Ford Scorpio
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The Ford Scorpio was a large family/executive car produced by the Ford Motor Company in Europe its factory in Cologne, Germany between 1985 and 1999. It replaced the Granada range, 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.
The Scorpio was also briefly sold by Ford in the US, under the Merkur brand name.
1985
Engineering-wise, the 1985 Scorpio was heavily based on the Sierra, sitting on a stretched version of its floorpan, and using a similar styling philosophy set by both it and the third generation Escort. Under the hood were well-proven power units, 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 editions. 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 made their first appearance on a European Ford. The biggest advance of the Scorpio was that it was the first mass-market European car to have anti-lock brakes (ABS) standard across the whole range.
Unlike the Granada, it was initially only available as a hatchback, and not as a sedan or station wagon. This proved to be a mistake for Ford, which later introduced a sedan version in 1990 and the wagon 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.
1994
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 office—at the time it was mooted that future big Fords would come from the States and the Scorpio was meant to be a preview. Despite sharing the same centre section, the front and rear ends 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. 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.de:Ford Scorpio