Got the Merkur....here's pics

Thanks guys....i'm in love with it....trying hard not to get caught up in it though 'cause i've gotta start on my engine for the coupe.


I found it actually by going to this place to look at another Mustang with a friend of mine, and it was parked behind a service/repair shop behind the Mustang. I said hey man that's a really nice Merkur...he says yeah do you want it? I laughed and said i do but i probably can't afford it...he said you'd be surprised. Long story short i ended up trading the Cobra R's that i had planned for my 5 lug swap and $550 for it...so i sort of have more into it than $550 but i didn't have a dime into the R's so money wise that's all.

He definitely knew what he had....he just said that between him and his wife they had 6 cars and two of his were Mustangs and he just didn't have time for it. He said i reacted so highly to it that he knew i'd take care of it so he passed it along to me. He said he got it for next to nothing too (said he's making profit with the $550!). Pretty much all i'm going to do as far as mods is an intercooler, manual boost controller and 3'' exhaust and maybe tint and wheels just to make it my own. I'm gonna try to get some interior shots today, i spent yesterday vacuuming it out and cleaning it up some.



By the way, here's the spread from Car and Driver in Sept. '84:
Page 1
http://www.merkurtech.com/merkurtec...rkurtech/magarticles/cd-sep84/cd-sep84-02.jpg
Page 2
http://www.merkurtech.com/merkurtec...rkurtech/magarticles/cd-sep84/cd-sep84-03.jpg
3
http://www.merkurtech.com/merkurtec...rkurtech/magarticles/cd-sep84/cd-sep84-04.jpg
4
http://www.merkurtech.com/merkurtec...rkurtech/magarticles/cd-sep84/cd-sep84-05.jpg
5
http://www.merkurtech.com/merkurtec...rkurtech/magarticles/cd-sep84/cd-sep84-06.jpg

This page in particular (GTO you might wanna look over this part )



I was way off on the price so i'll eat my words on that....it was a tad more expensive than a 3 series BMW....but it DID out accelerate everything in the comparison save for the Z28 (and likely the '85 5.0). I don't even care to argue the cars price back in whatever year....that's completely irrelevant since i only paid $550 for it. There may very well have been better performing cars for the price or cheaper at the time (duh the Mustang 5.0) but the point is, it's not a POS econocar by any stretch.

SVT32VDOHC said:

15.5 @90MPH 1/4??? That is pretty damn good.....a few mods some cars gotta watch out for that thing!!

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My buddy has one that runs 12.90s and keeps up with Terminators on the highway

GTOReturns said:

Not bad shape I guess!

As for all the dummies telling me what it was and wasnt,,SHAT AP!!!!!!

ITS SLOWER THE A 5.0 AOD!!! 16 seconds in the 1/4 is SLOW. I was around when they were new. Dude, its a Ford!

You paid a fair price and its in decent shape, have fun with it!

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LOL well YEAH man....it is still a 4 banger You've gotta admit though for a stock 4 banger 16 seconds ain't all bad right? I will add though that as fun and perky as this car is to drive, one drive in my coupe today was enough to bring me back to my senses....it's nowhere near as fast as the coupe



Oh and here's an interior pic...the floor mats are a little wore and you can see the cig burn in the driver's seat, but that's about it except for the shifter boot, and that's getting replaced with leather. I don't know why the seats look so light in color....i couldn't get them from being so bright without the lighting on the dash going too dark to see any details.

Skoobie said:

Wow thats a cool sleeper. I had never heard of this car until now. Looked it up in the Seattle craigslist and found a white 89 for $550. Its has a little damage to the lower front bumper and a small leak in the turbo oil line but looks good other then that. Makes me wish I had an extra $500 laying around, sounds like a fun commuter car

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That's ultimately what it boils down to. I like driving something you never see on the road...i love the reaction people give it. Plus ya know how it is when some idiot import driver is being stupid and you're in your DD and think "DAMN if i was just in my Mustang i'd show him what's up"....well if you have a turbo 2.3 under the hood on 15-20psi then the chances of you doing just that are pretty good


In the end though it is just a fun DD....i'd never trade my coupe for one no matter how fast it was.

I remember seeing them every now and then when i was younger but i didn't really know anything about them until a few years ago when i started taking an interest in SVO's and Turbo Coupes. Then about 2 years ago my buddy got one and i rode in it and was really surprised at how fast it was (his was lightly modded). At the time my coupe was running 14.50s and it would've gave it a run for its money.

I'm chasing my tail right now with an idle surge issue and a slipping clutch. I can't mat the gas without the clutch slipping hard so i really don't know how fast it is. It feels like it's going slower than it is...every time i try to get on it, even with the clutch i end up looking down at like 90mph on the speedo