Merkur XR4Ti
automobile model
The Merkur XR4Ti is a performance-oriented 3-door hatchback sold in North America from 1985 to 1989. A product of the Ford Motor Company, the car was a version of the European Ford Sierra adapted to U.S. regulations. The XR4Ti project was championed by Ford vice president Bob Lutz.
History
The Sierra was the successor to Ford of Europe's Cortina/Taunus, and was developed while Lutz was chairman of Ford's European operations. Due to financial limitations the decision was made to keep the front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout of its predecessor, and pursue improved fuel economy through advanced aerodynamics. The Probe III design study unveiled at the 1981 Frankfurt Motor Show foreshadowed the direction Ford would take with the Sierra. Responsibility for the Sierra design was handled by vice president for design Uwe Bahnsen and chief stylist Patrick le Quément. The Sierra was released in Europe in September 1982, and the performance-oriented XR4i appeared in 1983, slotted into the lineup above the Fiesta-based XR2 and Escort-based XR3.
Lutz spearheaded the plan to bring a version of the XR4i to North America to compete with sporty luxury imports like BMW. Although modifications would be needed, his instructions were that the nature of the car not be compromised. The XR4 for America would be turbocharged, adding a 'T' to its name while keeping the 'i' indicating a fuel injected engine, as in Europe.
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This entry incorporates text from “Merkur XR4Ti” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.