The Scorpio '95 was technically a pretty good car. I drove it for three years, as a Scorpio Ghia 24V with the BOB Cosworth engine. The car didn't deserve the ugly design. Looking back, it's still incomprehensible how an unsaleable design could be released.
One thing you missed and the reason for the headlights looking like they did, was because they were the first (or one of the first) to use plastic headlights with a rear reflector over a glass lensed headlamp. This required considerable computer power and software to design but was in its infancy in the late 80's. The result of this was something quite limited in styling options compared to what could be achieved only a few years later.
@@allDIYtrains I think projector headights are something different or an additional improvement? As you can get headlights without lenses with halogen, projector and xenon bulbs?
@@Low760 I believe there are there are a different parts of a headlight that that can improve their efficiency and the direction of the light. An example was my Rover 75 (great car by the way). It originally came with lensed lights, but had later clear reflective ones. Options for projector and xenon hid were also available. The Scorpio had polyelipsoid headlights which is the thing that made them unique (or as said nearly unique for the time).
I feel so lonely. I actually love big hatchbacks. I had a 3rd generation Mondeo, great car, but I had to sell it because the sedan boot was almost useless in daily life with a small child.
I love the original Scorpio. It had a great back seat, looked good and offered tons of practicality. The replacement model was inferior in those areas.
My grandfather had his for well over 25 years, which is incredibly impressive considering it was always parked outside on the driveway, in Sweden of all places. In the end it was his left knee that wasn’t too keen on using a clutch and not rust that made him get rid of it. He replaced it with a automatic Focus, a Ford man until the grave.
@@Markking1678 Cavity wax and undercoating oil are not (that) expensive though (a couple of hundred quid of supplies should be enough to do a car), why don't owners just apply it themselves even if it's not standard?
17? 17? What on earth possessed you? I mean, they're perfectly serviceable vehicles. But what made you think, after having purchased 16 Ford Scorpios, to go out and buy another one?
Yup, that's it with such weird designs, whether it be the Scorpio, the AMC Pacer, The Fiat Multipla, the Pontiac Aztek or others: At least you still remember them - unlike so many other bland cars that have long been forgotten.
@@torstenscholz6243 I wouldn't put the Scorpio in the same corner as those. I like quirky, not ugly! I wouldn't want to be found dead in one of the aforementioned cars. Especially not the Fiat! But then again, I love the old Saab 99/90/900 too.
....the rear of the 94 Scorpio was a bit Lincoln and not too bad. The frogeye front however is made children cry and scared when you stopped to let them over the road at a zebra crossing
The Dutch queen drove the last Scorpio model in an extended version for many years, thereby she afforded it some cachet - in my eyes at least. It’s not that bad.
Saw Ford Scorpio this summer [ 2024 ] on a car show at British Motor Museum. Beautiful well maintained car in dark red color and black leather interior. I don`t know what people were complaining about back in 1990s` because that car looks great! I would want one. When you play it safe and make sober designs people complaint that cars look boring and same. Then when you make something different they will complaint that it looks weird.
17:18 This still looks really good to my eyes, a good 38 years later. I would say this and the Sierra B has some pretty timeless design elements. Being a Ford guy i can still dream of a scorpio Ghia 2,9i with this bodykit. A european luxobarge. Sad they are almost all gone now.
if you are dreaming of a Ford, you have really mental problems... i rather dream about a 1930s Mercedes or NSU silver arrow...1955 SL300 etc....but not a Ford from the 1990s!
The Scorpio was nicknamed the Sgorbio in Italy. Sgorbio in Italian means scrawl, however it also has another meaning, that of a person who if very ugly or deformed. This second meaning was the one intended for the Scorpio (Sgorbio).
I friends dad had the estate version of the Scorpio as a company car when I was a kid. It seemed very luxurious compared to the 2 decade old 1977 Volvo 244 we had back then.
when i was young we had that hatchback in the red shown multiple times in the video. i always liked the car. extremely practical and roomy for a family of 4. the issue was most people buying cars that size want to show off their purchase and are not looking for practically very much ;-)
The face of a car is the most important feature stylistically. As we have seen since, luxury executive cars have to have an angry face. When they sweep up behind other people and tailgate them, the face has to say “I’m really mean and angry- get out of my way”. The Scorpio looks like it wants to give other cars a big lick.
Somebody said the Scorpio face looked like the car had had a banana stuffed up its bum. Not sure which person said it but it sounds like a Clarkson quote EDIT - posted before watching all the way - my bad
I loved my MK1 Granada pure 3ltr grunt. My earlier Consul was good. Not so much the later Mk2 2.8ltr which was more "civilised, but fine. My brother's Mk3 GranadaI was a nice car -but I couldn't believe the scorpio! The word Mule comes to mind - but that'd be unfair to Mules!
I had a 1995 Granada Scorpio hatchback and it was wonderful! Also had a 1993 Granada Ghia Saloon. My parents also had a 1988 Granada 1.8L and that's where I fell in love with them.
i bought a second hand 2.0l petrol and used it as a taxi, i agree that the front had to grow on you over a period of time, but i've got yo say it was one of the nicest cars to drive and be a passenger in, i regularly did 8 to 10 hours shifts basically living in my taxi to make a living, always got out at the end of the night without any aches and pains, passengers were always telling me how comfortable the rear seats were, and you could fit two large suitcases in the boot, wasn't bad on fuel either. sadly mine got wrote off in the end.
And there it is, my dad's third car and the one I have my first memories of. Had the diesel engine, and my father never quite liked it. I puked way too many times in it 😅
Most of the people who commented love Scorpio. This is one of those moments where I think RU-vid doesn't reflect reality. Or maybe all the other people didn't even take a quick look at the video. And that's understandable, considering the car it's about.
TBF, to me personally only the hatcback version of the first Scorpio looks like a proper design, which seemed really cool when I grew up; sedan was obvisouly an afterthought.
Great episode as always, I love the design of this car definitely very original and different from what the other companies had to offer. Could you please do a video like this on one of my other favourite designs from that era The corsa? Once again thanks for the great video. hugs from Brazil 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷❤.
I love big estates/wagons, I owned a 1992 Granada Estate and was a fantastic load lugger. The "bug-eyed"look was too much for me. I also thought the same of the Taurus from the same era.
Thank you for this video. As it goes I love this Scorpio. In Ultima 2.9 spec, a beaut. The ugliness is somehow endearing. I’m very aware of being in a minority of people.
My boss had a Mk1 Granada - it was quite fancy for the time but he LOVED the Scorpio redesign and so, when his new one arrived, began the problems... Firstly, it was WAY less fancy than it's predecessor despite being a similar model/spec - the rear seats were "just a bench", the fabrics were cheap, the hifi was terrible, interior noise was NOTABLY worse (in the back you could not hear people in the front - not a problem in the older car) - the list went-on and on... Then the auto gearbox started to play-up - then the engine - I don't think he enjoyed his "wide mouthed frog" tbh Meanwhile, the Mk1 Mondeo I got at the same time was FANTASTIC - 90K miles in 2.5 years - just 2 breakdowns (one resolved with WD40, the other magically fixed itself overnight) - that was a GREAT car - one of the best I've ever 'owned' (company car)
Not after both Merkurs did not sell well. People did not buy them because even though they were RWD and offered great handling, they looked too much like the Taurus/Sable to stand out as being worth the money. The second generation Scorpion would have failed just like the 1995-1999 “catfish” Ford Taurus because its styling would been too radical for most customers. The fact that the same designers involved with the ‘95 Taurus were involved with the 1994 Scorpio would explain their fate; both were great cars whose designs were too radical. Ford tried to tone them down in later releases, but by then it was too late.
The Lincoln LS on the Jaguar S-Type platform eventually delivered such a car I guess. Much more expensive to build than the old school Windsor pushrod V8 powered Ford Falcon in Australia (still with live axle on many trim levels)! In Australia, the designers responsible for the radical AU Falcon were not fired, they were just given a MUCH more restrictive brief as they set about "fixing" the Falcon (essentially involving raising the front and rear to make it look less droopy). Indeed, they started work on the next model before the AU was even released as Ford had realised reaction had turned to overwhelmingly negative but by then it was locked in and too late to change it, lol.
@@survivingworldsteam Bringing European midsize limousines (aside from German and Swedish luxury brands like Mercedes, BMW and Volvo) to the US was almost always guaranteed to become a flop. Opel also failed spectacularly when they tried to bring the Omega to the US as the Cadillac Catera.
Haven’t seen a Scorpio in years but regularly see the Cosworth engines at work - I deal in Capris and the BOA, in particular, is a much sought after unit to replace the standard 2.8 Cologne. What a pretty engine, it is.
I love that they were constrained by the existing doors, created a terrible design around those, and then ended up doing new doors for the compromised design!
Some of this stuff is so weird, cool, interesting etc, i was born in 1988 in the united states so growing up i never saw any of this and just assumed until about 15 we all had the same cars until the internet
I have a real soft spot for these, especially the facelifted versions which I think look much neater. Funny what moving the Ford badge from the top of the grille to the middle does to freshen a look - as per the most recent Fiesta, Puma and Focus models.
The moment somebody posted a picture of this thing in a discord I asked "Who the f ck is the droopy a s sad boy in the middle that looks like he needs to get back to restocking aisle 5?". It was between a merc on the left and a bimmer on the right
I had the h/back and loved it. Did over 200k in it. Was a very comfortable car. Only the Citroen C4 has ever come close to being as comfy. Neither are popular but I'd have either again.
I grew up with a '92 Ford Scorpio 2,9 4x4 GLX with a 5-speed manual. It was the facelifted first generation, so the last one before it got ugly. It was a great car, it was in the family from 1995 until 2013. It was also the 5-door hatchback, which looks way better than the 4-door sedan, and is much more practical. The only thing missing in it was AC (cars sold in Norway at that time rarely had that) and that 2,9 "Cologne" V6 felt a little old hat back then, should have had the BOA V6 Cosvorth.
It's SO weird to see one twenty plus years later - they look positively just like a '90s car now. And I was one of the "dunno if like or hate" crowd. The mid-2K BMW boot fiasco also aged better than expected, mind you.
Thank you for covering this certainly interesting topic. The Scorpio was definitely one of the oddest cars of the 90s, and that means something, considering the competition. How could they ever think this might work - this weird "frogeye" front with triangle-shaped, fish-eyed headlights and that equally weird oval-shaped grille would maybe have fitted a Japanese small car, but how they ever thought they could take on the likes of Mercedes and BMW with this will always remain a mystery.
at the time our area office was directly opposite ford dealer Ron of Watford, i never forget that day i saw the new scorpio ...you could not think anything BUT .......'what have they done?' ......i dont know ifor how they sold any,....but my old man became pals with the dealer after that, probably the only time car dealers had much sympathy
"I looked in my rear-view mirror and all I saw was this big grinning Yank coming up behind me... " That was the best comment/ quick-witted review from a scouse lass in our office in 1994 🤣
I love this episode as it brings back memories! My fave Danish car magazine at the time (Bilmagasinet) had totally cleared the cover. There was only a photo of the front of the Scorpio, and big fat letters saying WHAT WENT WRONG. 😂. I recall the description of the rear design. A too big ass with a too small bikini 😮😅
The bug-eye was a terrible looking thing, far too American. Unlike the preceding hatchback Granada / Scorpio which was a good-looking car. It was however a pretty good car once you were behind the wheel and unable to see the thing. With the 24V engine it went well, handled acceptably and was extremely capacious and comfortable. I'm not sure the argument that the market didn't want executive hatchbacks was as solid as you argue. The Saab 9000, Audi Avant and even Rover 800 were doing OK in five-door form, as I recall
I used to get a Scorpio taxi fairly regularly in the late 90s - it was Ghia X spec and, at the time, I thought the leather rear seats were the comfiest I’d ever known in a car.
My dad owned one of those gen 2 scorpios, he said it looked enough like a crown victoria to trick people at night into thinking it was an undercover police car, letting him cruise to work in the triple digits. Best part is the UK police used Astra's at the time so the people would've been freaking out for no reason.
I currently own a 96 Scorpio ‘Ultima Cosworth’ Estate. 2.9 V6 24v. Good for 204hp😂 Bought it at an action for £3k with 49k on the clock. Hands down the best car I’ve owned.
My dad’s salmon coloured Scorpio/Granada in the ‘80s (before the truly awful successor design) was one of my favourite cars - as a young passenger. So much room in the back for me and my brother/sister. Perfect for those drives down to France. Felt like a limo 😁 But the Rover SD1 that preceded it was also very nice!
I owned a silver 1988 Merkur Scorpio. It retailed new for $27, 000 US. I bought it used for $12,500 after it was 1 year old...talk about depreciation. I liked its looks, handling, speed, comfort. Trouble is over time electrical parts failed one after another... window switches, odometer speedometer quit, hvac fan motor quit, transmission lost its 4th gear, abs light always on and more. Traded it in, and I assume it went to either a dealer auction or the scrap yard.
As a aussie am glad we got the falcon. The 1994 EF falcon was awesome and the Luxury verison fairmont. As well as 1994 NC fairlane and LTD, However i do like the Scorpio. Kinda a very cool little ( large ) car
I have to admit growing up as a young 11 year old Ford Fan, that the Scorpio was Gawping.... The rear end looked spot but that front. Now I don't think it's a bad car, it's aged well, I think the facelift just moving the Ford Badge into the middle of the grille and smoked front lights make the car look spot on as for the rest lights its like seeing a modern car with a lightbar at the rear.
I will never for the life of me understand why people hate hatchbacks so much. They have more room, the more versatile, and, just in my opinion, they tend to look better than sedans do you. And fats, a lot of modern-day sedans echo the koop like rear roof lines of fastbacks. But the minute there's a door back there instead of a small truck opening, people have just been turned off by it? It's as if versatility and usability have been considered unattractive to people 🤨 I personally don't care for sedans and coupes because of their lack of versatility. But I guess a lot of people out there want a car that can't carry as much cargo? It just doesn't make sense at all...
