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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  Disappointed By Ford - 1999 Mercury Cougar
  By FlatCat - September 17 - 10:00 am

  Bought the car new from dealer in 99. Had some minor problems at first with seat trim and a bad speaker. Dealer did a slopshod job with the fix and both problems recurred. Burned through the original set of brakes very quickly. Tires lasted about two years. Now that the car is almost 4 years old, its starting to disintegrate. Theres a persistent oil leak, the defroster vents have popped and wont stay in place when put back, carpet has some very bad "mystery" wear in spots that rarely get used, etc., etc.

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  Just bought it - 2000 Mercury Cougar
  By 2ltPaetz - September 11 - 10:00 am

  I just got this vehicle yesterday. I bought a 1999 honda passport 2 months ago and hated it. So far I really like the cougar. The acceleration is great, better then my 2000 VW GLX with the VR6. The VW has a hesitation when you give it gas before the power kicks in. The cougar responds quicker. I was supprised to see all the poor reviews,as I really like this car, so far. The only problem Ive noticed so far is when the ac is on the engine cuts out on power when driving at a constant speed. Like a power surge, but in reverse. This is a little annoying. I only wish it had a moon roof like the passport and jetta.

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  EYE CATCHER - 1999 Mercury Cougar
  By ALLEN - September 5 - 2:00 am

  BEEN A FUN CAR WITH NO PROBLEMS

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  So far so good - 2003 Mercury Mountaineer
  By Joehlers - September 5 - 2:00 am

  My last two cars were a Mercedez Benz E320 and an Audi A6, so obviously there is no comparison with the ride. However, I really like driving up higher, and the vehicle gives me a safer comfort level. This is a classy SUV at a reasonable price. And, Im sure I will appreciate the AWD in the winter.

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  Sable -$ fror $ = the best buy - 1999 Mercury Sable
  By M535i - August 25 - 10:00 am

  We are just about at 70,000 miles and never had any major repairs. The car is much faster than compatible modles and the LS trim makes the car look real sleak. Dont be afraid of buying as sable! However, never buy one with a trailer hitch as the tranmittions are not designed for towing. Stay away fromt the 3.8 Liter motor because of head gasket problems. I have leather seats, sunroof and climate control and a compatible Toyota Camry would have been a lot of thousands more. Why pay all that extra money.

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  The Good The Bad & The Ugly - 2007 Mercury Mariner
  By gtsfreak - August 24 - 7:41 am

  Bought this car used with 30K + miles on it from local Ford dealer. Although it has run pretty good for two years, I am now experiencing ABS light problem, but Im getting ahead of myself. This V-6 is extremely responsive. It fires up every morning... almost revs too much. Makes me wonder if the idle speed is set too high. But shes a mad banshee on the road. Smooth transmission. Seats are comfortable. Interior knobs and features are ok. Some things about this car are bizarre. (e.g. two ways to turn off heat controls. Cannot control direction of air conditioner - It comes out every where! Whats with that? Intermittent wiper decal diagrams are reversed.) Audio - OK. Brakes - suspect.

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  Wonderful! - 2000 Mercury Mountaineer
  By Oki - August 22 - 2:30 pm

  This was my first Ford-based anything, and this has been nothing short of amazing! It came with the 5.0 and AWD, and was completely loaded! It even got me through a nasty blizzard here in Colorado and through 2 feet of snow and never got stuck! Even with temps as low as -15, the truck started up with no problems

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  This is a Great car! - 2004 Mercury Marauder
  By Love this car! - August 16 - 2:53 pm

  Overall, I love this car, however there are a couple of things I think Ford missed. Obviously, they couldve put the supercharger on the thing. I also think that it would be nice to have a suspension adjustment switch. It rides very nicely most of the time, but when youre on a bumpy road, you feel it! It would be nice to be able to soften up the suspension a bit when youre just not in a performance type of a mood.

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  very safe! - 2008 Mercury Mariner
  By Molly Mc - August 13 - 3:43 am

  although the gas mileage could be improved and the transmission slipping could use improvement too,i cannot say enough about how great the safety features on this car are. I was recently hit from behind by a drag racing honda going in excess of 65 mph. both side curtain air bags deployed, side impact airbags,seatbelts worked fantastic and although my Mariners floor buckled and roof creased in two places and is probably a total loss,i walked away from this accident with a little whip lash. This car took hit fantastically.

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  it will do - 1998 Mercury Sable
  By chef chris - August 11 - 2:00 am

  bought 98 gs, with 50000 on it, for a steal of a deal. have put 5 thousand on it in a half year, and have not been dissapointed. I had to settle for this as opposed to an sho, but its doin ok. After some practice, the trany is fine, but it must been driven smothly, no sudden acceleration, or it freaks out, but the duratec is a great engine. I look foward to seeing the duratec in a more stylish vehicle such as the new mazda 6, which is a duratec block with mazda designed heads that incoperate valve timing like hondas v-tec. all in all i love it.