Some brands die, but many of these brands, at least temporarily, live. Today we focus on the cars that made these brands burn brightly, not burnout. What's your favorite car from a dead brand?
There are brands that get a long life and then get absorbed into another company or slowly discontinued. Merkur, Ford's attempt at bringing Ford of Europe cars to an American audience, lasted only four years (1985 to 1989). Despite its short life, it did bring the Merkur XR4Ti to the US. It has everything a weird car lover could want: turbocharged fourbanger (the Lima 2.3 from the Turbobird and SVO), RWD, five-speed manual tranny, an independent-rear suspension and a strange European look. Despite the cool looks and Karmann construction it wasn't enough to carry Merkur to fruition. Unfortunately, it has the death-touch of Bob Lutz.
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