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!
Jason just can’t decide on a keeper, ha ha. He buys something awesome, I tell him he should keep it, and then he sells it. Then a month or two later he tells me he should have kept it. Ha ha! But variety is the spice of life, and he’s got some serious variety, with the classic iron he finds and enjoys. But there’s always the next one. And with the next one, it means another car has to go. So here’s your big chance!
This 1978 Marquis is a full-figured beauty, and powered by a mighty, albeit thirsty, 460 CID V8. We shall never see its like again. But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a premium retro FoMoCo luxocruiser today!
Yes, it is true. Jason has found, yet again, another gotta-have-it full-sized cruiser. So that means this Marquis has to go bye bye. And that’s where you come in, if you play your cards right!
This car is ready to enjoy. New whitewall tires. Plenty of room. Plenty of comfort. And, perhaps best of all, it is not some butt-ugly combover in beige beigemist with a tippy toed ride and muddling handling. No! This car is lean and mean. And full-figured, yet steady.
And thirsty. Did I already say that? Well, she is. But, if you can handle that, it’s a fine car to take to cruise nights and pilot to the supper clubs on weekends.
What price Broughaminess? How about an opening bid of 3,500 bucks. And let’s face it, there will be no mistaking it in the parking lot!
Best of all, it’s got full-figured comfort and is Ride Engineered by Lincoln-Mercury. So why not throw in a bid. Not only will you be getting a fine, full-sized, V8 powered, rear drive classic, you’ll be helping Jason rescue his next Brougham! So whaddaya say? Check it out. Tell ’em Klockau sent ya!
Wow ~ what a beauty .
I don’t like driving land yachts but I sure love riding in ’em or seeing them going across America @ full tilt boogie .
-Nate
I’ve driven many of these back in the day, in fact, my parents and some of our neighbors had a few of these. These actually rode better than their GM counterparts out on the road. The 460 was a good solid engine – many I knew of going 300-400k miles. I have a soft spot for the big Marquis.
If I had space, I would be interested. It’s not a Grand Marquis or even a Brougham, but a base Marquis. The way it is equipped, it had to be a special order. Only reason I could think of was for the Vinyl seats.
Yes, a base Marquis. If you’ve read my stuff long enough, you know Brougham is my unofficial name for any land yacht American lux car, whether it has the Brougham nameplate on it or not. 🙂
Jason told me that he had to put ‘Grand Marquis’ on the auction, ebay doesn’t have a ‘Marquis’ box to check, apparently.
Unbelievably, this would have to be emission inspected before it’s registered in California. And then every two years after that. And then again if it’s transferred. $50-$70 a pop. No collector status, no low mileage use exemption. Go away.
Republicans don’t even have a candidate on ballot for Senator this election.
I think you clicked on the wrong page…
Cool car. That said: you mention that he “refurbishes” these cars, which is curious, considering this one has needs: “Everything works currently minus one window(off track-passenger door),clock and AC needs to be recharged. Also,there is a slight vacuum leak on the headlight doors-when the car is running-they close-when you turn it off-they will open.”
I mean, that is a LOT of stuff that needs to be fixed! Especially for a car that was “refurbished”! In my experience, AC never needs to be “recharged” but instead repaired, which can cost a thousand bucks or more. Fixing off track windows is a pain in the arse, clocks are expensive to rebuild, and vacuum leaks are time consuming and expensive to fix.
All in all, this would be a good car for $900 or so. And the old school odometer means it could have flipped over several times, meaning the 102,000 indicated miles is more likely 202K or even 302K miles (learned this when I made the mistake buying a “low mileage” Crown Vic).
I just checked with a couple of automotive clock restoration specialists and they charge $50 to $60 for most clocks. They’re not Bulova Accutrons.
Well, he just enjoys getting old cars back on the road. Here’s a bit more about what he does. http://bestride.com/news/the-car-whisperer-rescuing-the-cars-of-1970s-before-they-disappear-forever
Well, I may just fix all that stuff. Window is off track-motor works fine, clock? Who knows. It’s 40 years old. The vacuum leak on the headlight doors will be a rubber hose-just need to track and the windshield wiper switch can be done as well-just need to find one. It has the intermittent wipers on it. It’s not perfect,but it’s nice and it’s 3,500 bucks. If you want one in mint condition-expect to pay twice that. Not gonna cost you 3,500 bucks to fix it. It’s a daily driver as well-just get in, fire it up and go. 900 bucks? Quit smoking on whatever you have. I paid good money for it car. 900 bucks back in 1990 would make sense. It’s 2018. Wake up.
I remember paying $900 for cars like this…..in 1998….
My father had a ’74 Grand Marquis Brougham, black over black with a grey interior. Pretty much fully loaded, all but a Lincoln. Other than malaise-era dieseling when you shut it off, it was a great, very comfortable car.
It’s magnificent in white. If only I had a place to keep it…
A buddy of mine’s parents had one of these back when we were in high school. Of course, that was back when these cars were fairly new…
Unlike me, where I tried to wring the life out of nearly everything I got my hands on, John was a cruiser and this car was perfect for him. It was a magic carpet and probably the smoothest ride I can remember short of a Fleetwood Cadillac. John was big, tall kid. 6’6″ 220 lbs in high school, he was the wall in our defensive line on the football team. He also managed to not piss off the defensive and head coaches (unlike me) and get demoted to second string. End of football career. More time for cruising!
John’s first car of his own was a… Chevy Vega. That he did not fit into. I was invited over to help him remove the driver’s seat and mickey-mouse a set up where we got the driver’s seat back far enough he could fit in and operate the car.
I lost track of John after high school. I don’t know what became of him, but I wonder if he has the modern equivalent of that Dove Gray Grand Marquis.
It closed with no bids despite 31 watchers that may have been from here.