Having a baby means sleepless nights and changing lots and lots of diapers. The seller of today's Merkur XR4Ti has changed its turbo 2.3 for a carb'd 302, but now needs to make way for his new arrival. Will you find its price worth losing sleep over?

Yesterday's could only muster a meager 58% Nice Price win for its twenty one grand and change asking price. That seems pretty weak for something you could back into your garage and have everyone think you spent three times as much on a Bora, but oh well, the people have spoken.

Beta Ursae Majoris, better known as Merak, is a star in the constellation, Ursa Major, also better…

The Italians aren't the only ones making similar cars with a choice of big and little engines, Ford back in the eighties offered both Mustang and T-bird with either a turbocharged version of their venerable 2.3 four or a high-output edition of the even more long serving 302 V8.

The pressurized Pinto engine also found its way under the hood of Ford's misguided attempt to compete with upscale imports like Audi and BMW - the Merkur brand. This collection of German Fords attempted to Euro-ize Mercury dealerships long before Ford finally decided to euthanize them. The XR4Ti represented one of the sportiest of Ford's award-winning and proud to be different Sierra line, while the V6-powered Scorpio proved once again that Americans just don't cotton to executive hatchbacks. Unlike their American kin, neither of the Merkurs was available FOB with more than a single powerplant choice.

But that was then, this is now.

This is powered by a 302 V8 - Ford's small block equivalent to your fapping hand, tried and tested. Behind that is a T5 stickshift and of course all XR4Ti came with semi-trailing arm IRS and disk brakes all the way around. The 5.0 is about 100-lbs heavier than the stock motor - give or take a few - but the seller says the car has been lowered so perhaps the front spring rates have been changed as well to compensate.

Additional fun stuff on the car are dual Flowmaster exhaust, headers, squeaky poly bushings, and a Holley 390 carb for that old school sound. Aside from the dual pipes, the car appears stock from the outside with the same three-light greenhouse that always freaked people out, as well as the grille-less nose and fat-spoke alloy wheels. Inside the ad says things are a little less put together as the carpet has gone the way of a full Brazilian in preparation of repair to some rocker rust. Still, the seller claims to have the replacement parts, and after all, you're not buying a Stradivarius here, it's a hoon-time Merkur for heaven's sake.

That being said, the car does come with a $2,000 price tag to get your hoon on. Of course, considering this seller's claimed reason for sale, perhaps that would be better spent . If you'd rather go the route of a car that's been V8'd for your pleasure then perhaps that two grand is worthy of consideration.

What do you think, does this V8 Merkur appear to be worth $2,000? Or, is that price make you gone baby, gone?

You decide!

or go if the ad disappears.

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