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Craigslist Dreamer: 1988 Merkur Scorpio

I imagine that, like me, many of you are habitual craigslist crawlers, scoping out your local site for the interesting and obscure, the bargains and the unobtanium, and I bet many of you have come across a craigslist dreamer or two. These are “sellers” who list a car that’s clearly never gonna sell for their asking price; either they’ve sincerely but grossly overestimated the condition or value of what they’re selling, they have no intention of selling but want people to call them and listen to them talk about their car, or they have a spouse on their back and want to look like they’re trying to unload a car that they actually have no interest in selling. The most dedicated of these are the ones who will keep up the act/faith for years on end. In my neck of the woods, perhaps the greatest of these dreamers is the would-be seller of this 1988 Merkur Scorpio, which has been listed off and on (mostly on) for at least three years that I’m aware of, always at a five-figure price—currently $13,000. It’s here on craigslist out of Newark, California, or preserved here for posterity.

I can think of a lot of reasons for this individual’s lack of success in selling their German-built Ford luxo-hatch—the fact that they only provide four pictures, for example, all of the exterior, or the question of how a 29-year-old car that’s been in storage for 24 years managed to cover 111,000 miles—but none of them matter except for the price. Don’t get me wrong: the exterior does look to be in exceptional condition, and seriously, when was the last time you saw a Scorpio at all, much less one this nice? And I like Scorpios. I had the chance to drive one a while back, and I found it an enjoyable touring sedan with surprisingly good road manners. But the market just isn’t there for a $13,000 Merkur; even the more enthusiast-friendly XR4Ti generally tops out in the mid-four figures, and the community preserving these cars, while dedicated, is small. With just a hair over 20,000 cars sold over only two model years—and only a fraction of them left on the road—I’m afraid the Scorpio isn’t going to get any less obscure and skyrocket in value anytime soon, but who knows? In the meantime, all we can do is speculate as to this seller’s motivations.

Who’s your favorite local craigslist dreamer?

Comments

  1. Avatar Coventrycat

    Anyone that says they’re only “testing the waters”

    Like 1
  2. Avatar Todd Zuercher

    This has to be the nicest Scorpio left in existence. That said, rare doesn’t necessarily mean valuable. Maybe $5-7k?

    Like 0
    • Avatar AF

      no way they are going to get that kind of money for one of these

      Like 0
  3. Avatar Dan

    No need to preserve this ad for posterity…just check Craigslist in a few years.

    Like 0
  4. Avatar SAM61

    Very nice car. I’ve seen plenty of XR4ti’s but not a Scorpio.

    That’s the cleanest glass I’ve ever seen or is the back corner glass missing…see a slight reflection.

    Is this considered a 7 window sedan or 6 window hatchback?

    Like 0
  5. Avatar RoKo

    Worth more like $4000 tops.

    Like 0
  6. Avatar Warren

    I had a 89 Scorpio with a rare 5 speed. Great car, I was in the field for Ford in 89 and it was my company car. Years later I found another 5 speed and had it for several years as my daily driver. Beautiful highway cruiser. Not “hot” by any means, but could have been a great car if not for unfortunate timing on launch, not preparing it for North American use and inadequate marketing efforts.

    Like 0
  7. Avatar Redwagon

    CP all day long

    Like 0
    • Avatar angliagt Member

      cp?

      Like 0
      • Avatar grant

        “Crack Pipe”. He’s referring to another automotive enthusiast website and their “Nice Price or Crack Pipe” feature.

        Like 0
  8. Avatar Pantera1973

    Here’s a photo of the interior of a Scorpio; it was a great place to spend time in. :)

    I owned a Scorpio back in the mid 90’s; a really nice one with only 45K miles on it. Great car, very comfortable cruiser. These cars came with Connolly Leather (like Aston Martin, Rolls, Bentley did) and were immensely comfortable to drive.

    Rear passengers had plenty of leg room and even had electrically reclining seats; pretty heady stuff for the 1980’s.

    Like 1
  9. Avatar The Walrus

    Why does it look so much like a Ford Tempo to me now? I don’t remember thinking that the last time I saw one twenty + years ago.

    Like 0
  10. Avatar edh

    Gap tooth mercury sable

    Like 0
  11. Avatar Alan (Michigan)

    The “Craigslist Dreamer” here in the Detroit area has a motorcycle for sale, has been for years. The “Final Reduction” has lasted months….

    https://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/mcy/d/final-reduction-weak-legs/6435014627.html

    Like 0
  12. Avatar Jon Pankin

    As someone who owned two of these things (both ’89s), I can tell you that they were not great cars by any stretch of the imagination. Yes, they were extremely comfortable and handled relatively well, but were very underpowered and suffered from cooling, electrical and transmission problems, not to mention a TFI which would fail every few months. How about bumper covers which fell off for no good reason? That was always fun. Oh, and the driveline donuts with a lifetime expectancy of an aged gnat. These cars, engineering-wise, were twenty years out of date, and that was in the late ’80s. Not recommended. Now, if you could pick a nice one up for under $1K you’d have a few comfortable highway months, then a quick tow to the junk yard.

    Like 0
  13. Avatar Healeymonster

    I was a tech at a Lincoln Merc dealer back in those days and went to Ford school to learn how they were the greatest cars on earth..(according to my instructor). But they were great freeway cruisers. 99% had automatics so having 5 speed was a unicorn. Unfortunately they had a lot of electrical issues. The ATC was a real unfortunate design although it had some cool features. The airvents, registors, had electric motors that opened and closed until they didn’t.. The blower speed controller would often fail, the blower motor would fail, (a pain to replace) The door lock actuators would fail, the seat heaters would burn out, The fuel gauge would go bonkers, (the replacement German fuel senders came wired backwards so full was empty and empty was full.. Im sure there were other problems but im getting old and memory’s going. But I do remember that 2.9 V6 was a strong runner. Had very few issues with the motor at all. The automatic trans… well… Seek out that unicorn!

    Like 0
    • Avatar Jon Pankin

      Oh yeah, forgot about the blower motor (100% of which failed due to plastic bearings) and the gauges, most notably fuel. You had to rely on the mileage computer to figure out how much gas you had. And the power window switches which had to be disassembled and cleaned every couple of months. I’m struggling to remember if anything actually worked on these things…

      Like 0
  14. Avatar David Miraglia

    A beauty with warts.

    Like 0
  15. Avatar Daymo

    An ex-boss of mine here in the UK had a Ford Granada (same car) which was a fantastic drive. Yes, it was a 2.9 AND an auto, but pulled like a train when you put your foot down. And it had over 200k miles on the clock. OK, it was only the tin worm holding the rest of it together, but otherwise trouble free!

    Like 0
  16. Avatar Chicaghost writer

    In regards to the question about how one feels about “Craigslist dreamers”; I myself added them to the pet peeves category, as they are for some reason, extremely annoying and frustrating to me. I’m sure that reason is their lack of general logic, let alone automotive prowess. Logic says that when you ask someone to trade their money for your item and it’s price tag, show the buyers why and what that price tag reflects. 4 pictures at 3am in the rain doesn’t bring me or my wallet much confidence; Nor does a description that when clicked, reads “description generated by Craigslist”
    I’m not gonna call to ask mileage, or options. If you want to sell me a car, Offer me a description. Better yet, show me why I should take the effort to find your driveway, and not the other guy’s who was honest enough to say, “needs break job” in a description including mileage, and other important information that help justify his asking price. God forbid your dog has puppies, I’m sure you’ll immediately find them good homes by simply printing the word “Dogs….(do not contact seller)”

    Like 0
  17. Avatar Daz

    My favourite dreamer taglines; “seeking expressions of interest”, “no test pilots”, “don’t really want to sell”, “it’s time to part with my ….”.

    Like 0
  18. Avatar Busyditch

    Be careful what you wish for. I talked to a manager of a classic car consignment dealer. He told me he had a customer with a 2nd gen Camaro who wanted a ridiculous price, only because he needed the storage! Of course someone fell in love with the car and paid his asking price. The owner was bound to sell

    Like 0
  19. Avatar glenn

    its a ford sierrah with leather not worth that

    Like 0

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