Brad
has been a European and Ford Car enthusiast for years, so it
would seem the Merkur marque was the perfect marriage of those
interests. Truth be told, it was the side-lining of his Alfa
164 after an accident, that caused Brad to seek out a "temporary"
use vehicle. Knowing only a little about the Merkur XR4Ti at the time,
it seemed like a good choice for a car guy, even if it would only be sold off
once the Alfa got returned to the road.
Like
most cars 10+ years old, the Diamond White '88 XR4Ti Brad picked up in 1998
needed some work. One thing led to another, and basic maintenance led to
minor enhancements, which led to major upgrades. Somewhere along the
line, the initial plan of "flipping" the car back onto the
used car market after a few months seemed to fade away, even though the
Alfa was readily put back into service. The car has affectionately
become know as the "Junkyard Dog" owing to the variety of junkyard
parts that have been used to enhance the vehicle's performance and
reliability. Some of the parts donors include a Saab 900, Mustang SVO,
Thunderbird Turbo Coupe, Nissan 300ZX, Saab 9000, Volvo 740, and a Subaru
Impreza, just to name a few. Brad's car is easy to recognize, as it
sports a Quad conversion headlight grille which he imports and
distributes to Merkur owners in the United States.
As
many Merkur owners have found, it's easy for "orphaned" cars to
end up in their driveway, and how can an orphan be turned away? Such was
the case when a black '87 XR arrived at Brad's door-step, a heartbeat
away from the junkyard. His plans for this car border on insanity,
grafting a Subaru Brat truck bed onto a partially cut-away body.
Last we heard, the Brat had been
acquired and sits next to the XR, so that the two can become better acquainted
before being joined as one!
As
Director of Event Coordination, Brad sees his job as one of helping others
coordinate club resources when organizing Merkur-related events and
activities. Anyone is welcome to suggest an idea for an event and we'll
be happy to help you promote it - it really doesn't take much other than the
desire and a little time.