page_title: Merkur XR4Ti
section_title: Motorsport
hierarchical_section_title: Merkur XR4Ti / Motorsport
caption_attribution_description: A Merkur XR4Ti which participated in the Trans-Am series and IMSA GT Championship
context_page_description: The Merkur XR4Ti is a high-performance 3-door hatchback sold in North America from 1985 to 1989. A product of the Ford Motor Company, the car was a version of the European Ford Sierra XR4i adapted to US regulations. The XR4Ti project was championed by Ford vice president Bob Lutz.
context_section_description: Despite the XR4Ti never being sold outside of the United States and Canada, Andy Rouse campaigned one in the British Saloon Car Championship. Rouse took the overall title for the 1985 season and the class title for 1986 with 14 wins. In 1986, Eggenberger Motorsport was among the few to use an XR4Ti to compete in the European Touring Car Championship and the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (German Touring Car Championship) with positive results. Ford used technical feedback from the teams racing the XR4Ti to develop the 1986 Ford Sierra RS Cosworth, which first appeared on race tracks in 1987 and was superseded in mid-1987 by the Ford Sierra RS500. Some of the body panels used to stiffen the Sierra chassis and create the Merkur shell were subsequently branded 909 Motorsport parts for later adaptation to a Sierra shell. Many see the successes and failures of the XR4Ti as being the blueprint for success of the dominant RS500 Sierras.
  Between 1986 and 1987, Pete Halsmer and Scott Pruett campaigned the Roush-prepped XR4Ti, although of a tubeframe construction like that of a NASCAR racer, to take the Trans-Am Series title. Along with Paul Miller, the pair also campaigned an XR4Ti successfully in the IMSA series in 1988.
caption: A former Trans-Am Merkur XR4Ti which won the GTO class at the 1988 24 Hours of Daytona: The large double rear wing is evident.
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