mcclend@infonode.ingr.com (William D McClendon) (06/26/91)
Whoa! wait a minute! Some one stated that Merkur cars were not well received by the US consumer. This was due to "unreliability"? The Scorpio was chosen European Car of the Year when introduced. The Merkur is very popular in Germanic countries. In fact, Ford is among the top five car countries in Europe (Sorry, do not haver the figures handy). ANY of you people from Europe? Lets have someone with some experience and background on this subject! Bill
peterk@cbmger.UUCP (Peter Kittel GERMANY) (06/26/91)
In article <1991Jun25.172203.18709@infonode.ingr.com> mcclend@infonode.ingr.com (William D McClendon) writes: >Whoa! wait a minute! > >The Scorpio was chosen European Car of the Year when introduced. The Merkur >is very popular in Germanic countries. What is a Merkur? Never heard that name (though I know Scorpio). Perhaps it's named differently here? > In fact, Ford is among the top five >car countries in Europe (Sorry, do not haver the figures handy). Well, but they aren't doing *very* well at the moment. You see, there are statistics published every year, which cars fail on which reason and how often (published by services). It's sad to say, but at first rank you definitely find only Japanese cars (yes, I have a Mazda myself), even Mercedes Benz has to struggle hard to not lose too much ground. The big manufacturers like Volkswagen, Ford, Opel (General Motors) turn in in the middle field, the losers are French and Italian cars. Remember, this is all reliability data. -- Best regards, Dr. Peter Kittel // E-Mail to \\ Only my personal opinions... Commodore Frankfurt, Germany \X/ {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!cbmger!peterk
peter@Sugar.NeoSoft.com (Peter da Silva) (06/27/91)
In article <1418@cbmger.UUCP> peterk@cbmger.UUCP (Peter Kittel GERMANY) writes: > What is a Merkur? Never heard that name (though I know Scorpio). Perhaps > it's named differently here? Yes, "Ford". -- Peter da Silva. `-_-' <peter@sugar.neosoft.com>. 'U` "Have you hugged your wolf today?"
greg@pfloyd.lonestar.org (Greg Harp) (06/27/91)
In article <1418@cbmger.UUCP> peterk@cbmger.UUCP (Peter Kittel GERMANY) writes: >In article <1991Jun25.172203.18709@infonode.ingr.com> mcclend@infonode.ingr.com (William D McClendon) writes: >>Whoa! wait a minute! >> >>The Scorpio was chosen European Car of the Year when introduced. The Merkur >>is very popular in Germanic countries. > >What is a Merkur? Never heard that name (though I know Scorpio). Perhaps >it's named differently here? Merkur is basically a variation on Mercury (read: same as Ford ;-) ). I always thought of Merkur as kind of a Germanic name, although I really don't know about German... Merkurs are sold here in the US as kind of "fancy" Mercurys, which are "fancy" Fords. I guess the whole European air that surrounds the name is part of the selling point. The model of Merkur I saw quite a bit while I was in France about 4 or 5 years ago was the XR4ti. It's basically a Ford Escort GT with a little sheet metal work done to it (I think the models of the time had two rear spoilers, one halfway up the read window or something sick like that...). The number of these cars that I saw was distressing, considering the experience my brother has had with his Escort GT. Bloody piece of trash... >-- >Best regards, Dr. Peter Kittel // E-Mail to \\ Only my personal opinions... >Commodore Frankfurt, Germany \X/ {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!cbmger!peterk -- -------greg@pfloyd.lonestar.org---greg@pfloyd.UUCP---egsner!pfloyd!greg------- "How I wish. How I wish you were here. We're just two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl year after year. Running over the same old ground. What have we found? The same old fears. Wish you were here." -- Pink Floyd
davidy@sumax.seattleu.edu (David L. Yee) (06/30/91)
In article <greg.0858@pfloyd.lonestar.org> greg@pfloyd.lonestar.org (Greg Harp) writes: > >The model of Merkur I saw quite a bit while I was in France about 4 or 5 years >ago was the XR4ti. It's basically a Ford Escort GT with a little sheet metal ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >work done to it (I think the models of the time had two rear spoilers, one >halfway up the read window or something sick like that...). > >The number of these cars that I saw was distressing, considering the experience >my brother has had with his Escort GT. Bloody piece of trash... > >-------greg@pfloyd.lonestar.org---greg@pfloyd.UUCP---egsner!pfloyd!greg------- >"How I wish. How I wish you were here. We're just two lost souls swimming in > a fishbowl year after year. Running over the same old ground. What have we > found? The same old fears. Wish you were here." -- Pink Floyd I know this isn't the right place for it, but...... This is totally false. The Merkur XR4Ti has NOTHING to do with the Escort GT. Ford of Germany designed the a car called the Sierra based on its Probe III (I think) show car design. This car became one of the biggest sellers in the European market. Looking to import a "high-end" Euro line, Ford let Mercury import these cars under the Merkur name. Due to the goofy name and poor advertising, plus the love/hate styling, the car floundered. But I own one, and it is a excellent car. It has loads of power (turbo 2.3L four), gets good fuel mileage, is very practical, has loads of features, and handles great. It has given me no problems at all. the one thing it lacks is engine refinement- for $20,000 the engine is noisy and vibrates too much IMHO. But it is very, very fast. The fact that is was one of Europe's biggest selling cars should indicate it has more than a few redeeming virtues...... It is NOT, I repeat, NOT a "Escort GT." David L. Yee Email to:davidy@sumax.seattleu.edu
greg@pfloyd.lonestar.org (Greg Harp) (06/30/91)
In article <2968@sumax.seattleu.edu> davidy@sumax.seattleu.edu (David L. Yee) writes: >This is totally false. The Merkur XR4Ti has NOTHING to do with the Escort GT. >Ford of Germany designed the a car called the Sierra based on its Probe III >(I think) show car design. This car became one of the biggest sellers in the >European market. Looking to import a "high-end" Euro line, Ford let Mercury >import these cars under the Merkur name. Due to the goofy name and poor >advertising, plus the love/hate styling, the car floundered. But I own one, >and it is a excellent car. It has loads of power (turbo 2.3L four), gets >good fuel mileage, is very practical, has loads of features, and handles >great. It has given me no problems at all. the one thing it lacks is >engine refinement- for $20,000 the engine is noisy and vibrates too much >IMHO. But it is very, very fast. The fact that is was one of Europe's biggest >selling cars should indicate it has more than a few redeeming virtues...... >It is NOT, I repeat, NOT a "Escort GT." Well, 'scuze me. I didn't exactly get into one and drive it around Paris, you know. :-) I do remember, though, that the ones I saw resembled Escorts quite a bit. As a matter of fact, until I saw the name on one I thought they _were_ Escorts with just a little variation in the sheet metal for the Euro model. I don't remember what the Probe III looks like (yes, I saw pics of one way back when) so I can't say if the body has drastically changed or if the styling of the US-imported version is different from that of the version I saw in France. That was several years ago, though. > David L. Yee > Email to:davidy@sumax.seattleu.edu -- -------greg@pfloyd.lonestar.org---greg@pfloyd.UUCP---egsner!pfloyd!greg------- "How I wish. How I wish you were here. We're just two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl year after year. Running over the same old ground. What have we found? The same old fears. Wish you were here." -- Pink Floyd