Ford wanted to steal some of BMW’s market share, and they threw everything they had into the Scorpio
The Ford Granada Scorpio was a tour-de-force of technology when it landed in 1984. Ford was desperate to steal sales from Mercedes and BMW in the executive car segment. The Granada was based on an extended Sierra platform, with the Scorpio name used for the top of the range model that wowed onlookers when the list of equipment was eventually divulged.
This promotional video showcases the Scorpio's defining features, and whilst these additions may not raise many eyebrows today, back in 1984 this would have been nothing short of mesmerising for viewers.
Perhaps the most pivotal features of the car were additions to be enjoyed by the Scorpio’s passengers. In a business class like setup, rear passengers were treated to electrically reclining rear seats that had 15 degrees of continuously variable movement, a selling point that even today’s executive cars typically omit from standard equipment, let alone optional.
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In addition, the rear centre console plays host to two auxiliary jacks so that rear passengers can enjoy cassettes from the front mounted stereo. Again, this is 1984, when you could go into a showroom and buy an Austin Metro that had things like wing mirrors as standard…
Venture further forward and both driver and passenger received electric seats too, along with air conditioning, cruise control - the list goes on. The video is typical of the era, with some rather gaudy instrumental background music whilst a typical executive cum family man demonstrates all that his new Scorpio has to offer in a variety of scenarios.
Evidently Ford’s producers ran out of ideas rather quickly when trying to demonstrate the Scorpio’s braking abilities. The solution to their voiceless debacle was sticking a kid into a particularly sketchy stretch of woodland playing on his own with a football. Naturally being in the middle of nowhere, running out into the middle of the road when the only car seen for hours is driving past is logic of the highest caliber, and provides Mr Executive a perfect opportunity to show off his Ford’s safety features. Does anyone else want a Scorpio now?
