How do you follow up a V12 Ferrari
in a series of blogs? Well perhaps something a bit more realistic. Something with
half the cylinders but a top speed only 40mph adrift of the now £60k supercar.
A car that offers more equipment than the Ferrari, better economy, more seats,
and in facelift form, more exclusivity than the Testarossa? Yes it’s all
sounding great you say, well, witness, the Ford Scorpio!
Photo from kenjonbro
Back in 1995 the luxury fleet car market was a big
lure for car manufacturers, Citroen, Nissan, Renault, Toyota, Vauxhall and
others were all chasing the successful businessman's money. There wasn’t long
in it though, by the late 90’s ‘Premium’ German brands had gained a stranglehold on
the market. You won’t find a luxury car available in the UK from all but one of
those above brands today. Still back to ‘95 and Vauxhall had launched the Omega
a year earlier, a car capable enough to beat the E34 5-series in the handling stakes,
according to Autocar. General Motors had heavily invested in the all new Omega,
clearly believing in the non-premium executive saloon market. GM’s arch rival
took a different approach however, Fords new Scorpio for 1995 wasn’t all new,
it carried over many of its underpinnings from the original Scorpio, called
Granada here in the UK, which itself was based on the Sierra, launched in 1982. While the platform was certainly old school, the styling was not.
Yes you can’t talk about the Ford Scorpio without talking about its styling, in description it sounds fairly modern. The front features large projector headlamps with an even larger grille in-between them, giving the car presence. This could be said of many a modern day executive car, however it was received less as futuristic and more as plain ugly. It certainly created quite a lot of interest at the cars launch, though probably not of the kind Ford was hoping for. The company never released the name of the designer, and publicity for the car usually featured interior shots, rather than the controversial exterior.
A nice interior it was too. You’ll be hard pushed to find comfier seats in a car, while the dash, received much praise from reviews at the time, as well as owners. The options were extensive, climate control, electrically adjustable seats, trip computer and more. Engines were upgraded units from the old model, the Cosworth V6 range topper failed to match the all new Omega MV6 in speed or handling, leaving the Scorpios USP as comfort. Despite this the wallowy beast would still reach 60 in 8.5 seconds and go on to an autobahn useful 140mph, although vague steering and a loose chassis made such speeds a frightening prospect.
In total Ford produced 98,587 Scorpios. A facelift in 1998 was swiftly followed the finish of production, meaning only 6,079 refreshed models were produced, how’s that for exclusivity? By 1998 the ‘management money’ was already finding its way to premium badged cars, the more successful Omega couldn't fight this trend either, the last being built in 2003. Neither car was replaced, these days Vauxhall and Ford are too busy trying to fight of the compact executives which are outselling their Mondeo and Insignia, both of which are bigger than the Omega and Scorpio.
The Scorpio today is becoming a rare car, but prices are still at rock bottom, you’ll find many below £1000. Forget about that 512TR, how about 60 Ford Scorpios for the same money? With prices this cheap there’s little reason to go for a lower model, the 2.9 24v V6 Ultima is the pick of the bunch. With this model you can also reclaim some street credit by telling people you drive a Cosworth. Servicing and repair should be reasonable but don’t expect too much in the way of economy. The V6 should be good for about 25mpg if you’re being careful, while the best avoided diesel only manages 10 miles extra on that gallon. Buying the Cosworth engined model will be doing history a service too, many have been pulled apart to supply there engines to other cars, meaning they are becoming hard to find.
If you’re adventurous enough to go and look at one there are a few things to check aside from your standard suspension, steering and engine issues. Auto box rebuilds cost in the region of £750, so make sure this works well. There is a dipstick for the transmission fluid in the engine bay, on it you should find red liquid, if discoloured failure could well be imminent. There are plenty of toys on the Scorpio so check they all function. The fusebox and battery are located below the windscreen under the bonnet, they should both have plastic covers and the drain holes beneath should be free from obstruction.
Here’s Some I Found
eBay is a good place to find a Scorpio, but this is not a prime example. It may be the cheapest 24v V6 around at £650 but that’s strong money for a car with such ‘styling additions’. Still if you’re not afraid of removing them, or like that sort of stuff, you can try your luck with a silly offer, and enjoy those cushy leather seats for at least a few more miles.
Another ‘95 Ultima on eBay, this appears to be in much better condition. Leather was optional on the top spec model until ‘97 and this car does not have it, for £750 what you do get is a service history up to 90k, with the car now reading 100,000 miles.
This facelift estate is supposedly the only one in Guernsey, which is entirely believable. It also appears to be in fantastic condition, a mere 29,000 miles accompanied by a full service history. Estates will command more than saloon, despite this £1,995 is rather strong, go in hunting for a discount.
The only facelift saloon currently available is this 2.5 V6 Diesel. While Diesel adds value to most cars these days it’s not too worth it with the Scorpio. This VM Motori engine is likely to be more costly to fix than the petrol V6, and with a mere 130bhp it’s neither rapid nor refined. However, the car looks to be in great condition with 40k miles and a full Ford service history, as well as all the options. £3,495 is a crazy price, so be prepared for some serious haggling.
Specs
2.9 24v V6 Cosworth
0-60 8.5 seconds
0-100 N/A
Top Speed 140mph
Power 210bhp @ 6000rpm
Torque 210 lb ft @ 4250rpm
Weight 1577kg
Insurance Group 17
MPG 22.6
Warrenty Direct Reliablilty Index N/A
How many left 3505 (496 Cosworth Ultimas)
Yes you can’t talk about the Ford Scorpio without talking about its styling, in description it sounds fairly modern. The front features large projector headlamps with an even larger grille in-between them, giving the car presence. This could be said of many a modern day executive car, however it was received less as futuristic and more as plain ugly. It certainly created quite a lot of interest at the cars launch, though probably not of the kind Ford was hoping for. The company never released the name of the designer, and publicity for the car usually featured interior shots, rather than the controversial exterior.
A nice interior it was too. You’ll be hard pushed to find comfier seats in a car, while the dash, received much praise from reviews at the time, as well as owners. The options were extensive, climate control, electrically adjustable seats, trip computer and more. Engines were upgraded units from the old model, the Cosworth V6 range topper failed to match the all new Omega MV6 in speed or handling, leaving the Scorpios USP as comfort. Despite this the wallowy beast would still reach 60 in 8.5 seconds and go on to an autobahn useful 140mph, although vague steering and a loose chassis made such speeds a frightening prospect.
In total Ford produced 98,587 Scorpios. A facelift in 1998 was swiftly followed the finish of production, meaning only 6,079 refreshed models were produced, how’s that for exclusivity? By 1998 the ‘management money’ was already finding its way to premium badged cars, the more successful Omega couldn't fight this trend either, the last being built in 2003. Neither car was replaced, these days Vauxhall and Ford are too busy trying to fight of the compact executives which are outselling their Mondeo and Insignia, both of which are bigger than the Omega and Scorpio.
The Scorpio today is becoming a rare car, but prices are still at rock bottom, you’ll find many below £1000. Forget about that 512TR, how about 60 Ford Scorpios for the same money? With prices this cheap there’s little reason to go for a lower model, the 2.9 24v V6 Ultima is the pick of the bunch. With this model you can also reclaim some street credit by telling people you drive a Cosworth. Servicing and repair should be reasonable but don’t expect too much in the way of economy. The V6 should be good for about 25mpg if you’re being careful, while the best avoided diesel only manages 10 miles extra on that gallon. Buying the Cosworth engined model will be doing history a service too, many have been pulled apart to supply there engines to other cars, meaning they are becoming hard to find.
If you’re adventurous enough to go and look at one there are a few things to check aside from your standard suspension, steering and engine issues. Auto box rebuilds cost in the region of £750, so make sure this works well. There is a dipstick for the transmission fluid in the engine bay, on it you should find red liquid, if discoloured failure could well be imminent. There are plenty of toys on the Scorpio so check they all function. The fusebox and battery are located below the windscreen under the bonnet, they should both have plastic covers and the drain holes beneath should be free from obstruction.
Here’s Some I Found
eBay is a good place to find a Scorpio, but this is not a prime example. It may be the cheapest 24v V6 around at £650 but that’s strong money for a car with such ‘styling additions’. Still if you’re not afraid of removing them, or like that sort of stuff, you can try your luck with a silly offer, and enjoy those cushy leather seats for at least a few more miles.
Another ‘95 Ultima on eBay, this appears to be in much better condition. Leather was optional on the top spec model until ‘97 and this car does not have it, for £750 what you do get is a service history up to 90k, with the car now reading 100,000 miles.
This facelift estate is supposedly the only one in Guernsey, which is entirely believable. It also appears to be in fantastic condition, a mere 29,000 miles accompanied by a full service history. Estates will command more than saloon, despite this £1,995 is rather strong, go in hunting for a discount.
The only facelift saloon currently available is this 2.5 V6 Diesel. While Diesel adds value to most cars these days it’s not too worth it with the Scorpio. This VM Motori engine is likely to be more costly to fix than the petrol V6, and with a mere 130bhp it’s neither rapid nor refined. However, the car looks to be in great condition with 40k miles and a full Ford service history, as well as all the options. £3,495 is a crazy price, so be prepared for some serious haggling.
Specs
2.9 24v V6 Cosworth
0-60 8.5 seconds
0-100 N/A
Top Speed 140mph
Power 210bhp @ 6000rpm
Torque 210 lb ft @ 4250rpm
Weight 1577kg
Insurance Group 17
MPG 22.6
Warrenty Direct Reliablilty Index N/A
How many left 3505 (496 Cosworth Ultimas)
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