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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  norms review - 1995 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By norman - April 6 - 10:00 am

  One of the best and trouble free vehicles I have ever owned.

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  Mercury Mountaineer - 2000 Mercury Mountaineer
  By PatMColl - April 6 - 10:00 am

  Great vehicle. I live in the mountains and the all wheel drive is great. Excellent for carrying "stuff"! Good height for me to get in and get out of the car without struggling to get up and out!

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  From Montego to Sable - 2008 Mercury Sable
  By Sverige - April 5 - 5:46 pm

  After 65,000 good miles, mostly highway, on a 05 Montego with only one latent factory defect that was readily fixed, I traded for a new Sable. About the only thing I really wanted was a built in satellite radio. After putting about 800 miles on the Sable I think Ford has just about got it right with the changes between the two models. Both are very roomy and comfortable on long trips.

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  Traded Chrysler 300 for Montego AWD - 2005 Mercury Montego
  By Rico - April 4 - 6:00 pm

  After 2 winters of Chrysler 300 RWD, I wanted an AWD vehicle. Liked the value of Mercury Montego. Added a spoiler and chrome trim on doors, side molding and trunk to spruce up the looks. I am very pleased overall with the car. Very comfortable.

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  Great Ride - 2007 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By Tommy - April 4 - 12:33 am

  The 07 Grand Marquis is a great luxury car with a great smooth ride and extremly quiet and it handles great as well and the performence is great to with that big 4.6L 224HP V8 Engine and i love the 16" Y spoke rims and the front end design looks great and the fog lights add a sport look and it has many features like the dual power heated leather seats heated side mirrors classy looking wood trim power sunroof and i just love the cars design its great and all the interior controls are very easy to use and the interior materials are very nice as well as everything else its a great car to own and its extremly safe 5 stars in all 4 categories so i feel safe when i am driving the Grand Marquis

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  Great Mid-size - 2004 Mercury Mountaineer
  By tgv - April 2 - 10:00 am

  The Mountainteer is truly a well designed mid sized sport utility which brings a lot of value to a flooded market of "wanna-bes". It seems to have all the basics and more for interior finishes and performs suprisingly agile for such a beefy design/capacity. Very happy Owner!

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  Good Buy - 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By Mercury - April 2 - 10:00 am

  I am 63 and have been buying Mercurys for 10 years. This car is comfortable and takes the bumbs well but handling and gas is a diffrent story. I would buy the Nissan Altima or the Toyota Avalon before I boght a Mercury or Linclon but my brother works at Mercury in L.A.

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  Mercury Cougars Water Leaks - 1999 Mercury Cougar
  By Ron LeHotsky - April 1 - 9:40 pm

  Mercury Cougar allows water to leak into areas that should be kept dry: drivers seat, passengers seat, & especially hatch area. Had to throw out multiple carpets and deal with stench of mildew. Able to see where water enters into hatch (through a spot welded seem near tail-lights) but solid sheet metal is above this area; multiple dealerships have been unable to diagnose how it gets in. Source is definitely not the rubber seals around the tail-light or hatch; these are tight. Only other source might be rubber gutter seals above windows, but there is no way to know unless they are removed. Problem is they cant be replaced. New ones must be purchased, custom painted, & installed.

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  Its the one for me - 2008 Mercury Mariner
  By RayRay - March 30 - 5:26 pm

  Just bought this SUV and for the price I got my moneys worth. 4WD and all. Just wish it had a DVD player and drop down screen in the back I like to watch DVDs while I wait for my coffee at Dunkin D.

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  My first suv - 2006 Mercury Mariner
  By NEIL THE THRILL - March 30 - 5:10 pm

  I drove to delray beach about 700 mi. And 12 hr in the seat the mariner was a pleasure to drive. The mileage was 27 mi per gallon .The four cylinder engine had plenty of power running on the turnpike at 70 or 80.This little suv offers more for the money than the imports.