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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  Superficially nice but poor quality - 2005 Mercury Montego
  By sue - January 11 - 7:16 am

  I bought this car new, and loved the comfortable and roomy interior. It had a lot of "bells and whistles", like seat warmers, moonroof, leather, beeping back bumper, etc... Unfortunately, the exterior quality and engine quality are out of alignment. Ive had nothing but problems with this vehicle. Ranging from minor inconveniences such as the trunk latch not working and the brakes needing replaced after 30K miles (covered by manufacturer recall), to major issues like the a/c needing replaced and the transimission failing after only 63K miles. I would warn anyone looking at this vehicle to not let the outside fool you. This is a poorly made Ford.

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  I love/Husband Hates - 1999 Mercury Cougar
  By kac4 - January 11 - 3:23 am

  Does someone have an answer ? when my husband first bought this car for me this summer it had 112,000 on it. An let me just tell you I can usually get miles out of my cars. but so far I havent been able to, we thought that the headlights were the ownely thing wrong. But we were wrong there is a electrical problam, the wheel bearing, the radio buzzes, if I use my rear wiper then my front ones go off too!Then we went too go get a new excaust an come too find out the k-frame rotted out so bad that I could put my foot through one of the holes. Im lucky my family didnt get hurt. So anyways my car has 18 open recalls did it get fixed NO !! I say ford should do something about this.

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  fun vehicle - 2004 Mercury Monterey
  By imadriver - January 10 - 10:00 am

  great and fun to drive

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  I traded in my 93 for a 2000 (both red)! - 2000 Mercury Villager
  By br - January 8 - 10:00 am

  This is our second red used Mercury Villager. We couldnt be more pleased. The value/price is great!

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  Please bring them back - 2000 Mercury Villager
  By KForringer - January 8 - 10:00 am

  I have owned my Mercury Villager for 2 1/2 years now and love it. We test drove many minivans and while this was one of the smaller vans, it handled very well and felt more like a car than a van. In the time that we have had it, we have only had to do minor maint. items. Which is more than I can say for the Caravan that we had before!! It was well worth the money we paid and I wish they would bring them back.

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  97 Mountaineer Review - 1997 Mercury Mountaineer
  By tryeasy - January 8 - 10:00 am

  I have put 60,000 miles on this vehicle over 4 years. I have owned 50 plus cars in my life. this has everything I need and like. Great reliability too. However, I did upgrade shocks, exhaust, and tires to improve performance. great seats and power options.

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  My 2000 Mercury Sable LS Premium - 2000 Mercury Sable
  By TbirdTony - January 8 - 10:00 am

  I have had this car 1 month shy of 3 years. It has 25,000 miles on it. I really like the car. The interior, paint, & 24 valve V6 are all great. Like others have stated on the 2000 Sable there have been too many recalls of which most were not necessary (in my opinion). My car also has a very slight oil leak and a rear window/trunk leak which 2 different dealers can not fix. They are annoying little problems that should have been fixed. Ford needs to get there designs tested before sending them out to the consumer. There "Quality is Job 1" is a joke. The little problems that I have had and the number of recalls should have been caught.

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  The Auto Press Has It Wrong - 2005 Mercury Montego
  By ejko - January 7 - 4:30 pm

  As a previous owner of vehicles by Mazda, Saab, Toyota, etc., I was pretty much conditioned to believe that American cars were inferior. My experience with my Montego FWD Premier has changed all of that. This is a very nice car!!! The exterior appearance speaks for itself; it exudes class. The interior is very elegant as well; I particularly like the two-tone leather and audiophile radio. The safety features (I have the safety package option)are world class. I traded in a Pontiac GTO (built by Holden in Australia) on this car. Coming off a 350 HP car and reading the stinging criticism of this car being underpowered, I havent found anything to be concerned about! Its a non-issue

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  Satisfied - 2005 Mercury Montego
  By Montego - January 6 - 1:06 pm

  In past years we have driven Mercury Grand Marques but more recent we drove a Ford Windstar(2002). It was large and intimidating for the wife so it was traded for the Montego. The Montego has more room than the GM, a little shorter also, and rides great. The gas mileage is "right on the money" what the advertised numbers are. The complaint of being "underpowered" is overstated. We are not buying this vehicle for the "drag-strip" but for comfortable and fairly economical family sedan which it is.

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  Mountaineer, A Sleeper!! - 2004 Mercury Mountaineer
  By Jerome Rich - January 5 - 10:00 am

  I drove a new Explorer for 6, trouble- free years and wanted the same reliability with just a little more luxury. I found it in my new Mountaineer. I compared it with other mid-size 3-row SUVs: Toyotas 4Runner, Hondas Pilot and Chevys Blazer. This SUV seems to have it all. Ccomfort, space, reliability, 3 rows of seats and it looks good.