In an attempt
to encourage sales, Lincoln-Mercury even introduced the Guaranteed
Resale Value Program which linked the Scorpios resale value to that
of a Mercedes 190E.
Unlike the
XR4, the Scorpio that was introduced to US markets was very similar
to that being sold in Europe at the time. The Scorpios smooth
running 2.9L V6 powers 3200 Lb car effortlessly to speeds well in
excess of 120 MPH; the Scorpio is indeed a car designed for hour
after hour of autobahn cruising. To accompany the Euro hatchback
styling, the car is packed with features normally only found on more
expensive cars of the time. Features such as four wheel discs with
ABS, fully independent suspension, heated front seats, reclining
rear seats, climate control and above average head and legroom, made
the Scorpio an attractive partner to the smaller
XR4Ti.
Unfortunately, although the car was very different from
the XR4Ti, it suffered from a lot of the same marketing problems.
The sales team at Lincoln-Mercury failed to realize the potential of
the car and preferred instead to concentrate on the higher margin,
more traditional Town Car. The Scorpio, with the same difficult to
pronounce Merkur marque, failed to make sales targets and Ford
terminated the import of the Scorpio, along with the XR4Ti, and
plans to augment the Merkur product line with other European
imports, in 1989. A total of only 21,886 units were
sold.
In Europe,
the Scorpio line continued to evolve and was finally terminated in
1997. The Scorpio was a car ahead of its time. Unfortunately only
the Europeans realized the full potential of the car where it
regularly saw service as luxury executive transportation; much in
the same way as the Lincoln Town Car is in America
today. |