The Merkur XR4Ti was an award-winning, turbocharged home-run for Ford in the 1980s — until it landed in U.S. dealerships with a thud. How could this have happened? Conceived by the legendary Bob Lutz, the brand-name "Merkur" was chosen so that the XR4Ti (and later Scorpio) could be sold outside of the U.S. Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury dealerships — to compete against the E30-chassis BMW 3-series, the Audi 4000 and Coupe, and the W201 Mercedes 190E. But it wouldn't sell. And the reason? Ford Corpor

The Merkur XR4Ti was an award-winning, turbocharged home-run for Ford in the 1980s — until it landed in U.S. dealerships with a thud. How could this have happened? That's the story in this episode of Revelations with Jason Cammisa. The XR4Ti was the German-built turbocharged, 4-cylinder version of the Ford Sierra XR4i — a futuristically styled, rear-wheel drive sporty coupe. With more power and more refinement than its European-market sibling, the Merkur was the better car. Conceived by the lege