Automotive Trends

      The demise of Mercury has had the auto world considering what went wrong with Ford’s mid-priced brand. While we recently shared our suggestions on which vehicles most contributed to Mercury’s demise, there were plenty of vehicles in the brand’s history that are worth celebrating. Never having owned a Mercury, one of my earliest tastes of automotive freedom was experienced from the passenger seat of a ’76 Montego that my high school buddy drove. The car had a power dome hood that stretched a good six feet ahead of the windshield, a one piece bench seat, AM radio, and the requisite full vinyl top – complete with opera windows. Though ragged and worn, that behemoth was our transportation many a Saturday night out with the guys. That Mercury dripped character from chromed bumper to chromed bumper. Like the Montego, Mercury produced several memorable cars  over the years. Had Ford produced more vehicles like these, perhaps Mercury’s fate would have been different. Read more…

      Now that Ford has made official what many had been predicting (hoping for?), the discontinuation of the Mercury brand demands some reflection on what went wrong.  Ford launched Mercury in 1939 in order to bridge the gap between Ford and the Lincoln brand, which itself old Henry had purchased in 1922.  This was a logical move considering that cross town rival General Motors had five car divisions producing six brands (Cadillac offered an entry level companion make called LaSalle from 1927-1940) in addition to the GMC Truck division. Read more…