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:

• 

  Wonderful Car! - 2008 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By Bobby - October 27 - 11:23 am

  The 2008 Grand Marquis is a fantastic vehicle. I love the exterior design and chrome. Its classy and classic. This car is a great ride, and its price is not bad. It is smooth on the road, and it is powerful enough for all driving situations. When looking for a full-size car, check out the Grand Marquis. Its worth it.

• 

  7800 Miles and no complaints and a few t - 2007 Mercury Milan
  By SpiceUmUp - October 27 - 3:03 am

  I now have 7800 mile on the car since September and I am pleased as can be. With an average speed of 50+ miles per hour I am averaging 24.5 miles to the gallon, better than I anticipated. Nothing on the car has failed to function perfectly every time. I discovered the car does have an exterior temperature display: there is a little button on the climate control that says EXT. Push that and you have outside temperature displayed instead of the set point of the climate control. If you adjust the temperature setting, it switches back to exterior temp as soon as you are done. Nicely done but it could be a little easier to find and the owners manual could spell it out a little better

• 

  underappreciated car - 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By Thorn11acr - October 22 - 8:23 am

  This is my first "panther platform" car. Im 60 and have had hundreds of car and pickups. This is by far the most bang for the buck. I switched to Mobile 1 synthetic oil in 5-30w, added dual exhausts with an "X" pipe in the stock placement. Would you believe 28 mpg with the A/C on. I would imagine I can hit 30+ on the highway on cruise at 70mph. A simply great car, it rivals my Mercedes in comfort and handling....and replacement parts are dirt cheap. Even the Russians use this vehicle as their police cars. Rear wheel drive, proven drive train, and for 2003 you get a lot of improvements...Simple, strong, reliable.

• 

  Have fun with this one - 2003 Mercury Marauder
  By Troll - October 22 - 2:00 am

  OK, so I dont have $35K but I got to test drive one for about an hour yesterday. VERY fun car to drive. Looks like a sedan a businessman would own, but handles and performs like a much smaller, faster car. Very tight handling due to the 50/50 weight distribution. One thing I heard is driving this car will attract attention from Officer Friendly - and it makes sense given how powerful this car is.

• 

  the car - 2002 Mercury Cougar
  By mark stahlnecker - October 22 - 2:00 am

  great car, great ride, great price.

• 

  Got for a good price. So far so good! - 2005 Mercury Mountaineer
  By JackMaddy - October 17 - 12:00 pm

  Picked a Red Convenience up with all the bells and wistles. There are a few feature missing like rear motion detector and heated seats and DVD..but for the 24K i picked this AWD up for we love it. The 3rd row is not very practical..but we kinda knew that..it more of a nice option just incase you need to seat more people. Once in the 3rd row...its not too bad even for adults.it just getting back there that is the issue. However I think this is the case with most mid-sized SUVs. The mileage is not great..but cmon its an SUV what do you expect ;) I really love this car and glad we went with this instead of a Lame Toyota Sienna. Highly recommended..8.8 outta 10.

• 

  2000 Mercury Sable LS Premium - 2000 Mercury Sable
  By adventura - October 17 - 2:00 am

  Overall, this is an excellent car for the money. In over 65,000 miles of driving I have had no repairs whatsoever. Its a comfortable car to drive and handles well in all weather. Ive been particularly impressed with the Continental Touring Contact all- season tires. A couple of minor gripes; the lack of a standard CD player is anoying. There are some blind spots with the large A and B pillars that take some getting used to. The overall ride could be a little firmer, and Ford needs to do something about the mushy transmission shift points; it hates to downshift inless you prod it with the gas. The 3 liter V6 is one of the best powerplants on the road today.

• 

  Love My Mariner - 2006 Mercury Mariner
  By Dan - October 16 - 10:33 pm

  Very nice ride. mpg not the best but what do you expect with AWD would like to try the Hybrid next time

• 

  Grand Marquis 2005 Body Change - 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By Everette B. Brown, S - October 15 - 4:00 pm

  We are very unhappy with the design of the 2005 Grand Marquis. There is a lot of road noise and wind noise around the windows. The ride is not nearly as comfortable as the older models. We have a 98 that is much more comfortable and has less road and wind noise than the 2005. We will not purchase another New Mercury Grand Marquis until some major changes have been made. We are hoping the Ford Motor Co. will buy this vehicle back and allow us to purchase another Vehicle. We travel back and forth to see our grandchildren and the 2005 makes it a very long 350 miles. The 2005 has been in the shop for window change out, it goes back in the shop for loose molding and for horn repair.

• 

  Just a Lemon - 2000 Mercury Cougar
  By cougar - October 9 - 9:26 am

  I loved this car when I first got it. Now as I review it I actually ran out of space I can use. The list or things wrong: 6 alternators, air only works on high, sunroof will not go back only up, fuel system replaced, engine light stays on, lights inside and outside dim when you turn the radio on or air on, you can hear the motor of the air/heater when you first turn it on. I have taken good care of this car only those Ford parts have been used with them installing the parts. I was upside down in payments after the first 3 yrs so I couldnt trade it in. I would not sell this care to anyone-seriously. I looked it to the lemon law but the warranty had expired on the car.