The Ford Scorpio is an executive car that was produced by Ford Europe from 1985 to 1998. It was the replacement for the European Ford Granada line (although in the United Kingdom and Ireland the Scorpio was marketed under the Granada name until 1994). Like its predecessor, the Scorpio was targeted at the executive car market. A variant known as the Merkur Scorpio was sold briefly on the North American market during the late 1980s.
First generation (1985â€"1994)
Codenamed DE-1 during its development (since it was intended to straddle the European D and E segments), the Scorpio was heavily based on the Sierra, sitting on a stretched version of its floorpan, and using a similar styling philosophy set by both the Sierra and the third generation Escort.
Under the bonnet were well proven engines, starting with the venerable Pinto engine unit in 1.8Â L and 2.0Â L capacities, as well as the V6 Cologne engine in 2.4Â L, 2.8Â L, and later 2.9Â L displacements. By the summer of 1989, the Pinto engines had begun to be gradually replaced, with the 8 valve version of the Ford I4 DOHC engine replacing the 2.0Â L model.
The Scorpio was intended to maintain Ford's position in Europe as the principal alternative to a Mercedes or BMW for those looking to own an executive car. It was also launched more than a year ahead of new competitors from Rover and Vauxhall.
To this end Ford built on the already extensive specification available on the outgoing MkII Granada (which for the period, was very well equipped, with features such as leather heated electrically adjustable seats, air conditioning, electric sunroof and trip computer either standard or available as options) by adding some additional features unusual on a mass market car. Improvements available included: heated windscreen, cruise control and, later all-wheel drive.
The most notable advance was the fitment of anti-lock braking system, the first time this feature had been made standard across the whole range on a mass produced car. The car was widely praised as being very comfortable and spacious, particularly in respect of its rear legroom.
Unlike the Granada, it was initially only available as a hatchback, and not as a saloon or estate. This proved to be a mistake for Ford, which later introduced a saloon version early in 1990. An estate version finally appeared in the beginning of 1992, when the whole range underwent a facelift, with new styling which hinted at the new Mondeo, which would replace the Sierra a year later. There were few engineering changes over the years, notably the introduction of the DOHC engines in 1989, and the Scorpio Cosworth with a 2.9Â L 24 valve Cosworth V6 in December 1990.
The Cosworth was both large and fast, which consequently gave it poor fuel consumption. Many owners often commented at the fact that 25 miles per gallon was about as much as you could get out of a car with this engine. Prop-shaft deterioration over time was also considered to be a problem on early Mark I and II Cosworths.
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, following the initial market resistance towards the Sierra, something which had been attributed to its radical styling, Ford elected to keep the Granada name in those markets, making the Scorpio effectively a Mk III Granada. The "Scorpio" name was instead used as a trim designation rather than the model name, being positioned higher than Ford's traditional Ghia top of the range model. These models were marketed as "Granada Scorpio", but were badged simply as "Scorpio", with an elongated "Granada" underneath.
Merkur Scorpio
The Merkur Scorpio was a North American version of the European Scorpio Mk I. The car was offered at select Lincolnâ€"Mercury dealerships from 1988â€"1989.
The Merkur Scorpio was only offered with the Cologne 2.9L V6 engine with some detail differences from the contemporary Fords. Adapted to meet American emissions requirements, the Merkur version of the Scorpio produced 140Â hp (100Â kW) when introduced to the North American market in 1988.
The vast majority were fitted with the A4LD four speed automatic transmission, and the rest received the T-9 five speed manual transmission. Only automatic versions of the Scorpio were available in Canada. The car was marketed as an upscale, mid size luxury car, but never achieved the market impact that the Ford Motor Company hoped for. Ford dropped the Merkur nameplate altogether after 1989.
Facelifted model
The model was a facelifted Mark I with changed grille, headlights, rear lights, bonnet and dashboard. It went on sale in March 1992, at the same time that an estate model (first shown in London at the October 1991 British Motor Show) was added to the range.
The outdated Peugeot XD3 diesel engine was also replaced by a more powerful unit from Italian VM Motori. This facelift realigned the look of the Granada with the forthcoming Mondeo, and kept styling cues coherent across the model range.
Second generation (1994â€"1998)
The second generation Scorpio was made available in saloon or estate styles only, and had largely the same floorpan as its predecessor as well as all of the same engines that were in use at the end of the first generation's run. Many suspension and handling improvements were made between the first and second generations (including self levelling rear suspension on the estates). It was also radically re styled both inside and outside, with new design of headlights, grille and door handles. Unlike the previous generation Scorpio models, there was no five door hatchback body style in this line up.
In addition, the "Granada" name, which had been retained in the United Kingdom and Ireland for the MkI Scorpio (AKA MkIII Granada) was finally dropped and the "Scorpio" name â€" already used elsewhere â€" was adopted.
Inside the car were new arm chair style seats and improved interior quality, but outside the new look was controversial. The car sported bulbous 'globular' headlights and its tail lights were arranged in a thin line just above the bumper (described as a 'gratuitously narrow... ill-chosen necklace... resembling a giant cushion'). Unusually, Ford never released the name of the designer and maintain to this day that the car outsold its expected figures (although they never released what those figures actually were).
The bulging headlights and wide grille were defended as 'bold', 'quirky', 'a design statement', 'ahead of its time', and 'different' by some who felt that this made it look less like a minicab, but the public and press reaction to the design was largely negative. Contemporary reviewers wrote that the car had a 'stupid grin', 'dopey eyes', 'fat flanks', a 'reptilian gurn', and that it looked 'mixed up', 'boxy yet curvy', 'gargoyle-ugly' and 'bug eyed', 'resembl[es] something that David Attenborough might reveal from a dank cave in Borneo', and 'driving a milk float would score more cred points in a traffic jam'.
The styling was so controversial that several months before the release of the vehicle to the public, Ford set up a focus group involving large sections of the automotive press at their engineering and design center in Cologne, comparing the distinctive grille to historic designs such as those from Jaguar, Alfa Romeo, and Austin-Healey. The acknowledgement by Ford of good design from other manufacturers was praised by the press, however the design of the Scorpio itself received universal condemnation, and the focus group failed to placate the media regarding the car's appearance, who would later go on to viciously attack the styling on release.
Jeremy Clarkson wrote in The Times at the time that this car had “village idiot features†and a “loopy faceâ€. He elaborated that the Scorpio ended any argument as to which car was the ugliest on the road, that the car “resemble[s] an extra from Finding Nemoâ€, and that “there's no way [Ford] could raise additional funds by flogging posters of the [Scorpio] to teenagersâ€. Richard Hammond and James May described it as 'gopping', and in Richard Porter's 2004 book Crap Cars the Scorpio Mark II was listed as number 49 (of 50) on looks alone.
Quentin Willson said in an episode of Top Gear in April 1997 that the "sad eyed Scorpio is so heroically ugly, it was obviously designed by Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder.". On the DVD special Clarkson: Heaven and Hell, Clarkson set up a jousting contest between a Scorpio â€" which he described as "a wide mouthed frog" â€" and a Triumph TR7, eventually destroying both cars via head on collision.
In Germany, the satirical magazine Titanic noted the Scorpio's front's similarity to the facial features of politician Günter Verheugen, who would go on to become EU Commissioner. This was in March 2003.
In April 1998, it was listed as the third worst N registered car (August 1995 to July 1996) to own in United Kingdom from a Top Gear survey of 120 cars.
In September 1997, the Scorpio was facelifted, with darker headlight surrounds and a more subtle grille, to tone down the front end of the car. The '50s throwback' 'low slung wrap around' rear lights were also revised to make the 'plump' rear-end of the car less bulbous. This was to be the last development for the model, which finished production over the summer of 1998.
Whether or not the car genuinely made Ford's sales expectations, the shifting European car market at the end of the 1990s meant that it was not directly replaced. This was not unusual at the time, with the market trending towards either high spec large family cars for executives or towards multi-purpose vehicles for families. Also, at that time Ford's ownership of Jaguar and Volvo made the Scorpio unnecessary.
The Dutch Royal Family used several Scorpios, some stretched ones, and all painted in Royal Blue. There is still a custom build Scorpio landaulet in the royal stables. After Ford ended the production, the Volvo S80 replaced the Ford models.
Trim levels and engines
The Scorpio Mark II was available in the following levels of trim (each one being available as a saloon or an estate and with any engine). Regardless of the trim level, any car with a 2.9 Cosworth engine was fitted with traction control, cruise control and an automatic gearbox as standard (a manual gearbox could not be specified at all). All other engines could be fitted with either a manual or automatic transmission although, in practice, the vast majority of Scorpios were automatic.
- Executive: The base model, although even this had a high level of specification including electric windows, ABS, PAS as well as an alarm and immobiliser.
- Ghia: This level added air conditioning, alloy wheels, front fog lights and electric mirrors as well as a variety of minor additions.
- Ultima: The highest level added a CD autochanger, climate control, leather seats, cruise control and an automatically dimming mirror, and electrically operated seats as well as a variety of other minor improvements.
Some Ultima versions were fitted with a VM Motori 2.5 litre turbo diesel engine. The VM halves the fuel bills but suffered from 'turbo lag' with all or nothing acceleration.
Unusually trim levels and engine sizes were not liveried on the backs of the cars. Rather the trim levels were liveried on the sides of the cars by the Scorpio badges on the rear window frames as such. The Executive had no badge, simply the word "Scorpio". Each other model had the model name under the badge, for example "Scorpio Ultima."
Engine sizes were also on the sides of the cars towards the front just above the auxiliary indicator lights as such:
- 2.0Â L: no badge (on older cars the two litre 8 valve had no badge but the two litre sixteen valve bore had the badge "2.0 16v")
- 2.3Â L: "2.3" (on older cars "2.3 16v")
- 2.9Â L: "2.9" (on older cars "2.9 12v")
- 2.9Â L: Cosworth "24v"
Unlike the Mark I Scorpio, the word "Cosworth" did not appear anywhere on the outside of cars fitted with such an engine (possibly in an attempt to reduce the likelihood of vehicle theft) although it is in evidence across the top of the engine. However, on the 1998 facelift, the Cosworth badge is clearly visible on the trunk lid.
With large numbers of these types of vehicles traditionally being sold into the company car market in the United Kingdom, their very low residual values (worth after 3 or 4 years use) affected the total cost of ownership to such a degree the premium, aspirational marques became no more expensive to run, especially on a Contract Hire or Leasing Agreement. Buyers therefore gravitated toward models with more prestige such as those made by Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Also, Ford acquired Jaguar in 1989 and Volvo Cars in 1998, whose lineups fielded vehicles in the market segment of the Scorpio.
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