Mercury rolls into the history books after 71 years

Mercury rolls into the history books after 71 years

Ford’s Mercury sub-brand has finally joined Pontiac on the list of Detroit brand names consigned to the automotive history books – the last Mercury, a Grand Marquis, rolled off the production line at the Ford assembly plant in St. Thomas, Ontario, yesterday, marking an end to the brand commercially.

The phasing out of the brand, which began life in 1939 with the debut of the Mercury 8, wasn’t a surprise when Ford made an official announcement in June last year of its ending – commercially, it was suffering, doing less than 90,000 units a year in the US, equivalent to about one percent of the automotive market, a far cry from the heyday in the 1950s.

Mercury rolls into the history books after 71 years

Those into American rides will certainly know the 1958 Park Lane, the 1967 Cougar – effectively a Mustang done up cosmetically to offer a more European presentation – and the likes of the Sable sedan, which has come through five generations since its introduction in the 1986. The Grand Marquis itself has been in production for 25 years, through four series incarnations.

In all, Mercury managed to sell more than 21 mil vehicles in its lifetime, a decent enough number for the fleet-footed brand.

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Anthony Lim

Anthony Lim believes that nothing is better than a good smoke and a car with character, with good handling aspects being top of the prize heap. Having spent more than a decade and a half with an English tabloid daily never being able to grasp the meaning of brevity or being succinct, he wags his tail furiously at the idea of waffling - in greater detail - about cars and all their intrinsic peculiarities here.

 

Comments

  • drMpower on Jan 05, 2011 at 12:14 pm

    eh
    no chinese wanna buy kah
    this company
    can penetrate important
    US market what
    or the large
    north america market

    the red vehicle above
    although just its left body profile
    is much much much 100 light years
    ahead and exciting
    compare to
    the ‘luxury SUV with odd big wheel’
    at the posting
    below this news

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Black Dog on Jan 05, 2011 at 12:43 pm

    Death of American brands.

    Rise of Korean and Chinese brands!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • jackspeed on Jan 05, 2011 at 1:44 pm

    we can easily found mercury car in hollywood film

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Proton on Jan 05, 2011 at 1:55 pm

    Proton should just buy them over.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • Buy what? The ‘Mercury’ brand?

      What shall Proton do with this brand name?

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • yah.. buy it by using few billion, then sell it with USD1.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Ray Soo on Jan 05, 2011 at 2:13 pm

    I had a Mercury Capri 5.0 hatch, a cousin of the Ford Mustang when I was in University back in the 80s. Glad to have driven a piece of history.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Ray Soo on Jan 05, 2011 at 2:14 pm

    : )

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Mercury sub-brand for Ford. Its just a brand name and share platform & use parts from Ford bin all technology from Ford. What is the use if proton buy a brand name with out a car or platform. If you have been to the US then you know what i mean. Mercury design is not to our Malaysian taste its big and sucks gas/petrol.

    Proton did not just bought Lotus. Buying Lotus is a good idea because Lotus Engineering has a wealth technology and its R&D is second to non. They have develop technology vario cam for Porsche and host of other technology for other car manufacture. We just have to be wait and see in the next 5 years.

    Peace

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • yc.low on Jan 05, 2011 at 4:17 pm

    Another demise of the American auto industry. Good bye Mercury see you in your history book.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • squawk on Jan 05, 2011 at 7:44 pm

    There’re just too many overlaps in modern American car models especially when they’re just rebadging each other. Anyway, the modern Mercuries weren’t anything special to drive.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • toyuta on Jan 05, 2011 at 7:52 pm

    should have left earlier…Korean and Chinese are the better one….next will be Toyota and Honda!!!!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Roberts on Jan 05, 2011 at 9:43 pm

    The car is so retro. Good for old-fashioned folks. The original Sables? will always be beautiful cars.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

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