Just a post why I got into the XR's Add your own stories

AMXSC · Post by **AMXSC** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 10:47 am

My story started with a completely different car then the Merkur XR4ti it started with a 1990 Ford Escort GT.

In 1990 I bought my first brand new car a 1990 Ford Escort GT. It wasn't the car I went into the dealer to buy. I wanted a Ford Mustang GT but somehow the salesperson at the dealer talked me into a Ford Escort GT, but I still wanted a Mustang.

About 2 years later I found a 1987 Ford Mustang with a 2.3L 4 banger with a 5 speed transmission that was for sale cheap so I bought it. I had made plans to swap in a 5.0L V8 in place of the 2.3L when I could find one.

A week after I bought the Mustang I told a friend of mine about my big plans for the Mustang. He then told me about a wrecked 1988 Ford Turbocoupe that his brother had behind his mom's house. Well one thing led to another and I bought the engine, wiring, computer and all the sensor that I needed to build my Mustang into the 87 TurboStang.

Well here is where the project snowballed into something bigger. We swapped everything from the Turbocoupe into the Mustang in a good long 24 hour day. A friend of a friend that help that day offered to repaint the car. He painted the car in less then a week an amazing black he called blood black. (black with red tinted clear coat) Well me and some friends took the car out for it's first drive. We drove out the main gate at Camp Pendleton, CA and turned north on I5. We ran I5 at about 85mph up to San Clemente CA and pulled off the freeway onto Pacific Coast Highway. Well at the first stoplight some guy pulled up beside us with his Camaro and he revved up his engine, so I revved mine. He gave me the circling finger hand signal. So I revved my engine again so I could smoke him when the light turned green. When the light turned green and he took off and I smoked the clutch so bad in the car it would make you want to puke from the stink. Well to make a long story short the car was towed home that night. I vowed that that would never happen again. So in went a performance clutch and 4.10 gearing.

I raced stoplight to stoplight with the car many times, and wining against V8 Mustangs and Camaros. I even smoked a Vette off the line once. He didn't like that much. He said I cheated by jumping the gun before the light turned green. Cheap SOB made a bet and didn't win so he cried and didn't pay up. I give anything to be young again with that car.

Well 4 months later I wrecked the Mustang. I was racing on a backroad in the desert and hit some sand on the road while turning. I hit the ditch so hard that it broke the front subframe off the body of the car and twisted the front of the car up so bad that it would only sit on 3 wheels. I walked away with some scratches and a bruise where my seat belt ran across my shoulder.

With the Turbostang totaled I went and started looking for parts to build another one. Then I found my first XR4ti a 1989. White with tan leather interior, sunroof, cruise control, AC, 5 speed and only 60k miles, and I loved it. It wasn't raced by me and I drove this car to 320k miles. I have owned a few other XR's also and all of them 5 speeds, and I have just bought my first automatic XR for my daughter a few weeks ago.

Please add your own stories I would like to know why you got into XR's.

Post by **John Brennan** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 1:25 pm

I won my first '88 in a drawing at an IMSA GTP race in Del Mar, CA, while stationed at NAS Miramar. I wrote the story up somewhere.

pacwest · Post by **pacwest** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 2:16 pm

You WON a Merkur? wow.

richardcurtis · Post by **richardcurtis** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 4:06 pm

Bought my first one, an 87 automatic, back in 1995 or 96 for my son to use at college. We rebuilt it... replacing the upholstery, installing new stereo/speakers, had the trans rebuilt, replaced a lot of bulbs and various items. Eventually repainted it and sold it to a guy from Las Vegas.

Then bought another '87 manual. Rebuilt it completely including repainting it. Won an awared at Carlisle. Sold it to a fellow Merkur forum friend from Boston.

Then bought my current '89 Radiant Red, 5 speed, two burned valves, big dent in right quarter panel, bad tires, mismatched tires, bad clutch, etc. Rebuilt it including new engine, wheels, tires, PBR brakes, clutch, engine mounts, battery, etc., etc., including new paint, fixing everything. Won award at Carlisle this year.

Also bought another 89 black, 5-speed project car. Fixed a bunch of things wrong with it and sold it to a soldier who was then in Iraq. Turned out, he had the same job in exact same 82nd Airborne unit that I had 35+ years previously. He was also a N.C. boy, just like me. Spooky.

thrashperformance · Post by **thrashperformance** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 5:39 pm

was running a mustang at the local half mile oval, and had always really want to try irs. i had tons of the 2.3 stuff so the xr seemed the natural choice. when one with a cage went on ebay for 300 it was a done deal. it worked pretty well but the guy who built it did some things different than he should have and the car had a bad habit of trying to kill me by hitting the wall. the car got scrapped but before that happened i saw a lot of handling potential driving out of the corner so i wasnt turned off by the xr, just the previouse workmanship and bad luck. i bought another and built it and bought one for parts. the parts car was pretty clean and had only 45k and a title. i couldnt make myself hack it apart and i couldnt get anything for it so i drive it. i have been tinkering and the project has gone beyond what it was supposed to(dont they always?) but i like the car and will problably keep it till i fly off the firelane and into a tree cause i think its a rally car when really its just a wannabe rally car. ill post pics of the wreck when it happens if i am not in a coma. dont want that to happen? $2500 cash come get it

pyropete125 · Post by **pyropete125** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 6:16 pm

took a ride in my friends 300zx TT and wanted to get something turbo. i have a DD 94 ranger 2.3 na and bought a 2.3T with the intentions of swapping into my DD.

after reading about these motors, i realized that a 2.3T in a DD is not very reliable and decided to get something else and a blown motor 87 came along and then a 89 mono black and then a 86 and then......... about 10 more at least and at least 3 TC's

pete

thebronze · Post by **thebronze** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 6:20 pm

I needed a cheap car....Always liked them so....$600 later i still like em

hotrodtodd68 · Post by **hotrodtodd68** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 8:41 pm

two years ago my stepfather gave me two of them, one working. i drove it for a few months until it broke. now in a little spare time i try to fix it.

milehighXR · Post by **milehighXR** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 8:57 pm

Way back in previous millenium, when I was about knee high to elephant poop, I had seen a service manual for a Scorpio on the stairs leading to my dads basement. I asked him what Merkur was, and he said it was imported by Ford in the mid late 80s(this must've been 89 or 90). You see he had this because at the time, he was working for Rotunda dealing with the special tools for Scorpio. Anyhow, a few years later the memory must've stuck good, cuz while living with my mom here in CO, and looking for my first car we found the black 86 XR I have now. We test drove it, and bought it before the dealer could even prep it for sale. I repaid every dime, even after the turbo and head blew 2 yrs later.

thedrill · Post by **thedrill** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 10:34 am

I found my Xr4ti on Craigslist for a very low price , running but smoking badly and needing a turbo too. I could not believe that USA had the ford sierra/merkur over here, as I from Britain and had worked on literally hundreds of Sierras for a taxi company back home, they ranged from the 1.6, 1.8, 2.0, 2.8 and 2.3 diesel motors that you dont have in the merkur, I have actually seen a german 1.3 motor in a sierra, that really would not pull you out of bed!
Im glad I bought my merkur as its a fun toy to play with and Its cheap to modify if you know what other car parts fit.

shane634 · Post by **shane634** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 11:24 am

Well back in '92 I bought my first car, a 1988 Xr4Ti. Antique Metallic Bronze with tan leather ( no heated seats ). The Cat clogged up and cost me a head. Had that fixed then the recall work done on said Cat. Seemed like a pain to have the car worked on ( no one would touch the thing in Louisville, KY ). So when the head gasket blew the second time I sold it. Fast forward to 2005 and we move to a small town in southern IN ( less than 400 people ). Lo and behold what do I see in my new neighbors yard? Yep a 1987 Mono white XR with a for sale sign. What are the odds? So $1500 later I am the proud owner of said car, plus an extra hatch, hood and set of spatula wheels. Still have it and it doesn't get as much use as it should, but hey it is still a fun ride.

duncan1437 · Post by **duncan1437** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 5:19 pm

how did i end up with my merkur?

i surfed ebay after having too much to drink. i ended up with a 1981 whaletail porsche the same way.

i blame my wife cause i asked her permission both times

........

Mike McCreight · Post by **Mike McCreight** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 6:51 pm

I was up to my eyeballs into restoring/rodding "exotics" and "Imports" back in the late 70s, early 80s before there WAS a tuner market.Fun stuff, like a 67 Elan, and a 2002Tii to name a couple. Oh, and a 76 Te37 SR5 Corolla hardtop (look it up, Toyota rallied them...) that after 3 ridiculously modified Toyota motors finally wound up with a BDA race spec motor.
Worked for a Jaguar/Rover/Triumph dealer. Messed around with a lot of oddball British stuff for friends and customers "on the side".

Anyhoo, I digress.

I found other hobbies, and got out of it. FFWD 15 years..
Pretzeled my leg windsurfing in November in a gale of the Nova Scotia coast, and was physically disabled after a few operations, and going nuts. The GF suggested I buy a car to play with to preserve what little was left of my sanity.
Found one.

Found some GREAT people locally.
Found a great community on-line.
Now I have friends all over the world, and all over the web.
~10 XRs later, people find ME.
I guess I'm sort of the hub of things XR locally, pretty darn fortunate to be surrounded by as many enthusiasts as I am.

Raze · Post by **Raze** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 9:56 am

Had only ever heard of the XR4Ti as some rare weird car from the 80s with alot of European history but a total flop in the US.

I picked up my first Grassroots Motorsports magazine 5 years ago while I was in college and was hooked, instantly.

The issue was what car for my buddies and I to get into that could do everything on our laundry list:
low cost of purchase and upgrade
rear wheel drive
manual trans
light weight (or ability to strip it to lightweight)
safety
4 wheel independent suspension
ability to make serious power off whatever engine was OEM for cheap

Basically our list fell out to:

Miata - all of the above except cost, high autoX tax and the fact they're desierable chick cars

Fox Mustang - all of the above except IRS, that and in the South East they're very In Vogue so their purchase price for a clean body is high

240SX - drift tax, nuff said

and on and on, each car having some major fault...

Then, I was scouring Craigslist for sub $1500 running cars and what should appear but a 1986 XR4Ti with a roll bar installed, running, stick, gutted by PO for track use, lots of spare parts and extra wheel sets, He wanted $1300, I offered $700, we settled on $900 after my buddy and I went out to get it.

In the end as the premise for the car has expanded from one time GRM challenger/LeMons death mobile to semi-reliable HPDE car the 'repairs' have become as extensive as the 'upgrades' and the budget was overrun long ago, and the car still isn't 'done' but it's getting there fast now. It runs great, boosts sky high, turns decent but needs supsension upgrades next. Other than that and a coat of paint and a couple of safety upgrades it's bascially a rebuilt from scratch dedicated track car, which happens to be street legal

ricksxr · Post by **ricksxr** » Mon Oct 12, 2009 3:50 pm

I was driving a Ford EXP back in '84. Got into an accident where I hit someone who pulled out in from of me. (that's another story).
Well, I was looking for a replacement and a friend where I was working had bought one. I liked the style and the fact that it was faster than a BMW and Saab at the time and it was cheaper.
So the next year, Jan. 1987, I found one with the options that I wanted. Regency Red, sunroof and leather.
It was a 1986 that had been used by the dealer with only a few K miles on it.
I did take it in for the recall on the dash and leather seats.
It has been a great car that is really the only one I've driven that 'fits' me like a glove (although I wish the steering wheel was a little higher off my thighs).
I did an engine rebuild after it cracked a head at around 130K miles and now it has 180K miles.
Still drive it to commute to work every day.