I have a Merkur, and had similar damage, hit a deer last winter. I got pretty luck though. Bumper is bent, grill is ruined, fender is destroyed, no left headlight now, had to replace the radiator. At least the only thing that actually matters for how the car runs that was harmed was the radiator. Your story reminds of…

I love rear window wipers! My XR4Ti has one, and it’s great. The motor for it is dying though... Sigh, another thing to add to the to fix list.

Funny story, I have a Merkur XR4Ti, and didn’t see the resemblance until you pointed it out, but the butterfly window does kind of look like that portion of a Merkur. (The merkur still looks far better though) I considered getting a 4runner as my second car. Almost did too. Still think they are great vehicles. My…

That’s an insult to the steering wheel on my family’s econoline van!

My ABS went out this winter, and I was a little annoyed, but it didn’t bother me. My previous car was a Merkur XR4Ti, which is pretty bad in the snow, and has no ABS to begin with. But then again, I haven’t ever tracked my vehicles.

The Hindenburg was actually designed to be filled with helium, and would have worked with helium, but politics intervened, if I remember what I read correctly, it was the United States that made sure the Hindenburg was filled with Hydrogen.

So true, I have a blacked out B5, and it’s not perfect, but people still guess that it’s about 10 years newer than it actually is. It’s comfortable, the drivetrain will last forever if you take care of it. You just don’t expect non-essential electronics (cruise, door locks, lumbar support on driver’s seat, cd player,…

I live in Colorado so rust could be a problem, but they actually use thicker body panels than most cars of the time, and the rust-proofing is quite good, all of the underbody coating is still good on mine, despite having lived through at least 4 colorado winters. I truly believe that Audi makes pretty much the best…

I have a B5 A4 with the 32v 2.8 v6, and the 5 spd. manual box. And that ar has been quite good. 2 wheel bearings, a cv axle, and a crankshaft position sensor. The ABS is out, the power door locks don't work, the lumbar on the drivers seat doesn't work, the cd player doesn't work, and the sunroof opens up but not back.…

Exactly, they are great for what they were made for, racing. Not really good for much of anything else. I would still love one though, but I have this weird love of cars that are guaranteed to leave me stranded. B5 A4, Merkur XR4Ti, FC and FD RX-7, RX-8, The Audi RS cars, etc. The first 2 I listed I own.

My 1989 Merkur XR4Ti with 254000 on the clock, had it since 15, I'm now almost 19. I won't go into stories unless someone asks for them, but I have stories for days! Still love the car though, can't wait for the semester to be over so I can go home and work on the car. I call her the Millenium Falcon, for being pretty…

Does my '89 Merkur XR4Ti with 254000 miles on the original engine count? :) I've got stories for days about my "Millenium Falcon" so called because she's reasonably quick when she feels like working (which is as long as I don't have to get somewhere, and I want to work on my car, as soon as I need to go someplace, or…

Because bikes are unsafe only for the people on them when driven responsibly. In a car accident it is more likely for other occupants/other people in other vehicles to be harmed, hence the more stringent regulations on cars.

The Aston looked so much better before those modifications.

Both of those two beat me to it. That truly was a great book!

I call my Merkur XR4Ti the Millenium Falcon, because it feels fast, when it works...

Agreed! The sort of stuff that's happened to me tubing/kneeboarding/skiing is far and above any injury that kid is likely to get in the passenger seat of that car, and I haven't even broken anything yet.

I'm 18, and this is so true! My first car is a Merkur XR4Ti with 250000 miles on it. I've been driving that in the winter here in Elbert county Colorado for the last 2 winters. Elbert County is probably 80% unpaved, and the roads don't get plowed. There is no better place to learn car control. I can go to roads where…

I think you're certainly right that "wings" on production cars are not for downforce, almost ever. The merkur is an excellent case in point, the larger wing provides less drag.

Depends on the car, its argued so much simply because of how complicated aerodynamics is. The large bi-wing on the '85 to '89 Merkur XR4Ti had a lower drag coefficient (.35 I think) than the single wing on th '88 and '89 models (.37 I'm pretty sure).