American gearheads often complain that European automakers never send their best vehicles Stateside. There's a good reason for that: Americans usually don't buy them. No car drove that point home ...

The 1980s were a time of radical thinking, big hair, big music, big changes in the world, and trying new big ideas. The auto-world was no exception. Around thirty years ago, we were treated to some of ...

Few things are sadder than a decent car that doesn’t know what it wants to be when it grows up. That, in a nutshell, is the Merkur XR4Ti, Ford’s ill-fated attempt to transform the European Sierra into ...

There’s nothing as intriguing as old-timers talking about classic performance cars. If you know anything about Tom Cotter from Hagerty, you understand his love for classic cars. Specifically, barn ...

In the 1980s, Ford of Europe head Bob Lutz thought his company's rear-wheel drive Sierra could be a credible alternative to the yuppie-favorite BMW 3-Series. Marketed properly, Lutz figured that the ...

Ford Motor Co. confirmed that it will add a second car to its Merkur line this fall, a four-door luxury car called the Scorpio. In the 1985 model year, Ford unveiled the Merkur XR4Ti 2-door luxury ...

Cars like today's Nice Price or No Dice Merkur XR4Ti were once referred to as "captive imports." Let's see if this rare former Ford can capture your hearts at its asking price. Now, while I agree with ...

Chalk up another one for Ford Motor Co. The 1988 Merkur Scorpio is the best car out of the Ford stable, albeit via Germany, since Taurus and Sable. In fact, the 4-door Scorpio sedan strongly resembles ...

Either completely forgotten or ridiculed by the few who still remember it, the Merkur XR4Ti failed because of questionable marketing decisions and not because it was a bad car. Throughout the decades, ...

From the March/April 2025 issue of Car and Driver. To our chaotic shores the Big Three have randomly imported Euro-spec cars. Apart from tear gas, little has more reliably induced regret and ...