good authority that Yugo is returning to America!!! This time it's a FOUR-DOOR! To better describe the car, the name is being altered to WE-GO!!! (get it? get it? get it?) Thanks for watching and writing, Steve Magnante
@@SteveMagnante are they bringing the motorcycle also, the I GO. LOL
These 2.3 engines are great. You can pump up the boost to 22psi with no issue. As for the lack of an intercooler, it's fairly easy to add one of those huge Volvo 760 units to the car and homebrew your own setup.
That is one rare car !
I worked with a guy who ran dirt track with a 2.3. He said it was the one part that never broke.
As always Steve, an excellent presentation. I remember this car when they came out new. The co worker I was with had people gawking all over his Merkur. It was quite a sight all shiny and new.
Would be an experience of a lifetime to go on a bone yard walk with Steve. His encyclopedic knowledge of automobiles is simply incredible.
L/M dealers had no clue how to sell those cars. Great cars, fun to drive, practically sale-proof. Great info, Steve.
Hey Rick! Thanks for writing (and watching!). We shot a bunch of new videos yesterday. Including one on a TRACTOR???? But it isn't just any tractor....It helped end the problem of farmers getting crushed by their tractors as the towed implement stopped suddenly on a rock or stump - causing a deadly wheelie with the old low-single-hitch mounts of the day. This new setup opened the door to safer farming. And yes, the object came from (sort of) the same outfit that produced the Merkur!!! Thanks again for watching Rick, Steve Magnante
I remember seeing one on a lot while driving by with 440 cubic inch motor. Gas prices, although expensive, were not prohibitive. What you saw was an economy car, that was ugly, expensive, and likely fully equipped with unobtainable parts. If they built it to use as much gas as possible in the pursuit of ultimate power, perhaps you could of sold more?
My father and I put this engine in a 98 ranger, it's pretty fun to drive with all the vintage Rapido parts
Wonder what the story is with that 1967 Galaxy convert. over your left shoulder?
I had a Mustang SVO with a turbo 2.3. What a fun car that was, beating stock V8's all the time!
I've got one. A bit of a cult following in the US. It has not shared the same used market success as the Sierra has in Europe, many times you can pick them up cheap. However, at the same time, since they were largely misunderstood by mechanics, they may be in rough shape with shoddy repairs. Still, a fun car when working properly and a completely different driving experience from Fox chassis Fords.
Back in 89 I was 16 and late on night in my 85 Z24 4speed 2.8 I got blown away by one of those
Back in the mid 80s in highschool, I had the Mercury version ....the Cougar XR,-7 Turbo Coupe with the 5 sp. And yes, as a Mercury mine had all the bells and whistles except leather. It was a great car.
Thank you for the excellent videos Mr. Magnante. A great example of '80's turbos. There are days I miss my '85 Dodge Omni GLH (Goes Like Hell) Turbo. Very quick vehicle for the time.
I almost forgot about Omni / horizon I think they invented the hatchback body type?
Used to rebuild transmissions in these when they came into the shop years ago, early ones had 3 speed C3 automatic , later ones had A4ld automatic overdrives , standards had T9 five speed. blast from the past.
Oh yeah. A definite upgrade on these things is to swap a T5 in them. Other than that though, these are gnarly machines. You can squeeze a bunch of power out of that tiny 2.3 pinto engine.
Did they have transmission problems?
@@williamgolden839 neither of the two automatics could handle any extra torque and horsepower above stock. The A4LD was basically a C3 with an overdrive slapped on. The T9 5 speed was the Pinto 4 speed with an overdrive also slapped on. It was a little better at handling extra torque and horsepower, but not by much. If I remember correctly, the TurboCoupes and SVOs manual cars came with the T5.
I had one, auto, third went out, replaced it twice with trannys from the yard within a month. Finally swapped it for the t9 and discovered how weak that thing was, found out a t5 would bolt up a couple months later and was quite unhappy. I spent too much time and money on that, something was always broken. Driveshaft rubber joint (guibo), ignition control modules cooked, wastegate, ridiculous shaped cat went out, electrical gremlins....Fun while it lasted, motor was solid and sounded nice with exhaust mods.
@@informativeandstimulating8582 Maybe the problem was you were moding a car that couldn't handle the power. All these boy racers around here taking great cars from the 80's and 90's especially and putting stupid body kits on that don't fit, and put-put exhausts and "cold air" intakes and a ridiculously small steering wheel, than slamming it to the ground to the point it can't go over parking lot speed humps. While having permanent pre-paint on the body because they ran out of money to actually paint the car.
Ruining all the cars of my youth, they can't not not mod them or do something, way too tempting. Don't appreciate stock, and how they came from the factory of that era and enjoy it for what it was then. Nope, gotta do something stupid cuss all his buddy's are doing silly mods to their 90's cars.. sigh.. All those cars will soon be blown, or caught on the wrong side of a hedge.
I liked the European styling of the XR4Ti, reminded me of cars I saw when I was in Germany in the early 80's. After all it's a Ford Sierra that we never got, but as stated in this video with 900 changes to meet the U.S. standards. Now makes it clear why we never got more direct European models, just too many changes had to be made to meet U.S. standards. Heck only a year earlier composite headlamps were finally allowed, when the Europeans had them for many many years by that point. It's odd what requirements had to be met, and what was allowed on either side of the pond.
Appreciate the 80s car reviews - great job
Man I remember when that car came out! I still have that magazine your holding! That was one cool looking car back then and still looks cool today! That’s so sad to see it in such condition! Hopefully someone will save it and restore it! But it might cost way too much to do so anyway! Great stuff Steve!
The Ford Sierra Cosworth was the ultimate version of this car- available in Australia and Europe. They dominated circuit racing in that era in our Group A Touring Car series and in touring car racing in Europe. The twin cam, turbo, EFI Cossie motor was on another level to this thing. Oh, and the rear wing on the Cossie Sierra made this one look very tame. They are such epically cool looking cars compared to this American version
COZZYYY!!
And yes we all know about the cosworth. But the superior American market never got that car so...
Sorry, Sierra Cosworth was never available in Australia, not in normal Cosworth RS form or RS500 form or even in base form. RS500s were raced here in Group A for 4 years but thats it.
@@rodmyob i must say I hated that era in Australia.
At least nissan released the r32 gtr in Australia, in limited numbers.
Perfect "True Street Car" for small tire with a TT351W based stroker/glide/9"! No one will complain about it being a Foxbody in front of them!! Love it!!!
We saw limited numbers of this car in Australia with a DOHC Cosworth engine (Cosworth Sierra), imported to compete in the Group A Australian Touring Car Championship. The big Aussie V8's of the time couldn't touch them.
All those Sierras were returned to the UK and Sweden where the company who built DJR's and others were based. Today they are valued in the millions.
@@Mercmad So were they only leased or some such by Dick Johnson?
In South Africa we had a few models 1.6 Kent engine 2.0, 2.3 V6 3.0 V6 Essex was called xr6 and we had a 3.3v6 perana Ford sierra. We didn't have the xr4 or the cosworth,but we also had a XR8 with a v8
Love all your videos,can’t wait for the next one.
I installed a lot of intercooler kits on those cars at our dealership. It was a pretty smooth running engine for an upgraded pinto engine. I have to say it was a pretty solid and fun car to drive. Don't forget the XR4TI cousin the Scorpio. That one was the real flop. I think we only had three that our dealership sold.
Scorpio was a great name too!
Loved this one and have always lusted after these Merkur’s
Had one 1986 great car...this video makes me want another one,,Great Video..Thanks...
Great review on this future collectible. Thank you Steve!
My Mom had a grey 5-speed. Interesting, quirky car with horrible turbo lag. She never drove over the speed limit, so it was in great shape when she traded it in. Exterior styling was a acquired taste, we called it the “Greyhound bus fetus”.
OMG, my buddy back in 85 bought 2 of these a white one and a black one, I remember riding in this, let me tell you it felt a whole lot faster than just 150 hp, I was only 15 at the time but I loved his car. he was modest mechanic, but his wife was mega rich, old money😁😁
Thanks for the history lesson, Steve. I was not into euro-styled cars in the 80's but I like seeing the significance. I appreciate it more now.
Xr's are rad . I've had 10 over the years . Now I own a 73 Ford capri with a Merkur 2.3 turbo swap.
I've not seen one of these in YEARS! Great find, Steve!
I've only seen one ever.
What a great car!! I learned a lot from this video Steve 👍
I love being in your class room Steve!! I'm a big fan of yours from right here in Massachusetts!!!!!
Awesome , made my day had one and like the rare finds
Bob Lutz also worked for BMW and was the motivator for the BMW R90S motorcycle. Just an incredible career.
Steve back in 1986 you could have had one of those cars for next to nothing as a lease car as Ford was trying to dump Em after the 1st year did really do too well I remember looking at a least 1 time because I live in the Detroit area and it was like 86 bucks a month and a lot of my friends that I worked at Ford usually picked him up as secondary cars and they were paying anywhere from 15 to hainta $60 a month which is a way way cheaper than it would be if you buy anything else meanwhile the Turbo Thunderbird Was more expensive which my parents owned which was a fun little car too
My 1994 Chevrolet K-1500 Silverado had the 85mph speedometer. In 1995, they would change to the traditional 110 speedo
Sierras were a Euro car, not German, not English alone.
Most English ones had cooking 1.6 or 2 litres. The 4wd one had the V6.
The Sierra RS had turbo 2 litre. Based on the 2 litre Cortina engine [Pinto to Yanks] a big heavy healthy gunker from about 1971 on.
You seem to have forgotten the xr4i , also the pinto engine was never used in Canada , USA etc.
Not true all Sierras with 4wd had V6. There was also the one with the 2 litre DOCH engine. The first 4wd V6 cars had the 2.8, later the 2.9.
Sierra in Europe was available with engine sizes from 1.3 to 2.9
There was also two more engines in V6 format (non 4wd), 2.0 and 2.3.
I think beside the Sierra, Capri had more engine choices to choose from (15 from factory 69-86)
@@MrCaprinut You are incorrect, there were many 2.0 4 cylinder 4x4 sierras and 2wd v6’s and 2wd v8.
@@scottyg7284 No there was not! Only Sierra Cosworth which is pinto based engine and the xr4x4 2.0 which had the DOCH engine. The regular pinto and 2.0 V6 never came with 4wd.
@@MrCaprinut That’s what I said, not sure why arguing, you need to read properly.
My buddy had one of these the turbo lag was astonishing
My uncle had one new in '87. I had a new Formula 350 Firebird. We raced, I won!!
Super cool info on the Merkur but I couldn't stop thinking about and hoping to get a better look at the Ford 500 on top of the bus behind Steve!
Jim Rome had one of these in high school. He loved that car.
During the last three years of my Germany military tour I owned a light blue 1986 Ford Sierra Diesel. I liked the car even though it was several years old when a friend sold it to me. It was valued as a second family car and the mileage was great.
Thanks Steve awesome.vid remember see those cars back in the day sure don't see them in the time we are living in now 👍👍👍👍
Steve, your depth of information is most impressive!
I knew a guy who bought one of these new after high school. I was actually impressed by it at the time after riding in it. That double wing was on the SVO Mustang also.
In the uk this would be a really sought after, valuable car. In our market, there’s currently a nice xr4i 2.8 v6 for sale at £20k ($26k). And we were also lucky enough to get an xr4x4 (4wd variant) and I see they are listed for sale starting at about 10k with the less desirable engines.
Those were neat cars.
I got some parts from a wrecked one for my turbo coupe back around 2002 or 2003.
Great work Sir thank you
I friend of mine had a Thunderbird Turbocoupe with a 2.3 4 cyl 5 spd and I was so impressed how fast it was for back in those days and he also upgraded to the Thunderbird Supercoupe which was the 3.8 V6 supercharged 5 spd.. nowadays I'd love to have one of those cars because I feel like they we're not well known and appreciated for what they we're back then.
Those guys got DEVASTATED by that tornado. It's still eerie driving by the place.
One of the cool features on the Scorpio was that when the car would come in for service the hood cable would snap off. Good times!
Yeah ford......🤣
A little lubricant on the latch assembly once in awhile would keep things operating easily. Otherwise, the force needed to unlatch the hood would eventually cause failure. Just pull with more and more force. The weak link would reveal itself. After the plastic ‘T’ handle broke (under the dash), pliers could be used to grab the stub - maybe even Vise-Grips. But don’t anyone dare to lubricate the latch assembly! Ha!
Great content, I remember opel back in the day.
Neat find. We had an 88 Merkur Scorpio my dad bought at an auction in the early 2000's. It drove great (when it was working). Ended up getting rid of it the second time the flywheel blew up.
I love those 2.3t's I swapped one into my Fox body.
That one looks to be in decent shape still, they have a bit of collectibility, hope someone saves it and gets it back on the road.
You said Brimfield and my wife in the background: “there’s an awesome flee market there!” 🙄 I always loved the XR4Ti.
The sun roof is insanely similar to one I have on a 79 Toyota Celica. Only manual roof I have found so far
Man ! You know your stuff! Great videos!
Cool beans! I live the next town over from Brimfield. Didn't know they had such diamonds!
Great video!
My uncle bought a Mercury Scorpio back in 1989. He loved it (had the Cologne V6).
I was a senior in high school when these came out. The yuppies drove these when they couldn't afford a bmw.
It had semi trailing arm independent rear suspension. Yes, it could carve corners just like a BMW.
Great video Steve, also remember that Bon Lutz also put in time at BMW, as well as the Big 3
Great summary on the XR4Ti, details were 99.95% spot on. Five bucks says there isn't much left of the rocker panel/floorboard joints under the plastic body cladding on this one.
Brother in law had a used one back in the 2000’s. I think his was a ‘88 or ‘89. If you would let the turbo do its stuff, the little 2.3L moves pretty good for a small car. This car was fun with the standard.
This car was always without the intercooler. As you could order the intercooler option from svt and have it added later also at that point it could take the bigger of the 3 offered waste gates for the blow off. Also yes you could turn the boost up which honestly affected the top of the intake as it would blow through the piping or the gaskets. Which would ultimately lead to having to add the after market oil catch kit. The boost on this motor was amazing and it could take a bigger turbo with larger bearing and impeller which was also offered through svt. The rear suspension was amazing rear torsional controls built into the arms. You could change out some bushings and the car would be able to take almost any turn at a good rate of speed. The wing was unique though their was another wing you could order from svt European market. It was the full race wing pretty amazing that with the upgraded bushing and springs in the rear, kept the car planted. And this car had a wide stance as well when certain bbs wheels could be added those we're also offered through svt Europe. And as for the American version you wanted the manual due to the upgraded outputs on the drive line. This car was built for going fast only if you could master its dynamics and understand its intended purpose you could win many drag races and road racing tracks with this design and it was light half mustang chassis and half European club racer still a piece of work.
I remember wanting one of these when they came out.
My Uncle had one of those. Let me drive it when my car was out of commission for about 2 weeks. I was about 19 or so and thinking I was pretty damn cool driving that thing.
I own a red on tan interior xr4ti with a five speed I believe. The rubber in the drive shaft dried out in Arizona and cracked which caused it to fail. Was a great car, loved driving it till I sold it.
I also remember a pair of these cleaned up in SCCA Trans Am racing in the mid 1980s.
Lovely Fairlane behind you on top of the bus.
Thank you Steve get well soon
I've always wanted to drive a Mercur.
They run pretty good I've been told.
I had a Cosworth Sierra back in 1990…. I miss it so much, best handling and fastest thing on the road pass any BMW or everything American made…
Can you do the black and silver valiant in the back round.
Very knowledgeable Steve
I never knew these had that motor, now I want one.
Forgotten that Lutz did the XR4TI. I've a friend who bought a black one new and only drives it when he come back to the states. It's still like new.
Good stuff, Steve!
I love the Ford Galaxie on top of the bus.
Galaxie 500
I had one, they didn't get much love back then, it was a great car though, respectable for the time.
I owned a xr4ti in around 1990. It was a 5spd. I replaced the cracked exhaust manifold. It had amazing cold air conditioning. Very well German built.
I really need one of these in my life
Jim Rome has a great rant about these cars.
This is apocryphal but when the XR4i came out in the UK the story was that the bi-wing spoiler was required to stop the back end of the car floating at speed and the car going sideways. We had one of the "new" Sierras as a company car that went sideways for no reason at 80mph and hit the guardrail. Lends support to the theory.
Ford Sierra Cosworth had a HUGE wing!
My friend had a white one in college, someone had replaced the turbo Lima with a 5.0HO. It was a blast and nobody knew what it was.
I saw the wing designer in an interview and he originally designed it as a tri wing but it cut down on rear visibility so it was changed.
Love those , I love my turbo coupes the most though
A guy I went to trade school with had a really clean, nice one of these weirdos back then (2002-2004). It was black, had a 5-speed, and I remember it being pretty nice (power everything, leather, sunroof, etc.) inside. He came from a family of gearheads, and he and his uncle put a lot of SVO/TurboCoupe stuff on it, it was genuinely fast and handled VERY well. They must’ve been pretty light cars, because realistically I can’t imagine that it made over 250 hp or so, but it would outrun my El Camino in a straight line if I did absolutely anything wrong (and obviously kicked its ass completely in any kind of curves). My car had a .030”-over 11:1 all forged 4-bolt 350 with Edelbrock Performer RPM heads, cam, and intake, Pro-Flo EFI, a Tremec T5 and a Currie 9” with 3.89:1 gears and posi. Probably 375-400 at the crank, I would think.
around 2800-2900 lbs.
@@whitelx Wow, that heavy? That’s surprising. My car was faster without question, but not by much (like I said, I couldn’t screw up at all) and couldn’t have outweighed it by more than three or four hundred pounds and had to have made WAY more power. Impressive.
Wished I still had my 1985 version. Had a 5 speed manual trans. Bought it for $500.00 back in 1997 with a cracked cylinder head. Never got around to fixing it.
Interesting, never knew a thing about them beyond seeing one back in the day on the road.
I currently own an 5 speed 85 XR4TI, bought it for $500 about 8 years ago from under a tree, needs a lot of stuff, but does run and drive. Seemed to be almost untouched when I got it being very questionable that it could have the assumed 114k miles (5 digit odometer) and may possibly only have 14k. Multiple what I assume to be military base parking stickers in the windshield. Things like the seatbelt latches still had unworn texture and common interior switches that would show 100k plus of use look brand new. They really are amazing drivers for the era. I would give them $400 for that cars spoiler lol. Mine got slightly damaged by my neighbors tree and they are not easy to find. Excellent video!!
Junk
@@michaelrevis1675 thanks buddy 👍
I had a chance to buy one it was in a barn for 4 years . Nice car.
one of my favorite Matchbox cars
Had one an 1986 in 1998 put a 100 dollar 5 liter ford C3 trans no rear end change it ran 12.40 QM lots of fun and looks all built just under 3000.00 CA
Nice to see Steve talk about something non Mopar
i've never seen a sierra with a flat hood, they all had bonnet dome of some kind, even the base 1.3l 4 cyl. just the merker xr4ti had a slightly taller bulge then the normal bulge. that bi wing was also on the Xr4i V6, you could also get the xr4i v6 in in 4 wheel drive and 4x4 wagon also
Loved this car. Always wanted one. In Michigan Salt cancered out.