http://www.autoblog.com/2010/05/27/report-ford-said-to-be-shutting-doors-at-mercury/
According to a report from Bloomberg, which is citing two unnamed sources who are supposedly "familiar with the plan," Ford is planning to close the doors on its Mercury division after 70 years of existence. If true, Mercury will join recently departed brands ranging from Plymouth, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saturn and Hummer.
We can't say that this news comes as a shocker, as buttstuffysts far and wide have been predicting such an event for the last few years, but Ford has repeatedly denied any plans to cancel its interplanetary division when questioned.
For what it's worth, the Mercury brand has seen its sales fall by nearly three-quarters since the year 2000, now representing less than two percent of Ford's annual sales. What's more, Mercury is scheduled to lose two of its four models next year. At this point, the only thing we'll miss if Mercury leaves us is spokesmodel Jill Wagner.
Stay tuned for more as the story develops.
I will miss the Mercury gal, she is much better looking that the dirty jobs guy.
TED
Ford killed Mercury long ago. Even on the few Mercury models available Ford made no attempt to cover up the badge engineering. No unique to the marque models, and not even any unique sheetmetal on shared ones. That's one thing I'll give credit to the General, at least in the last half decade - at least they tried to make the cars from different divisions look different (except the Cobalt/G5 and the trucks). Nobody would mistake a Malibu for an Aura or G6. Chevy had its Corvette, Pontiac had its G8 and Solstice. Mercury has nothing but waterfall grilles on more expensive Fords. And not very many of them, at that. If Ford had wanted Mercury to survive they'd have given the division a Mustang (Cougar) and Focus variant.
I have been waiting for the axe to fall anytime...
It's really tough to see Mercury go, but all of the cars that made really made Mercury special are gone. For me the Cougar was the most special in it's time and they mismanaged the nameplate until even it had no relavence. With all the Lincoln-Mercury dealers being combined with Ford dealers, it really makes it harder for Mercury to exist and it just isn't enough to make Mercury be the smaller vehicles complimenting the larger Lincolns, epsecially with mostly alike Ford models being sold on the same lots. Their focus will be on strengthening the Lincoln line as they will likely add a couple of models, for instance Lincoln versions of the next Escape and maybe a smaller Focus based "Town Clown Car" as i call it that they have been showing recently.
(http://blog.mlive.com/naias_impact/2009/01/large_lincoln-c.jpg)
And if you ask me the recent lincolns are straight fugly. I wanna say the LS was the last one that looked relatively decent, and the Mark VIII was the last true lincoln. LS was just a jag in disguise.
Honestly I could care less about the current creed of Lincolns. They do abosolutely nothing for me. There is no real allure or anything really special that makes me want to aspire to own one. Heck I even like the seat styles better in the Fusion than the MKZ. And I would take the Taurus over the MKS anyday! SUV's and Crossovers... I don't even care if they exist, but I would have to say I like the Flex way more than the MKX.
Now the Lincoln MKR concept is what I do like but I really wish they would save that concept as a revived Tbird four door model which I think would sell better than any Lincoln. Now I know some may poo-poo a 4-door Tbird but I have always liked the 1967-69 four door Birds with the suicide doors. And it's highly unlikely we will ever see a four seat coupe again due to the survival and protection of the Mustang. I can even see reluctance of offering a Tbird in a roadster again to protect Mustang sales. Anyone ever notice how conveniently the Tbird bowed out in 2005 as the new Mustang came out?
For Cougar fans... I would not rule out the idea that a revived Cougar could be brought out one day as a specialy stand alone upscale model without the Mercury nameplate attached to it. Why not? It would be more interesting than another Lincoln MK-insert unused letter of the alphabet... Or if they have to... Lincoln Cougar... And there is the validity as well of reviving a Lincoln Capri since Lincoln used to make a capri model in the 1950's.
x3 I'm an old Merc fan, and it saddens me so. The last Cougar was about the only unique Merc made.
To be perfectly honest I wasn't even familiar with Mercury's current line up of autos. It just didn't catch my attention enough but then again I'm probably not the target audience of such class. My favourite Mercury over time is actually the Grand Marquis. My grandfather had one (early 90s), 5.0, super plush comfy interior.. MINT.. I loved that car so much. I detailed it up really nice for him and took photos of it for a sale ad couple years ago. Local person ended up buying it - it was priced so well, they got it for a steal of a deal because he wanted it gone to make room in his garage. He took such great care of that car. It was white with blue cloth interior. Truly pimp. I'd rock it in a heart beat. Never been in anything as comfy as that. Felt great to drive it too thanks to the 5.0 and a smooth transmission. I still see the car on occasion here. I hope the new owners are taking good care of it.
And of course.. yes.. the Cougar was cool too. ;)
The grills on the new Lincolns are :barf:, it is almost like they have an undercover GM guy in there designing the thing.
Oh yeah when I first saw the "bow wave" grille as they call it used on concept Lincolns the first thought was that Oldsmobile was back... The so called "bow wave" grille has historical connections to 30's & 40's Lincolns but who in the hell these days besides a handful of people over 40 connect this related styling cue.
This "bow wave" grille is ridiculously overscaled on the restyled 2011 Lincoln MKT... It looks like a cowcatcher on the front of an old steam locomotive.
I was more into the classy 60's-style Lincoln Continental chrome eggcrate grille on the Aviator/MKX.
I'd say the Rolls Royce styled grilles starting with the 1969 Continental Mark II ending with the 1991 Town Car are history as they really do not fit in with the shapes of modern cars and also recall the overuse of one of the most baroque aftermarket grille accessories that have been added to cars for decades..
However I was really hating the oversized 2010 Fusion grille until we got one. I guess I am used to it now but I'd still rather see a more intricate pattern rather than looking like I am about to get shaved by a giant razor.
I think Lincoln is trying to make their new lineup "futureproof". I mean, how many recent movies in the last few years have you seen that were set in the future and everything on the road was electric and looked just like an mks?
It would be a shame to see Mercury go after so long, but I would not be entirely disappointed in a Lincoln Cougar. lol
However, if their gonna go that far, whats the sense in even keeping Lincoln. Why not just simplify and make "Ford Motor Company", "Ford" Motor Company.
My brother just got a white '89 Grand Marquis - White with blue cloth interior......sweet.
I'm still a huge fan of the newer Towncars. They have lot of balls in a 5000 lb package.
Towncars are still nice, they retain the big luxury style of a traditional Lincoln. The MK series as a whole, just dosen't say Lincoln to me. Big and luxurious, that's a Lincoln. I remember when I was younger, my grandfather always had a Towncar. I remember riding in that thing to Maine one year, I was in the backseat by myself, and I felt like I had enough room to build a rocket lol.
I've been eyeballing a black one I see every day on my work commute. I keep envisioning it, shortened about 6 inches and made into a 2 door. Kinda like a Mark VIII, except with the better grille, lol.
I guess its time to say goodbye. The grand marquis were just rebadged crown vics. I drove a 91 wagon with a 302 and AOD. Whole time my dad was working on it, I swore I'd never own a car close to it. Thinking back how I have almost only owned 302/AOD''s, I think my dad was onto something.
My biggest problem with ford, they don't make a car that is ment to drive. Mercury was gone long before the newest "cougar" came out. The only way we'll see a new cougar, would be a re-badged mustang named capri. Not because ford won't make another cougar, but because the capri always was a re-badged mustang. One day they might bring back the cougar, but I hope it won't be with a ford name. Ford cougar, just sounds wrong.
The Capri was not always a rebadged Mustang. It was only twinned with the Mustang from 1979-86. That Capri was dropped after 1986 because of lackluster sales.
The Cougar was originally twinned with the Mustang for 1967 and it was not a blatent rebadge either. It shared a lot of parts with the Mustang but it rode on a longer wheelbase and had unique exterior styling.
When the end of the first generation Mustang came after 1973, the Cougar had to go somewhere, so it stepped up in size to a restyled Montego 2-door hardtop body for 1974.
When the Mustang II was being developed, a Capri version was considered and a styling prototype was made but it never reached production. It was decided later that Lincoln-Mercury would stop importing the Capri and switch it over to being a domestic twin to the Mustang for 1979.
For 1977, the Thunderbird nameplate was moved to the same platform as the Torino based Cougar to replace the Ford Elite and take over as a downsized version of the former larger TBird. The Tbird and Cougar remained paired together until the end of 1997.
As far as the name Ford Cougar goes, if you go back in Mustang history in the early 1960's, there were two seat coupe and roadster Ford Cougar show cars. When the first Mustang was being developed, the production model was chosen from sketches from the design team of John Oros and Dave Ash. It went from paper to production with very few changes. The original name of the sketched proposal was called Cougar.
The Mustang went through several name changes through development. They started out with "Special Falcon" complete with a Falcon bird emblem in the corral where the Mustang pony normally sits. The name then switched to Cougar with a cat emblem in the familiar Mustang corral.
Later, the name Torino was applied then IIRC, it switched back to Cougar until it was decided to go with the Mustang name which was borrowed from the 1962 two seat protoype of the same name. Iacocca insisted on using the name Mustang because it was "American as hell" and conjured images of a wild horse running free. The designers of the Mustang kept insisting they keep the name Cougar but Iacocca won. However they did get to use the Cougar name on a Mercury version of the Mustang two years later.
The Torino name was also well liked among the designer peers and the name was later chosen for the fastback version of the Fairlane series for 1968, which looked very much like a scale larger 1967 Mustang fastback.
Ford History 101!!!
Where do you guys learn all this stuff!!!:grinno:
OMG I have been studying this stuff since I was a kid.. I used to check out books in the school library about how cars were made and how engines work. Every month in the library I would read the new issues of Motor Trend and Car and Driver. That was about 1974 (about 8 years old) when I noticed in the fall new model year issue I became accutely aware of the fact that cars were built on similar platforms. The 1975 models came out and I noticed that the Chevy Monza, Buick Skyhawk and Olds Starfire were all the same cars with minor changes to the grille and trim. Then I made it a game for myself to match all the cars with common platforms... like all the Fords to Mercurys, all the Impalas to Catalina, Le Sabre and Delta 88, etc and et al. I learned to tell which cars were common by the shared glass and roof designs.
Also during the new model years I used to notice and be fascinated with the year to year cosmetic changes and I would get excited when I would see a new or facelifted car. I started collecting dealer brochures from every showroom every year. I also used to get caught up in the spy photos of new cars coming for the next model year. I started drawing cars as well. It was always side views then as I did not have the skill to draw 1/4 views and such. It's funny because I would always draw the cars from the side showing the full front and back on each end.
I evolved in my drawing skills somewhat and I used to put together a lot of plastic scale models. One time after seeing a go-cart with a car body on it, I wanted to build my own car body design on top of the chassis. I would design and design but I could never get my Pop involved to help me do it.
I continued my interests in my hobby and I would always buy historical books of cars. I have always had books that show the year to year model offerings in each automotive design decade. I even bought specific books on the design development of Camaros, Mustangs and Tbirds. This is how I remember so much history.
I wanted to be a car designer... It just didn't happen because I did not get the guidence while growing up just being raised by my working father. I needed art classes and the right education when I was younger. However all this prepped me for my lifetime knowlege of selling auto parts and that is pretty much what I have done since my first real auto related job at a Honda car dealer in 1988.
or most of my driving years I always had new cars. My first car was used and I used to work on cosmetically. The rest of my cars I was always adding, changing or doing something that I wanted to make it different and unique for me.
Well, after all these years I have an entire car to restore and recondition, so this is like working on one giant model car.
"Bow-Wave"? I always call it the Lincoln "Hair-lip" grille.
As for the Mustang being the reason the Thunderbird disappeared in 2005, I highly doubt that. There are a few reasons for that. The biggest being that no one wanted them. They just couldn't sell an oversized two seat retro roadster with a tiny V8 and an automatic. Beyond that, remember that the Lincoln LS (the other PAG 'Ford' sharing the platform) died a year later, and Ford started selling off it's foreign PAG brands as well in 2006. The 2005 Mustang was also supposed to share the DEW platform, but they went with the DC2 chassis instead. It was pretty obvious that the Thunderbird was either going to be axed or completely redesigned on a new chassis. Knowing the sales of the previous decade for the Thunderbird, Ford, I think, made a smart decision. Now the Jaguar XF is the only car left on the DEW, and Ford doesn't own them anymore. I'm not sure if the DEW is the intellectual property of Jaguar, or if Ford has some claim to it through the PAG, but seeing how Ford seemed to be getting rid of their own vehicles on that platform just as they were selling off the other brands under the PAG umbrella, it sounds to me like Ford would have had to pay Jaguar in the long run to keep the Thunderbird going.
I moved this out into the general Lounge area due to recent news.
The death of Mercury is imminent. Conference call at 3:30pm today for L-M dealers. Ford's expected to can the division and give more cars to Lincoln.
I'm sure there will be more about this later.
...and it's official. Mercury will no longer exist after Q4 2010. So long, good friend.
Some links...
Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20100602/AUTO01/6020400/1148/auto01/Ford-retires-71-year-old-Mercury-brand
Autoblog (with press release): http://www.autoblog.com/2010/06/02/ford-kills-mercury-to-expand-lincoln/
Autoweek: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20100602/CARNEWS/100609962
Fantastic photo gallery of Mercurys throughout the years: http://multimedia.detnews.com/pix/photogalleries/autosgallery/FordMercuryAds/
That made are cars rare!!,not like it changed. So what will it do to are cars value wise?
Hopefully it's like art.. Value increases once the artist dies.
Nothing....value will continue to sh*t-tank.:mad:
Seems like saying bye to an old friend, never to see again.
Well it is sad to lose a brand that I love but I am really happy to see an American car company make so many smart decisions in the past year with fantastic new products and a reduction of unneeded spending and brands.
GM still has too many divisions (GMC), but Ford is cutting the cord because even though Mercury may have been all profit by sticking a new grille on an existing car they understand that it is much smarter and economical in the long term to focus on two brands rather than trying to make Mercury into something useful.
Think Honda/Acura or Toyota/Lexus or Nissan/Infiniti. I hope that the death of Mercury ensures at least one hot rod Lincoln in the future!
And, of course, Mercury will always live on in my garage. ;)
If you bought your cat for investment purposes I have some bad news.....
I also have a bridge in Russia to sell you! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9bynDA9fSc
I wouldn't count on the death of Mercury increasing the value of our cars. Minor brands have almost always (with very few exceptions) been worth less than the main brand. '67-73 Mustangs are worth more than Cougars. '67-70 Camaros are worth more than Firebirds. Chevelles are generally worth more than Cutlasses, Beaumonts, etc. Monte Carlos are worth more than their G-body brothers (except the GN). And yes, I predict that fox T-Birds will be worth more than Cougars (possibly with the exception of the more rare 84-86 XR7).
The only consistent exception to this trend seems to be Plymouth, whos cars seem to be worth more than their Dodge twins...
Short term it'll probably hurt values. Oldsmobile and Plymouth owners both saw the values of their cars plummet when the brands closed, and I've heard from several used car dealers that they can't give Saturns away right now...
T-birds are always worth more than Cougars as there is a much larger following.
By by Mercury. Atleast Ford is still around and kicking.
this is classic. but you can still catch her on "Wipeout", I think on ABC.
These BETTER not increase in value anytime soon, I need to get another 20th, and by that I mean a low mileage perfect one for me to leave the hell alone :hick:
Keep looking bro.......few and far between if any. I have owned 2, don't think I'm gonna get any more lucky than that...........too bad:mad:
I want another 5.0 LX T-bird to keep original but I know it's not going to happen. Modding them is too great a temptation to resist:burnout:
I hope we can see some nice Lincolns after this. Ford's stepping up their game big time, I'm glad they're doing well.
I have one Mercury, a 1962 Meteor. I believe I will need another. An XR7 turbo 4 would be cool, or even a bubble-back Capri. All the old 50's Merc's are already through the roof pricewise. I don't think prices will climb for the rest any time soon.
This is good news for me. In a couple of years, no more emissions for an 86 cougar.
Great, now I have to put my trunk badges back on, so people remember that Mercury Cougars existed 15 years from now. lol
A great retrospective article with a nod to our cars:
http://detnews.com/article/20100603/OPINION03/6030389/1148/auto01/Mercury-created-memorable-rides
Also, I posted a new State of the Cat last night:
http://www.coolcats.net/sotc/060210.html
Good post on your site, Eric.
Here is a nice write up on Mercury cougars over the years also.
http://www.welovemercurys.com/past_models/cougar.html
D & P ;)
It's good to see Ford get serious about this problem with blatant badge engineering. It's not such a problem with Lincon, since at least those common models have unique sheet-metal. After looking at the latest Mercury lineup, it's pretty obvious that FoMoCo has had this planned for quite some time. There are definite signs of winding down the brand, and like everyone else, they didn't want to make the announcement until the last possible moment. Just think of Saab and Saturn. When everyone thought they were dead in the water, sales plummeted, even though both companies were in sales negotiations. Somehow, this did not happen to Volvo, even though they were in the exact same situation, or to Hummer. Heck, they were still producing Hummers at the factory a month ago.
As for GMC, I think the four brands GM kept (out of 8, plus two companies GM had a major stake in, like FujiHI [Subaru] and Suzuki) will work out just fine with the newly defined focus on every remaining marque. GMC is not lagging in sales, and the Sierra is much easier to justify than a MKT. Still, GM could do with cutting a few redundant models, but Ford doesn't have much room to talk there either.
Having more than two brands is perfectly feasible. Just ask VW how things are going for them. The only brand they own that is in trouble is Seat. That leaves some six separate brands that are very well defined, and have unique products to their other brands. The only marques that in any way compete are VW, Skoda, and Seat. Skoda being a Czech based company and Seat Spanish. Seeing how Seat is on its last legs, it sounds like VW is aware of this problem, and doesn't want to follow GM's recent path from world's biggest car producer to half the company in a few years. Still, you wouldn't confuse a VW for a Skoda, or Seat, or Audi, or Lamborghini, or Bently, or Bugatti, or Porsche, nor would any of those others be mistaken for one another. It works, so long as each brand has its own identity, and a valid percentage of sales in their respective markets.
After hearing of the end of Mercury, I'm even more glad that I didn't s my first new Mercury Cougar. (it was actually a year old when I got it) That's all I got to say about this..... That, and I now own a piece of history.
Here is the original 1939 Lincoln Continental bow wave grille... That is the official name of it. It was designed to look like a ship moving through water and displacing it. Looks like the new grilles are just as huge!
(http://images.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/02/1940_Lincoln_Continental_Convertible_Black_Full_Front.jpg)
Hearing the news official news of Mercury's dimise diminishes all hopes of a revived Cougar.
However I find it interesting that Mercury became a sign of the cat in the 1970's into the 80's and subsequent Mercury models eventually adpated the cat head theme or cat names. Bobcat and Lynx... Then eventually the Capri even had cathead emblems up until 1986.
See, that actually looks good, and like a wave splitting on a bow (now I get it. Bow as in boat, not Bow as in archery). But it doesn't translate well to the new cars at all, which don't have the fuselage design of that era.
This does not make me think of a boat ploughing through water. It makes me think of a Hair-lip.
(http://gentryautogroups.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/lincoln_100174183_m2.jpg)
Here's a great article explaining why Ford chose to shut down Mercury right now, and not a year ago when GM was cleaning house. It would have looked much less like a failure then than now.
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/06/03/why-ford-chose-to-kill-mercury-now/
I'd say Lincoln is definitely struggling with grille designs.
(http://www.vodish.ru/i/autoseries/257/3.1024.jpg)
This Mark X I like a lot!
(http://wallpapers-diq.net/wallpapers/17/Lincoln_Mark_X_Roadster_Concept%2C_2004.jpg)
Ya'll might get a laugh out of this but a few years ago I chopped an MKZ/Zephyr front end on a Mustang...
I think that looks really awesome. Like a beefed up mark VIII.
Maybe lincoln will do it.
You have not been paying attention. ;) Watchdevil's 'redesign' is exactly the kind of strategy that killed Mercury. Make it a Lincoln from nose to tail on the Mustang chassis, or don't do it at all. It's obvious that a grille and lights job won't cut it anymore. That said, I hope they do something along those lines (just without any 'Ford' bits visible on the inside or out). Lincoln really needs a coupe.
Agreed. I think that the Fox Thunderbirds and Cougars are about as similar as two cars of different makes on the same platform should get. And even that may be too similar, as some people still call my Cougar a Thunderbird from time to time.
Hey, at least they don't call it a Mustang. Gah! I was once directed to park with the Mustangs (all years) at a Mustang/Thunderbird Cruise.... by a club organiser! The saddest part was the guy was standing in front of my car.... where the bird emblem is visibly NOT a horse in a corral. Even after telling him the difference, he scanned the car and didn't look convinced. I was completely dumbfounded. If you're with the Thunderbird club, you should know a Thunderbird when you look at it. And if you're with the Mustang club, how could you possibly make that mistake? If it was a general, all-makes cruise-in, it would have been understandable.
Last year I had to meet my wife at the ford dealer to sign the paper work out for her new escape, took my cat and all the sales people were outside, I was watching them check it out. They were all confused, they were not sure what it was. They asked is that a stock hood, They couldn't get over the 5spd, so when I popped the hood for them, one of them asked ok what is this. I guess they only know what they sell, and probably not much of that either.
The Mark X looks like the cheshire cat
MustangKZ Thats pretty awesome looking!
Look at this Cougar concept chop I found a few months ago lol
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GCLA_iUhfd0/SwCbfNUtTzI/AAAAAAAAAB8/uImnvddiltE/s1600/2011_Mercury_Cougar_Concept_by_TCP_Design.jpg)
And this, would have made an awesome Cougar replacement. This was an actual concept car titled the Mercury "Messenger"
(http://www.motivemag.com/Content/uploads/1/fords_10.jpg)
I've been reading the demise on several forums. It kinda makes me wish I had a 4 eye Cougar.:evilgrin:
Look... Im just saying Mercury is already dead. I would like to see something performance oriented other than the Mustang. Everybody has a Mustang, that is why I own a Cougar. Cougars were similar to a Mustang when they were created FIRST.
Front-end swap isnt what killed Mercury, Ford lack of developing and pushing the design KILLED IT!.
I have been paying attention.
Dude, that's the same thing. The front end swap is the prime example of Ford's lacking in the development/design department for Mercury.
Calm down there, chip. I added a wink smiley to let you know I was just ribbing you. And I agreed with you, man. Why so hostile?
I really dont know, I guess I was fired up yesterday. Sorry man.:D
What an idiot... Which reminds me, it's people like that who are executives of companies these days who don't know their ass from a hole in the ground, much less know anything about the car business itself. I mean really, someone who has sucessfully sold tampons has no business messing in the car business.
OMG that looks so good with the nose changes... Make me even sicker that there was no revived Cougar.
I always loved the Messenger Concept! I never tire of it... And if anyone has ever noticed... It really drew inspiration from the original Ford Cougar concepts from the early 1960's...
Now see if you tie this... Look at the side window profile... it kinda eventually showed up in 1983 in the quarter window!
(http://www.sy.net/Auto/American/Ford/1964%20Ford%20Cougar%20II%20Concept%20Car%20Side.jpg)
^^1964 Ford Cougar II Concept^^
(http://www.sy.net/Auto/American/Ford/1962%20Ford%20Cougar%20Concept%20Car%20Rr%20Qtr.jpg)
^^1962 Ford Cougar I Concept^^
Look at the dash in that Cougar I... It looks sorta like the one used in the 1994-2004 Mustangs..
Oh by the way, there is so much legitimacy about there being a Ford badged Cougar as it existed originally as these concept cars, was in the running as the original name for the Mustang up until the last moments, and existed as the 1999-2002 Ford Cougar exported to Europe.
(http://media.onsugar.com/files/ons1/333/3333137/25_2009/bc/Ford-Cougar0.jpg)
Oh yeah I would never suggest in todays market a hint of anything ever being rebadged from a Ford line to Lincoln... unique all teh way around is the only way to go without being crucified. However I used to enjoy past badge engineering vehicles when they could come up with a clearly alternative design face compared to teh companion Ford vehicle.
I remember back in the late 90's, as a fun joke in a photo chop I put a Lincoln grille on an Expedition and a Cadillac grille on a Suburban... Little did I realize two years later they would actually be building their first trucks!
Even Cadillac has the new STS Coupe now... And don't anyone tell me there is no market for coupes... I see them ALL the time around here in forms of newer Honda Accords, Infiniti G35 Coupe, BMW 6 Series, etc. as well as the numeorus used examples people buy. I think the decline of the SUV obsession has lured more people back into personal cars including coupes with more expressive sporty style. You have to wonder as well, how many people dropped out of thier SUV's only to discover cars that actually do handle much better that a jacked up roll-over ride.
Lincoln could bang it up offering a luxury coupe to constrast the sporty only intentions of the Mustang. But then again I want a Thunderbird back more. Maybe Ford should just market by stand alone marques now, which used to be very common for some models... For instance.. Continentals were originally not sold as Lincolns. The Comet which was originally an Edsel model first was sold as just a Comet, no Mercury name. Speaking of the original Mercury, it was just that.. a single model line of it's own marque which was nearly called a "Lincoln Mercury".
No worries. :) We all have our fiery days.
It sucks, but it was inevitable. Maybe Lincoln will finally start being competitive, a Mark IX would be a good start lol.
It was nice to have a choice sometimes because the Mercury might look better than the Ford. Such as I like the '74-'82 Cougars better than the Thunderbirds.
I made this thread a sticky because I've noticed too many re-posts and It's a pretty important subject.
Aren't the Mexican Cougars (including Foxes) Fords? I didn't think Mercury ever went to Mexico...
Well, its official. My local L/M dealership is closing down after the end of the year.
Ford, what have you done? " THEM!! THEM ALL TO HELL!!!!!":Da little monkey humor
Inever saw that cougar concept with the delorean style doors, i seen them other ones before.
Yep, thats true.Even my red car had the ford emblem, which i removed it before paint.
In the registration card of my older Cougar LS 84 bought in the U.S. , even it is a mercury in the title, reads "Ford Cougar 84".
Here, Ford sold some models with the mercury badge, like the Sable, in 1992. In newer times they sold the mariner and the mounty, but true, never a mercury-only dealer....
At some point I remember seeing the late model Grand Marquis sold with a Ford blue oval emblem in the center of the decklid. I forgot whether it was Mexican, Canadian or both.
Just noticed my june post should have been here.
http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?28530-Mercury-1939-2010&highlight=
//wipes tear from eye//
well the dealers here are finally closing down:(
My local Ocala Lincoln Mercury closed down and became a part of the Ford of Ocala dealership to become Ford Lincoln Mercury of Ocala a few months ago and the "Ford Lincoln Mercury Hyundai of Gainesville" just became "Ford Lincoln Hyundai of Gainesville"
Although I still can't figure out wtf they sell Hyundais with fords for. I mean I could understand Mazda's I guess, but Hyundai's? :confused:
Well I am sad if mercury goes. But they have been sliping in the recent years. Where's mercurys racing edge gone these days. The cougar being reborn would definitely keep them afloat. From 67 to the mid 90's they were mercurys answer for the mustang. Well they could have retro fitted it like the stang. To me owning a 84 cougar and a 90 lincoln mark vii. They are truely from mercurys and lincolns glory days. Both boasting the 5.0. When lincoln was competeing for speed with luxury. Both are aging dinosaurs and saught after by collectors. But seriously if mercury goes its a legecy of years gone.