Mercury is Gone – And We Are Poorer For It
The 71-year old Mercury brand marks the 4th recent American auto maker to kick the bucket. Following in the footsteps of Saturn, Hummer and Pontiac – Ford’s press department announced that the iconic brand would be cut down. It’s hard to be surprised – Mercury has not created an original model wince the 1990′s – taking Ford models like Tempo, Taurus, Crown Vic and transforming them into rebranded Topaz, Sable and Grand Marquis alike.
Ford reported that the Mercury name had a 74% decline in sales since 2000. Those are low numbers indeed, but the Merc label did retain some brand loyalty – the same company which gave us the Cougar muscle car and 1940′s Hot Rod Mercury Coupes.
The company began as a Ford offshoot in 1939 by Edsel Ford. “The All New Mercury” started off selling two-door coupes and large family sedans, all made without a huge influence from Ford design. During the muscle car era, Mercury became infamous with its sexy and fun to drive Cougar. That model continues into the late 90′s, before it (the last original Mercury vehicle) was laid to rest.
Mercury tried to re-imagine itself over the past few years – with sexy lady Jill Wagner (pictured above, shooting a Mercury Tracer at 500 rounds per second) selling you the Milan and Mariner. But alas – no one was buying. Why get a Mercury Milan when you can buy a Ford Taurus? Then the gas crisis came. Then the economic crisis came. Then…cash for clunkers. It was a no win scenario.
But why are we poorer for losing a non-original make like Mercury? Because it was American, it was iconic and patriotic. We have already lost Pontiac, a company that had potential, but none were brave enough to invest.
Like them, Mercury has plenty of ideas, they could have taken chances – when your back is against the wall all you have left are chances. But it is easier for the auto companies to close assembly lines, lay off employees and cut production – try to salvage any bit of green so their Christmas bonuses are fat. And in the end, we lose a bit of what it means to be a motorhead in America. That makes us poorer.
Originally posted on our sister site, Automopedia.org
This breaks my heart my wife and I were going to buy a new Mariner for her and now my 65 Caliente is a orphan.