Quote Originally Posted by Zacha341 View Post
Goodness what was the problem with that Merkur line? It was the worst. We used to call them X RAT-TEE 'rat'! A friend had a Merkur Scorpio. It was beautiful in a way but not a runner. It broke down once and for all finally -- un-repairable and finally banished to where horrid tinker-mobiles go: junk yard Hell.

The few Merkur anythings you saw running was not because it was unique, NO, it was just not a runner, so you saw only a few. Had a unique look, but a super 'lemon', un-reliable car.
I wish I knew because I really liked driving that car. I sometimes wonder if Ford saw the handwriting early on because I was offered a Ford extended warranty at a decent price. I rarely buy one of those but, for some reason, did with the Merkur. I never had breakdowns, but was a regular dealer customer getting nearly everything replaced under warranty over the 4 years. Traded it when it hit the end of warranty, 60,000 miles.

One benefit, though, was that for the first year or two Ford tried to build a Merkur community amongst their customers. We got invited to Ford sponsored dinners and meetings, got to meet Jackie Stewart and heard him speak a few times, and even got driving lessons from his crew. It was fun while it lasted.