jackh@zehntel.UUCP (jack hagerty) (03/07/85)
Road & Track has published their road test of the Merkur XR4Ti in the March
issue. To give you some idea of their reaction, the test was buried at the
back of the magazine after the race reports and before the classifieds.
(I've had the magazine for over two weeks now and just discovered the test
last Sunday!)
To state it briefly, they were underwhelmed. The main bones of contention
were the engine, shifter and steering. The turbo 4 engine, while admittedly
making more peak power than the V6 that the European version comes with,
has neither the range nor smoothness of the Euro V6. The shifter is the next
best thing to Magic Fingers when it comes to vibra massage and the steering
is vague and uncommunicative.
This test just confirmed an interesting parallel I've been observing concerning
this car. I've written the following letter to the editor of R&T. Since they
only print 1 out of 3 of the letters I send them, the chances are that this
one will never see the light of day either. I thought that you folks might
be interested in it anyway. Enjoy!
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
6 March 1985
Re: Your Road Test of the Merkur XR4Ti
Dear Editor:
After several years of not-so-secret development, Ford Motor
Company introduces an all new car for the American market.
It looks, to be charitable, unusual. Its name is odd sound-
ing. Its performance is very good, compared to its intended
competition. It is being sold and marketed by an all new
branch of the company not directly related to Ford, Mercury
or Lincoln. Its intended market is the young executive and
other upwardly mobile professionals.
The new Merkur XR4Ti, you say? I forgot to add, the year is
1957, the car is the Edsel. I hope Ford does better with
this one.
Sincerely:
Jack Hagerty
International Edsel Owners
Livermore, CA
--
Jack Hagerty, Zehntel Automation Systems
...!ihnp4!zehntel!jackh