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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  I love this truck! - 1997 Mercury Mountaineer
  By Shannon - June 4 - 4:40 am

  My truck has 215K miles and I have had pretty limited problems with it. It is showing its wear now so I am retiring it to our summer home where we will use it for local drives and towing our boat or camper. Its very comfortable with nice leather seats.

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  Mercury Monterey is the best van - 2005 Mercury Monterey
  By Thomas - May 31 - 2:13 am

  It has a smooth ride very comfortable seats and very roomy and has a lot of conveniences and a quiet ride

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  I like it - 2002 Mercury Mountaineer
  By gcmhn - May 29 - 10:00 am

  Ive had it 9 months and gone through one winter with a fair amount of snow and loved the way it stayed on the road and handled. We love the comfort on long trips and the room inside.

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  What a great car! - 1995 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By jbeams - May 25 - 3:21 am

  I would have never bought this car, axcept my Father, said, I am going to pick out your car, since you pick out all lemons as of lately. He pointed out the car lot, and showed me the Mercury Gand Marquis LS, said try the ones you are interested in, then take the one I am pointing out to you. I tried the Ford Explorer, lousy in snow and ice uphill, The chevrolet cavalier, wasnt all that great either, the Grand Marquis not only went through ice and snow, it went all the way up the hill. Wow.

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  Love my daily driver w/180K+ - 2005 Mercury Mariner
  By spchambers03 - May 21 - 4:44 am

  we bought this feb. 06 with 7,000 miles on it, and started putting around 12k a year. strating in 08, new job, i started putting around 45-50K miles a year!(any and every weather condition you can throw at it, from bumper to bumper in the heat, to 18-30inch snow storms, and brutal -0 cold, and any type of road conditions, from interstate driving, to farm/logging roads, to putting the GREAT AWD system to use and foraging my own roads!) I currently have 182k miles and running strong, i religiously change my 5w-20 (summer months, 10w-30 winter months) Pennzoil SYNTHETIC oil every 5k miles, and FRAM extra tough filter every 10k miles. aswell as my fuel filter every 20k miles! plugs and wires

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  good all around - 2006 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By pollyreimerjones - May 21 - 3:13 am

  we have just returned from a long trip of over 1800 miles and our new marquis performed excellently. A great ride, with good gas mileage.

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  I never thought I would buy a Mercury - 2006 Mercury Milan
  By Rick - May 18 - 6:40 am

  I was looking for a Fusion when the 0% for 72 months was running and stumbled upon a Milan. I think its better looking and so far its been a very pleasurable experience. All city driving so far and each tank full has been better mileage, the last one went 374 miles on 16.1 gallons. It will be interesting to get a tank thru it on the highway to see how close I can get to the 29 mpg. Quiet, very roomy and comfortable even for a 66" driver. The controls on the steering wheel make the radio, cruise and a/c controls a breeze, altho the temp control is on the lower right and I rest my thumb in that area when I drive--sometimes the temp gets bumped up to 80 degrees!

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  A real surprise - 2007 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By ripdaddy - May 15 - 12:37 pm

  I was looking for a Crown Vic to pull my small bass boat with when this 2007 GM got in the way. 6 years old, 44000 miles, body on frame to handle a trailer hitch, $9500.00? Oh, yeah. I was expecting a somewhat clumsy driving experience. Boy, was I wrong! The suspension is tight and well controlled. The steering is precise and so smooth, too. I love driving it! I dont drive with a heavy foot so my worst mpg average for a tank of gas has been 24.6 with about a 40/60 city to highway ratio. A 300 mile highway trip yielded 28.1 mpg. The car is so nice I dont want to put the hitch on it. I feel like I got a new car for 9500 bucks. There are several like it out there, too.

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  This little thing goes - 2007 Mercury Mariner
  By mercqwerty - May 12 - 7:00 pm

  This is one great little SUV. Roomy inside, comfortable and really fun to drive. The AWD goes great in the snow. This Mercury is reliable as sin.

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  Best vehicle I have ever owned - 1995 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By drdean - May 11 - 4:30 am

  266,000 miles throughout America and still going. It is such a great driving, comfortable, great milage car that we bought a second one. Got 31 mpg average on Interstate driving. With american built parts anyone can service it. A new Mazda that tried to demolish it last year by driving into it was totaled. The Marquis? Dinged on the right side, drivable. Highly recommend this car if you have kids or if you dont want to be injured in an accident. This car needs a tune up every 300,000 miles with its titanium engine, platinum plugs and gold wires. Dont think, just buy one!