Star This if You Want a Mercury Revival

"ptak appreciates old racecars" (racecarptak) 04/24/2014 at 04:32 • Filed to: mercury

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Not fishing, just want to see how many people would like to see this happen.

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CRider > ptak appreciates old racecars 04/24/2014 at 05:04

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Rebrand all current Lincolns as Mercurys. Start Lincoln over from scratch, as a high end, low volume manufacturer of hand built American luxury cars.

Gatsby's Ghost > ptak appreciates old racecars 04/24/2014 at 05:14

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Yeah, I'd like to see that. For a while there (well...in the 60s and into the 90s), Mercury occasionally got the projects that Ford couldn't push with its more mainstream offerings. Stuff like the Cougar (which, I suspect, is the only Mercury that Oppos will be clamoring for a revival of), and the Capri.

But can I draw your attention to the Mercury Colony Park ?

That's a pretty awesome wagon. Just sayin'.

So, yeah, I'd say that now that Ford's idea of "luxury" includes actual leather and far smaller panel gaps than it used to, I say, give Mercury another shot. They can't fuck it up worse than they fucked up Lincoln.

ptak appreciates old racecars > Gatsby's Ghost 04/24/2014 at 05:33

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The Colony Park is actually my favorite Mercury. Black with wood trim, that's pretty much ideal. I'd go with the '57-'58, though.

I don't think Lincoln is "fucked up" just yet. I mean, they are, but I think they're pulling themselves out of their slump, slowly. If they could move Linc up-market (to compete with BMW and Lexus) they could let Mercury loose on Buick and Chrysler, the middle class-iest cars of all time.

AthomSfere > Gatsby's Ghost 04/24/2014 at 06:43

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I think you nailed it here.

The only Mercury I can think of that I don't hate: The Marauder.

Most of Mercury sort of became just another way to resell crappy Fords. The Mariner for example.

I think Ford has figured themselves out, the Fusion, Flex, Focus, Fiesta and 2015 Mustang, this all all "Wow!" to me.

I think Ford hasn't figured out Lincoln yet, and adding Mercury to the mix would be dangerous and disastrous.

Gatsby's Ghost > AthomSfere 04/24/2014 at 06:52

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Yeah, I agree. They're almost ready to have Mercury back. They've made so much progress! Once they figure out what Lincoln is supposed to be, they might have room for a new Mercury. Just as long as it's not all rebadged Fords.

Actually, come to think of it, that's the difference between Cadillac and Lincoln right now: Cadillac clearly has its own marketing department managing the brand image, and its own engineering department fulfilling that image. You would never look at the CTS Coupe and think to yourself, "Oh! That's obviously based on the Chevy Impala or the Buick Whatever." And there are two reasons you don't think that: 1) Because Cadillac has a very recognizable look by now, and 2) because the Sigma platform that underpins the CTS isn't actually used for any other GM car; it's unique to the CTS and CTS-V.

Lincoln appears to just be trying to sell Ford's image and brand values, to anyone who considers themselves too wealthy to buy a Ford. They've radically changed the Lincoln "look" several times in the last decade alone, and they're all obviously rebadged Fords. When that's no longer true—when Lincoln is making its own cars again, and when they have a distinct brand image all to themselves— then Mercury can come back, and I will welcome their weirdness with open arms.

AthomSfere > Gatsby's Ghost 04/24/2014 at 07:17

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I think you are right, re-badging a car successfully is hard! Honda / Acura has done pretty decent with it, but there are a few important differences in approach. Acura sells cars we often don't get here, the European Accord is badge engineered instead of the regular Accord. They also sell features you just don't get on the American equivalent like AWD. Finally, they do occasionally mix things up. The Integra, Vigor, RSX, RDX are all examples across the Acura lifetime. Just like Cadillac and Chevy, you can't look at the Acura lineup and generally walk across the street to the Honda dealership and buy the top trim something instead of the bottom trim luxury version. Example Milan and Fusion.

Another place Mercury might be able to succeed is to take another page from Honda and Acura, forget about volume. If you have never bought a new Honda, it is a little different. Discounts are hard earned. I have asked for $1-2000 off a brand new car at Honda dealerships and told flat out, the sales person asks the manager and I get an offer for a free oil change instead. Honda basically knows it will sell what it produces and people will buy them at list 99% of the time. This is also why Honda's (in part) have such high residual values. That 3 year old Civic is only $3000 less than MSRP on a brand new Civic with the same features because you aren't going to get a huge discount buying brand new. It gives the new Honda buyer a sense of confidence in paying full MSRP and the cycle continues.

Mercury should do the same. "We are building 5000 Mercury Mauraders in 2016, they will sell for $35k" There will be no Crown Vic to compete, there will be no rebadging. If you like the car, you buy it and it will be unique in the Ford lineup.

Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy > ptak appreciates old racecars 04/24/2014 at 07:29

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I agree entirely with this, American companies need to reinvent their brands. On a related note, I'd also like to see Pontiac return for GM, as their "Performance" division.

Jayhawk Jake > ptak appreciates old racecars 04/24/2014 at 07:45

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Given how lame Lincoln has been lately, I'll pass

CalzoneGolem > ptak appreciates old racecars 04/24/2014 at 07:54

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I'd love some rebadged Fords!

505Turbeaux > ptak appreciates old racecars 04/24/2014 at 08:15

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I miss mine!

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > ptak appreciates old racecars 04/24/2014 at 08:17

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If only to bring back the Courgar XR7.

But I'd prefer, for the time being, that Ford put an honest effort into Lincoln

ptak appreciates old racecars > 505Turbeaux 04/24/2014 at 08:35

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You have all the cool cars here, don't you? :D

505Turbeaux > ptak appreciates old racecars 04/24/2014 at 08:37

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haha I keep a rotating fleet of odd rolling stock. Lets just call it that :)

ptak appreciates old racecars > 505Turbeaux 04/24/2014 at 08:39

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Do tell.

505Turbeaux > ptak appreciates old racecars 04/24/2014 at 08:42

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http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/the-list-13830…

My history as pertains to car ownership...

Logansteno: Bought a VW? > ptak appreciates old racecars 04/24/2014 at 09:01

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I'd like to see it, but they need to be more than Fords with some minor styling tweaks.

ptak appreciates old racecars > 505Turbeaux 04/24/2014 at 09:21

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Holy - wow.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > ptak appreciates old racecars 04/24/2014 at 10:04

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My Mercury Fleet:

1968 Montego MX:

2007 Milan:

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > ptak appreciates old racecars 04/24/2014 at 20:41

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I just noticed the other day while walking by one that the Marauder sports the old "God Head" emblem on the seats.

ptak appreciates old racecars > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 04/25/2014 at 05:43

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Yeah, and on the rim caps too, I think!

Ratchet when he's all hopped up on synthetic energon > ptak appreciates old racecars 04/29/2014 at 17:00

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I'd like to see a new Mercury, but it needs to have a distinct flavor from Ford. That's my beef with Lincoln right now, and it's why Mercury failed in the first place.

What I would want to see from Mercury is being an homage to it's namesake, the God of Speed. Make it a low-volume, niche brand with one or two unique models and some performance versions of some Ford products. I'd love to see a new Capri as an FT-86 sized RWD coupe with Ecoboost-4 power (1.6L in base, 2.0 or 2.3L in an XR7), a Comet Caliente that's a Fusion with the EB 3.5L, and a Marauder that's either a LHD Falcon or maybe based on the Interceptor concept from '07:

BondoSpecial > ptak appreciates old racecars 05/12/2014 at 19:02

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Why? I had a low mile 2003 Mercury Marauder for a bunch of years, which I sold recently, so I am no Mercury-hater, but...Mercury ran its course. Mercury was always the uglier version of the corresponding Ford model, with more unnecessary plastichrome and bigger bulkier bumpers tacked on the otherwise-same car.