While offered as a five-door hatchback, the Merkur Scorpio was similar in appearance to the Mercury Sable. In comparison to the first-generation Mercury Sable, the Scorpio was 4.5 inches shorter in length, 1.3 inches narrower, and 2.7 inches longer in wheelbase; the two models were nearly identical in height.
Chassis specification
The Merkur Scorpio shares its Ford DE-1 chassis with its Ford counterpart. Using a rear-wheel drive layout with four-wheel independent suspension, the DE-1 chassis is a long-wheelbase variant of the Ford Sierra, extending the wheelbase six inches. In one of the first vehicles sold in North America, anti-lock brakes were standardized, along with four-wheel disc brakes. The Scorpio was offered with a 2.9L V6, producing 144 hp. In contrast to the XR4Ti, the Scorpio was not fitted with a powertrain specific for North America; its engine was the largest offered in the Ford Scorpio. A 5-speed manual transmission was standard, with a 4-speed overdrive automatic offered as an option.
Body
In contrast to many of its European counterparts, the Scorpio was offered solely as a five-door hatchback in North America. The Scorpio's fastback design gave Lincoln-Mercury dealers an opportunity to offer customers a sportier premium alternative to the more traditional Lincoln Continental and Lincoln Town Car sedans. As with the Mercury Sable, the Scorpio was styled with blacked-out roof B and C-pillars, for a floating-roof effect. While less extensive than the redevelopment of the XR4Ti, several changes were made to distinguish the Merkur Scorpio from its Ford counterpart. The rear fascia is unique to Merkur; in line with Mercury, the Scorpio is fitted with a full-width taillamp lens. With the exception of badging, the front fascia is largely identical between Merkur and Ford, with the Merkur Scorpio fitted with fog lamps and headlamps in compliance with American regulations. Merkur also received its own model-specific alloy wheels. Sharing much of its interior with the Ford Scorpio, the Merkur Scorpio was solely offered in a five-passenger configuration. In contrast to the Sable, the Scorpio was offered with power-reclining rear seats and a tilt-telescope steering column.
Pricing
At its launch, the Merkur Scorpio was sold with a base price of $23,390. Options included automatic transmission, power moonroof, and the Touring Package. Most North American Scorpios were sold with automatic transmission and Touring Package which raised the sticker price to $26,405. While wearing a similar exterior as the Mercury Sable, the Scorpio rivaled the Lincoln Town Car in price. To attract customers to the vehicle, Lincoln-Mercury offered potential Scorpio customers a Guaranteed Resale Value Program, matching the resale value of the Scorpio to the Mercedes-Benz 190E.
Discontinuation
On October 20, 1989, Ford officially announced it was ending imports of the Scorpio to the United States; as the XR4Ti had ended sales earlier in the year, the decision effectively closed Merkur. At the end of 1989, Ford of Europe introduced a sedan version of the Scorpio. Coinciding with lower than anticipated sales, Merkur fell victim to unstable exchange rates between the dollar and German mark, leading to further increases in price. As passive safety regulations were to be adopted in 1990, the Scorpio was required to adopt automatic seatbelts or airbag; as the Ford Scorpio was developed with neither feature, passive safety compliance proved too expensive to justify the conversion cost of redeveloping the model line for North American sale.
