'87 XR4Ti for sale in Texas

[ssacamp]

79.000 original mile California XR4Ti. I am 3rd owner. The car was in California its entire life until I moved it to Texas last month. Has its original paint which is sun faded but thin only on the front fascia and be-wing spoiler. I was planning to have paint "correction" done by a professional in SoCal but moved before I accomplished that. I have many pictures but couldn't get them uploaded to this site so contact me with an email and I'll send them to you along with more details on the car. I had the XR4Ti sold on ebay recently for $5K but buyer was a deadbeat and didn't have the money. Like another classifed I saw posted here, I'm most interested in giving this car a good home. I rescued it from the 2nd owner who bought it on a whim and didn't have the money to make it roadworthy. It now runs excellent and I purchased and had installed 2 new leather & vinyl front seat covers from Rapido earlier this year. Also has new Continental tires. Although I have more than $5K invested I'd take $5K from a new owner who wants to take the car to the next level. Scott.

[ssacamp]

[IMG]https://[URL=http://s1262.photobucket.com/user/scampbe6/media/MerkurRearSeat_zpszwputrrz.jpg.html][/U[URL=http://s1262.photobucket.com/user/scamp ... u.jpg.html]RL]/albums/ii613//MerkurHatchNet_zps2ekiypql.jpg[/IMG][/URL][URL=http://s1262.photobucket.com/user/scamp ... l.jpg.html][/URL]

[ssacamp]

Since I'm new to MCA, thought I should share my background. Recently retired from Ford after 34 years in Sales & Marketing. Drove my first XR4Ti in Denver back in 1985 as a factory Zone "sales car". Have many great memories of the XR from back then, including the marketing launch with the Western Region dealers at Laguna Seca. Lots of fun driving the XR and its major competitors at the track that day. I moved on with Ford to Detroit in late 1986 and one of my job responsibilities there was as Marketing Coordinator (contact person) for the Merkur Owners Club of America (MOCA). After 30+ years with Ford and driven many Ford vehicles, I still think of the XR as one of the most fun to drive cars ever. I bought the current XR to rescue it. As i said, previous owner didn't have the cash to fix it and was considering sending it to the scrap yard. I also currently own a 1956 TBird, a 2005 TBird and my son has a 2017 Focus RS. Greetings to all!!

[DAReese]

The stories you likely can tell....

[ssacamp]

Yes Sir David......!!!!!! Thanks for the note back. Looks like, from your garage inventory, you'd have some interesting stories about how and who you acquired those treasures from!

[my8950]

Where were you located in Detroit? And do you like Texas better?

[blugg]

If you were part of MOCA then you must have ties with Russ Harness

[ssacamp]

I worked in the Renaissance Center both "tours of duty" in Detroit. The second tour (from 1992-1995) I officed at the RenCen downtown but spent much of my time at the Dearborn Design Center where I was the Marketing Plans Coordinator for Grand Marquis, Cougar & Sable. While it was a great job working with engineers & designers on future product, I can't say much for those nameplates now, which have all met their demise. (It must have been terrible marketing planning on my part!!) I like Texas better at this point in my life but really enjoyed both times in Michigan. Of the many places we were relocated, Detroit is still my son's favorite.
As for Russ Harness, yes I worked with Russ and Renata a lot when I worked in Detroit. They were tremendous supporters of the new Merkur brand at the time and purchasing this 1987 a couple years ago allowed me to reconnect with Russ. Still a great guy. There was also a very active club in Texas when Merkur was first launched but I cannot remember the names of the people involved. Brings back memories!

[ToolingAround]

This wouldn’t be the red one I was chasing in flower mound the other day, is it?

[ssacamp]

Nope, I'm in Plano and wasn't out with mine this week.

[ToolingAround]

There are a few fans of the XR4s here. Sadly I have sold all mine in favor of the Fiesta ST. I am over in Roanoke. I know of two sitting in a storage lot of 35 in Carrollton I have been trying to track down the owners. I’d be interested in yours if it wasn’t red but it’s a really clean car you have.

Nope, I'm in Plano and wasn't out with mine this week.

[DAReese]

Yes Sir David......!!!!!! Thanks for the note back. Looks like, from your garage inventory, you'd have some interesting stories about how and who you acquired those treasures from!

Well, the mini-van was pretty impressive.

I'm sure we'd all love to hear whatever insight you could provide to the Merkur program that Ford was thinking about.

Things like how close was the 3rd Merkur, why didn't they use the DOHC intercooled beast Ford was testing, why I didn't get any goodies when I bought my first one, why the dealers were so clueless, unexpected issues Ford faced, things like that.

[hEaT]

Since I'm new to MCA, thought I should share my background. Recently retired from Ford after 34 years in Sales & Marketing. Drove my first XR4Ti in Denver back in 1985 as a factory Zone "sales car". Have many great memories of the XR from back then, including the marketing launch with the Western Region dealers at Laguna Seca. Lots of fun driving the XR and its major competitors at the track that day. I moved on with Ford to Detroit in late 1986 and one of my job responsibilities there was as Marketing Coordinator (contact person) for the Merkur Owners Club of America (MOCA). After 30+ years with Ford and driven many Ford vehicles, I still think of the XR as one of the most fun to drive cars ever. I bought the current XR to rescue it. As i said, previous owner didn't have the cash to fix it and was considering sending it to the scrap yard. I also currently own a 1956 TBird, a 2005 TBird and my son has a 2017 Focus RS. Greetings to all!!

Awesome and welcome! Glad to have you on the site, and wish you best of luck with the sale. I have a Focus RS too, and agree that the XR is still one of the most fun cars to drive

[ssacamp]

Thank you Joe !!

[ssacamp]

As for David's questions about Ford's Merkur product & marketing plans back in the day, I unfortunately can't shed a lot of light. My position, working wth MOCA was more of a merchandising function rather than product marketing and those guys were always tight lipped about future plans. As for the dealers being clueless, I can't lay the blame entirely at their feet. True that they were LM dealers, used to selling Town Cars and Grand Marquis and their sales teams usually reflected their buyers, ie not enough young, enthusiastic sales people to handle the showroom buyers and carry the Merkur torch. But Ford, in my humble opinion, didn't stay committed to the brand long enough. Plus, key leadership, responsible for bringing Merkur to market from Europe were recruited by other automakers and left Ford, leaving no "champion" to push the brand forward.