Overview & Reviews

Mercury was a division of Ford Motor Company marketed as being somewhat more upscale than Ford. Throughout the latter part of its 71-year history, Mercury's vehicles were essentially Fords with unique styling details and special features meant to enhance their desirability relative to similar Ford products.

It all started in the 1930s, when Edsel Ford, Henry Ford's son, saw an opportunity to create an additional brand within the Ford hierarchy, one that would exist between the everyman Ford Deluxes and premium Lincoln Zephyrs. To achieve this, Edsel felt the vehicles of this new brand should offer distinctive styling along with innovative features and better capabilities. He named the new division "Mercury," after the Roman mythological god. The 1939 Mercury Eight was the division's first car. It distinguished itself from similar Ford products via a 95-horsepower engine that offered 10 more horses than the Ford V8.

The Eight proved to be a hit, with more than 155,000 sold by the early 1940s. Production stopped during World War II; after the war, the brand was realigned more closely with Lincoln. The company grew from strength to strength in the '50s, establishing itself as a maker of vehicles offering style, performance and cutting-edge technology. A dash of glamour was added to the automaker's image when James Dean appeared onscreen in a Mercury in the film Rebel Without a Cause.

The 1960s saw the introduction of Mercury's Comet and Meteor vehicles. The Comet featured diminutive dimensions and luxury accoutrements, while the Meteor was a midsize family car that followed the trend toward more reasonably sized cars. Racetrack wins boosted awareness of the Comet and helped the model make a big splash in terms of sales. By the end of the decade, the iconic Mercury Cougar, a variation of the Mustang, had been rolled out, its Eliminator version taking its place in the pantheon of legendary early muscle cars.

Hit hard by that decade's oil crisis, consumers during the 1970s were hungry for smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles. Mercury responded with a new, smaller Comet and the Bobcat, the former a fancier version of the Ford Maverick, the latter a fancier version of the Ford Pinto. The brand's sales grew during a decade that was filled with turbulence and uncertainty for many competing marques. Mercury further expanded its lineup in the '80s, this time including the small, Ford Escort-based Lynx. Mercury enjoyed success with the 1986 launch of the Sable, a fraternal twin to the Ford Taurus whose sleek, aerodynamic lines and futuristic "light bar" front end styling set it apart from the Ford.

Mercury's sales hit an all-time high during the 1990s that would never again be matched. Minivans and SUVs were a big reason for that as Mercury introduced its Villager minivan and Mountaineer SUV. Late that decade it introduced a new Cougar, which differed from its predecessors by being a front-drive sport compact that also holds the distinction of being the last Mercury that wasn't a rebadged Ford.

The years following the new millennium were challenging for the brand, as changing consumer tastes and a lack of differentiation between Mercury and Ford vehicles hurt sales. Pundits often proclaimed the end of Mercury was near, but Ford kept stating it would keep Mercury around despite offering no hope for any unique future vehicles from the brand. Finally in 2010, Ford pulled the plug on Mercury, putting an end to more than 70 years of car-making heritage.

User Reviews:

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  Great Car For The Money - 2007 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By J Forman - July 1 - 4:46 pm

  Owned a 1996 Lincoln town car prior to purchasing the Marquis. Was going to get another but took test ride in Mercury and said "this is it".So far this is as good of an automoble as you could want. Extremly comfortable excellent gas mileage.Averaged 26 mpg on two trips in excess of 1500 miles at 70 mph. Performs just as good as the Lincoln, plus cost $20,000 less at purchase. Great machine.

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  04 Mountaineer - 2004 Mercury Mountaineer
  By Mountaineer - July 1 - 10:00 am

  Bought this for my wife with 24k miles now it is up to 58k miles. Sure there have been a few things wrong but hey we got a warranty. I love the pwr and the ride this thing has when I drive it. It gives you a commanding feel of the road. It has road noise between 40 and 50. Also the rear window hatch cracked, you see it on a lot of Explorers and Mountaineers.

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  Seasoned Cat - 1996 Mercury Cougar
  By car lover - June 30 - 4:23 pm

  I bought a 96 V8 XR7 in sept. of 03 with 94652 miles on it. It is now June of 08 and it has 209231 miles on it with the original engine and no rebuilds! It always starts like a champ and still has the abilty to go buck! The transmission however is the only true drawback with its sluggishness to respond. There is a temporary lag when kicking down to passing gear and an uncharacteristicly poor throttle response. Once you learn to work around those details or modify to change them, the car is a ball to drive. Previous owner modified the PCM to generate more ponies but the change was made by the dealership and not by some shade tree mechanic!

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  2006 Mariner Premier - 2006 Mercury Mariner
  By M - June 27 - 5:36 am

  Drives nice, will be even better when the dealership can balance the tires so that the tire warning will go off and the wheel wont shimmy at 55 mph

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  Great Car and Fun to drive - 1996 Mercury Cougar
  By Cougarnut03 - June 27 - 2:00 am

  I bought the v6 model with 83,743 miles on it and used it all summer throught rush hour traffic all day. The car has never stalled and has always promptly started up. My car doesnt have the traction control option so i just put two 50lb sandbags in the trunk and it helps alot in the winter. The seats are very comfortable and there is plenty of legroom for someone who is 62. As for speed, the v6 is plenty as long as you are not trying to race a mustang. The v8 would be great im sure but if you dont want to shell out the extra cash, the v6 is not slow at all.

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  The Luxurious Mercury Monterey - 2007 Mercury Monterey
  By Scott - June 26 - 10:10 pm

  Let me begin by telling you that the Mercury Monterey is without a doubt the best minivan on the market seeing how it comes with a standard 4.2L V6 (BIGGEST IN A MINIVAN)And standard leather seating and dual climate control and the wood/leather steering wheel and it has every available option offered by Mercury and the great looking norsea blue paint and 17" rims make this van really stand out above the others and with the extremly smooth quiet ride i want to know why this is not the best selling van because the quality and reliablity is awesome. sure the price is high but its worth it because this is the best looking van inside and out and the only thing i dont is that i dont have 2 of them .

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  This was a good choice - 2005 Mercury Mariner
  By John W. Mapes - June 25 - 11:16 am

  Real fun to drive although I feel its terrible on gas and the tank could be alot bigger than it is. Interior is very well planned but side seat controls are hard to access with doors closed. One problem I am experiencing is braking noise coming from both front and rear calipers, somewhat like it sounds when the brakes are worn and need replacing. Need to contact dealer on this. They are definatly dealing, with 1400 off sticker and 2750 in rebates I came in under 24000. All told, a great value I thought.

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  I love my cougar!!! - 1997 Mercury Cougar
  By vim - June 24 - 1:40 pm

  I love this car! Bought in 00 off of a lease.Never had one problem (beside manifold blowing up on christmas eve!- Recall i didnt know about!) Otherwise a beautiful car with great handling, acceleration and comfortability. I baby this car and can get a new car-but why? Eats a lot of gas but what can you ask of a v8. I wish they still made this model. I lucked out on this 30th anniversary edition it even came with tint! I do go through a lot of brakes...

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  I dont miss my Nissan - 2006 Mercury Mariner Hybrid
  By Andrejak - June 22 - 2:30 pm

  I traded in a fully loaded 2002 Nissan Frontier 4WD for the Mariner. My pickup averaged 17 mpg. The Mariner is supposed to get 29 highway and 33 city. The 29 highway is attainable. I think the 33 city is a tad ambitious but probably could be done if you do a LOT of driving at 25 mph or less. Ive gone through two tanks of gas and so far have gotten it up to 28 mpg. You have to have a very light foot on the accerator. If youre really good, you can get the Mariner up to 30 mph before the gas engine kicks in. I love driving it and its great sitting at lights for minutes at a time knowing that Im not burning any gas. Trying to conserve fuel makes you allow more time to get where youre going.

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  Sounds like a cougar - 1999 Mercury Cougar
  By My_First_Car - June 22 - 7:16 am

  This car is the best. Icould easly take on an Eclipse, Celica, Jetta. it also has extremely good handling and supurb control. Sounds sweet, kind of resembles a cougars growl. I love my Cougar! The trunk has enough room for a full sized bike.