Featuring: Jack B. and Bark M.
I don’t know if it was due to Jack’s post on the 5-speed V6 Tempo, but today I ran across this. Last time I saw one of these early “Tempazes” was probably 1994 or so, though I do see the final-gen Tempo sedans around even today.
But these early ones? Nope. So I was drawn to this one on Marketplace, especially in that spiffy red on red color combo. Remember when car interiors were color-keyed to the exterior paint? That’s pretty much extinct now too. Continue Reading →
Another one from my pal in Texas, Lee Wilcox! -TK
By 1992, Ford and Mercury had gone Aero; the last year for bricks, including the squared-off Colony Park wagon, was 1991. These wagons came with 302 V8s and were underpinned by evergreen Panther platform. When this car was new, wagons were losing out to minivans for many reasons. Fuel economy was high on that list, but utility was not. But these are workers, despite being favored at the time by country club ladies and doctor’s wives.
Note: Here’s an oldie from the old site, in honor of Jack’s own Milan, which I read about over on Hagerty yesterday. While this one wasn’t a manual, during my brief sales career at Dahl Ford, we got in trade an absolutely mint 2007 Fusion SEL, black over tan leather, with rear spoiler. Low mileage, one owner. Many, many people zeroed in on it due to its color combo and great shape, then veered off when they saw the stick shift. To this day, I can’t remember if we sold it or wholesaled it at auction. -TK
Et tu, FoMoCo? Yes, during its last decade of existence, Mercury, those Fords in tuxedos, were starved of fresh product and left to wither. Instead of a notchback Cougar version of the new-for-2005 Mustang (which your author really, REALLY wanted to see in production), they got…the Monterey minivan.
Remember Jason Bagge? Sure you do. He’s the Pacific Northwest’s Brougham Whisperer. He seeks out, buys, refurbishes, and sells on classic 1970s Broughamtastic Broughams to happy new owners. Many of his previous cars have been featured right here on Riverside Green, including his 1976 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight, 1976 Caprice Classic Landau, 1976 Bonneville Brougham, 1972 Bonneville four-door hardtop, and 1973 Imperial LeBaron. Well, folks, he just can’t keep anything, ha ha!
Nope. He finds something cool, fixes it up, sells it on, spies another classic ’70s yacht, and repeats the process. All the aforementioned Detroit land yachts are long gone! If he has a car you like, chances are you can get it-for the right price. And now, ladies and germs, he’s selling a very nice 1978 Mercury Marquis. And it can be yours!
Mercury just never seemed to truly hit its stride. Sure, there were some great cars, but they always seemed to be stuck in the middle. Introduced in 1939 as a slightly more upmarket variant of the well-loved Ford V8, it had its own sheetmetal and sold rather respectably, with nearly 65,000 units built in its first model year; but in short order, Mercury became an uptrimmed Ford. With the exception of the natty 1949-51 models, Mercury never got a really unique look. At least, that is, until the mid- to late-’50s.
The mid-price market really took off in the mid- to late-’50s. Makes like Oldsmobile and Buick were making hay as the sun shone, and Ford looked on with jealousy as Buick took third place in U.S. sales. The all-new 1952 Mercury looked a lot like the 1952 Lincoln–which also looked a lot like the 1952 Ford–but that would be corrected quite soon.
If you’re in the market for a midsize car today, you have plenty of choices. Well, for now, as the ever present crossover is rapidly compelling the manufacturers to kill off the traditional midsize sedan. Several nameplates from which to choose–Camry, Impala, Fusion and Optima and of course Accord, to name a few. And they all come in the same flavor of competent albeit repetitive design and styling. Where’s the flair, man? Once upon a time, before safety standards, emissions and plain old public demand trumped style, a buyer could get virtually whatever their heart desired, right down to colors, options–and yes, Virginia, even a body style other than the now-ubiquitous four-door sedan. Want an aqua Skylark convertible with a white interior, V8 and four-speed? Done! How about a red Lark Wagonaire with a red interior, 350 McKinnon (nee GM) V8, power retractable roof over the cargo area, and automatic transmission? No problem. You could have those cars and everything in between–in 1965. Everything from cheapskate beige two-door post with manual everything to fully loaded sports convertible with a fire-breathing powerplant. So let’s set the way-back machine to Autumn 1964 and see what we can get.
Note: Please welcome Joel Miller to Riverside Green. Another emigre’ from the old site, Joel’s passion is 1970s Detroit rolling stock, particularly the 1977-81 Firebird and full-size 1973 Pontiacs. -TK
The car that first really hooked me was the Mercury Cougar. I was probably four or five when I first spotted a ’69 or ’70 Cougar though the window of my mother’s Mark III Lincoln. Whoa, what’s that? The sequential turn signals were mesmerizing!
At around age six, I finally figured out what I was looking at. From that point on, everything was about the Cougar. My half-brother drove a white ’69 XR7 for a few years, although I don’t ever remember riding in it. I probably stared rust holes in it though!
The last few years of Mercury’s existence, say 2005-2010, were painful to watch. Though the marque had a pretty consistently bumpy road through the years (cheap Lincoln or fancy Ford?), there were still some interesting cars. Who could forget the loaded, tri-tone 1957-58 “senior” Park Lanes, 1967-68 Cougars and the fastback Cyclones of the late Sixties? Or the full-on Broughamtastic Marquis, which first appeared in 1967 as the top-drawer big Mercury? Heck, the Marquis pretty much WAS Mercury the last decade of its existence. So let’s take a look of some of its Seventies forebears, shall we?
The 1977 Marquis was essentially the same as the 1975 Marquis. The main difference was that in 1977 most of its competition had gone on a crash diet and turned out leaner, meaner, and yet more space efficient as well.
And “The New Chevrolet” and its siblings sold like dollar beer at the ball game. What to do? Simple: Improvise.
A four door Cougar? Oh yes! Once upon a time, in the ’70s, nameplate recognition actually meant something. And cars had actual names! Starting in 1974, the Cougar coupe finally broke it off with the Mustang body and chassis-wise, becoming a super-luxe Montego while the Mustang became a sequel and shrunk.
The reconfigured 1974 Cougar dropped all sport pretensions, and became a mini-Mark IV of sorts, with that ’70s domestic “boulevard ride” and lots and lots of options. Despite the loss of the convertible, sales of the ’74-’76 Cougar were extremely healthy.
So healthy, in fact, that when the time came for a redesign in 1977, the L-M powers-that-be decided that even more would be even better. Oh sure, the top-of-the-line XR-7 coupe was still in evidence, and even sharper with bladed fenders, quad rectangular headlamps and even more options! But there were several new additions that the folks who’d been driving Cougars since 1967 may have been surprised to see.