Cars - Ford Scorpio

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	Cars - Ford Scorpio

The Ford Scorpio was a large car produced by the Ford Motor Company at its factory in Cologne, Germany between 1985 and 1999. Known within Ford by its codename DE-1, it replaced the Granada, although the car was still called Granada in the UK, the Scorpio badge only being used on the top-of-the range versions (hence the Granada Scorpio) until 1994, when the entire range was called Scorpio.

Mk I (1985-1994)

Engineering-wise, the Scorpio was heavily based on the Sierra, sitting on a stretched version of its floorpan, and using a similar styling philosophy set by both the Sierra and the third generation Escort. Under the hood were well-proven engines, starting with the venerable Pinto unit in 1.8 L and 2.0 L capacities, and the Cologne V6 in 2.4 L, 2.8 L and later 2.9 L displacements. By 1989, both the Pinto engines had been dropped, with an 8-valve DOHC engine replacing the 2.0 L model. The Scorpio was intended as a far more luxurious car than the Granada, so features such as leather upholstery, electrically adjustable seats, heated windscreen and all wheel drive all made their first appearance on a European Ford. The car was very comfortable (slightly let down by seats without good back support) and had excellent rear legroom but surprisingly little lateral headroom. The biggest advance of the Scorpio was that it was the first mass-market European car to have anti-lock brakes standard across the whole range.

Unlike the Granada, it was initially only available as a hatchback, and not as a saloon or estate. This proved to be a mistake for Ford, which later introduced a saloon version in 1990, and the estate appeared two years later. There were few engineering changes over the years, notably the introduction of the DOHC engines in 1989, and the Scorpio Cosworth with a 2.9 L 24-valve Cosworth V6 the following year.

It was elected Car of the Year in 1986.

Mk II (1994-1998)

In 1994, the Scorpio was radically restyled, but proved unpopular with critics, who described its front end as "bug-eyed" and plain ugly. One nickname was grenouille triste (sad frog).

The styling was supposedly the work of Ford's US design office. At the time, it was mooted that future large Fords would come from America and the Scorpio was meant to be a preview. Despite sharing the same centre section, the front and rear fascias were very different and the vehicle appeared nearly all-new.

Supporters claimed that the car looked more prestigious and less minicab-like, but there were few. Unusually, but unsurprisingly, the name of the designer was not released.

Furthermore, the segment of the market in which the Scorpio competed was in decline in Europe, and many buyers preferred high-spec versions of the smaller Mondeo. This led to production ending in 1998, and the Scorpio has never been replaced (although Ford considered importing the Lincoln LS and selling it as the Ford Lincoln). Ford has since re-entered the executive car market with the Jaguar S-Type and more recently the smaller X-Type, having taken over Jaguar in 1989.

Merkur Scorpio

The Merkur Scorpio was an American-market version of the European Scorpio, sold in 1988 and 1989.

It was marketed as an upscale, midsize luxury sedan, but never achieved the market impact that the Ford Motor Company hoped for. The vehicle was also plagued by minor electrical reliability issues which hurt its luxury image with consumers. Ford dropped the Merkur nameplate after 1989.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Ford Scorpio ]

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Cars - Ford Scorpio

Mk I (1985-1994)

Mk II (1994-1998)

Merkur Scorpio

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