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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  1997 Mercury Cougar RX7, - 1997 Mercury Cougar
  By J Black - July 4 - 2:00 am

  Beautiful Styling, best looking of all 1983-1997 Cougars & T-Birds .... Design, comfort, and handling all good to very good, with very nice & reasonably quiet ride ... Car runs very well after 111k miles ... 6 cyl eng is woefully underpowered but reliable ... Brakes have been the biggest problem from day one ... Fuel economy is average, 19-23 mpg ...

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  Great car under rated - 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis
  By Edwin - July 2 - 3:07 am

  Very different get used to old school power

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  Good SUV for more room, but bad MPGs - 2005 Mercury Mountaineer
  By Manuel J Mathew Jr - June 29 - 7:23 am

  We bought this vehicle primarily for our budding family. It has been to FL twice from VA, and has performed in the mountainous dirt roads of AR as well. It is a good SUV all around, and hasnt let us down as yet. This is not an SUV to buy if you are interested in great gas mileage however. We had some problems with the clear coat, but were rectified by the dealer, that is all.

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  Love my Cougar - 1996 Mercury Cougar
  By BacardiRobb - June 26 - 10:00 am

  Coming from the snow belt I too wish that my cougar came with the traction control, however 100 pounds of sand and studded snow tires I can go anywhere. Since I bought the cougar used in 2000 with 30,000 miles, not too many folks want rear wheel drive in NW PA, so it was a dirt cheap purchase. The only expense I have had to date are plugs, breaks and tires. Awesome car.

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  A Little Disappointed - 2006 Mercury Montego
  By don - June 24 - 6:30 am

  Since all of the test drives were done in the daytime, we didnt realize that there were no daytime driving lights until after the final deal. I like DTDLs especially for overcast and rainy days. I like to be seen. The interior is great except that there is no automatic unlock feature when you put the car in park. I did notice this before but thought it was minor. My mistake, very inconvenient. Did have the emissions light come on during a trip, took it to a Ford garage but they couldnt look at it for about 4 days. Couldnt even tell me if it was OK to drive. Very poor customer service IMO. As it turned out the gasket on the gas cap was bad. Dont like the gas cap design. Hard to use.

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  Watch out for the transmission! - 1998 Mercury Sable
  By Arabella - June 19 - 10:00 am

  I bought this car new and its been great till the transmission went at 81K and almost 6 years of age. Its costing me a small fortune to get it back on the road. After reading about Fords transmission problems, this is the last Ford for me.

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  A go anywhere - everywhere van - 2004 Mercury Monterey
  By kjoe - June 14 - 10:00 am

  great room, plenty of power features, all the toys. hard to use radio and a/c controls, cheap plastic interior parts. super great ride and handles very well, power to spare. the best dealer service Ive ever had. van gets plenty of wows. this van is at home at the counrty club, road trip or shopping mall. easy to drive and live with

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  First American and Automatic a BUY! - 2009 Mercury Milan
  By Prof Baldie - June 14 - 5:56 am

  This is our first American car and first automatic. We considered VW CC, Mazda 6S, Acura TL and Infinity 35. But felt guilty with the recession and auto industry meltdown so decided to give domestic a try. We settled on a Hybrid Fusion and made a deposit but lead time was just too long (our second car had been stolen months earlier) and could wait no longer. Saw the Milan, liked it, did some research and ended up with a Milan Voga with AWD. Wife still misses her fun-to-drive VW Jetta Turbo and Subaru Outback but loves features of Milan AWD Voga. Her biggest complaint is the turning circle, which I hope is improved in the 2010 model.

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  1999 Mountaineer - 1999 Mercury Mountaineer
  By zcar690 - June 5 - 10:00 am

  This has been an outstanding vehicle. I have never bee nmuch of a Ford/Mercury fan but I will be buying another Mountaineer. Unfortunately this vehicle has been in several accidents, but It has saved the lives of my family due to its sturdy construction. It is a bit of a gas hog but its safety and reliability have made it worth the additional cost of fuel.

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  enjoyed my mountaineer - 2000 Mercury Mountaineer
  By foodguy - June 5 - 10:00 am

  had the vehicle for 3 years and i am getting another this weekend. service was great, had a few minor problems that were rectified at once. dealer was great with service and working with. looking forward to another 3 years.