Unearthed: 1985 Merkur XR4Ti

Americans who remember the Merkur brand likely don't know too much about it or why people bothered to sell it in the US during the 1980s. The bottom line is that Merkur was a failure in the US market mainly because no one was interested in a more expensive European-built Ford. Set up by Ford as a separate franchise for its Lincoln-Mercury dealerships, just 800 of those dealers accepted the offer to sell the brand. In other words, the warning signs were very clear even before the first Merkur went on sale.

Set up by then Ford Vice President Bob Lutz, Merkur was in business from 1985 until 1989. Only two models were offered, the Scorpio and XR4Ti, both of which were German-built. But US safety standards required that Ford further modify each one upon arrival in the US, further increasing costs. Of the two models, the XR4Ti was sportier and was based off the same platform as the Europe-only Ford Sierra. Power came from a turbocharged 2.3-liter four-cylinder with fuel injection and mated to either a five-speed manual or three-speed automatic. When paired with the manual, this engine produced as much as 175 horsepower, but only 145 with the auto.

Although it may not have looked like much from the outside, this three-door hatchback had decent performance figures. It darted from 0-60 mph in around seven seconds and had a top speed of 130 mph, both of which were respectable for the era but laughable today for a hot hatch. Other interesting features on the car include its bi-plane style rear spoiler, independent rear suspension as well as rear-wheel-drive. It was even on Car and Driver magazine's Ten Best list for 1985 but this award was recanted in 2009 when the publication acknowledged its mistake for singling the car out over 20 years prior.