UPDATE: Mercury logo plans
These are the issues that define our times. Forget the volatile price and supply of oil, an economy teetering between robust growth and rampant inflation, worldwide strife. What really matters is whether Mercury will make a change from the "waterfall" stylized M logo to something more retro. Well, our Deep Throat inside Ford has dashed any hopes of seeing the "Winged Messenger" return. Rather than get all distracted with shifting the marketing plan, Lincoln-Mercury is hard at work getting the product right. Can't say we blame them. You could always hire a local airbrush artist to do up a hood-size mural of your favorite Mercury logo in "screaming chicken" fashion. eBay also has vintage Mercury emblems. You could find one from your favorite era and affix it right over the top of that waterfall, if you so choose. The dream was fun while it lasted; for a retro-advertising treat, click the image above. Careful, you could lose hours of productivity revelling in the over-saturated Cleaverness. Our favorite is the '66 Park Lane. What a beast! Put a pair of glasspacks on it and go rumbling around the Dairy Queen at 5 mph - we can't wait for summer.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Daniel 8:13PM (1/22/2007)
Great Photos!
I am pulling for Mercury to regain its rightful position as one of the great American Marques!
Bring back the Winged Helmet of the Roman God Mercury.
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Daniel 8:28PM (1/22/2007)
I Love Mercury!
The 1999 version of the Cougar was terrible.
The current Montego really needs some more dynamic styling.
Everything else was AWESOME - LOVE IT.
Come On Merc - give us some kick ass cars again as in the Cyclone, the Montego MX Brougham the Cougar XR7 and the mid '60s Marauder. In-your-face American Mercury’s - that is what we want!
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carbuzzard 8:33PM (1/22/2007)
The current Mercury logo means nothing. A stylized "M"? A cliff off which to drive? Certainly Mercury needs to tend to product, but how better to draw attention to the revitalization of the brand than to have a new logo. Mercury was the god of speed. Why not trade on that image? Bring me the head of Mercury!
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Jamie 8:37PM (1/22/2007)
I LOVE the Mercury brand Fantastic line of cars and Suvs just bring back the Sable and Cougar other than that Mercurys great also love the Mercury Waterfall Logo much better than the winged helmet ....
Also i wish MERCURY the best of luck to the Mercury brand i hope it can once again be a huge success!!!
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Paul 8:40PM (1/22/2007)
Looking at those ads...some manufacturer (maybe Mercury, maybe not) could totally pull off the retro ad format for modern cars. It would certainly stand out. Just a realistic drawing of the car on a white background with happy people around it. I could see it working.
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Gardiner Westbound 8:50PM (1/22/2007)
Glasspacks would more likely be fitted to a chopped, channeled, and lowered '49-'51 or a '54-'56 Merc.
Sylvester Stallone's ride in the 1986 action movie Cobra was a personally-owned custom 1950 Mercury. Replicas were used for the stunts. By the mid-60s Mercuries had become too genteel for hot rodders. You could probably land a Piper Cub on the hood of the 1966 Mercury with room to spare.
There's nothing in FoMoCo's entire line-up today that comes close to the appeal of these cars.
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Thomas 8:53PM (1/22/2007)
I love Mercurys waterfall logo better than the winged messenger and it does mean something it represents Mercurys signature waterfall grille Good luck Mercury
Would be cool to see the Cougar logo comeback ...
Also i would love to see the Mercury Marauder make a comeback....
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smooth sailin 9:00PM (1/22/2007)
A proper Cougar(Mustang based)with a upscale trendy interior to compete with Altima coupe and a GTI/A3 competitor would work to change perception.
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iQuack 9:15PM (1/22/2007)
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be!
Mercs were more than re-badged Fords starting with 1949 and into the '50s.
But the Mercury brand has been allowed to deteriorate so far that it's a dead issue now.
Any diddling with the Mercury logo would be like arranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
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Daniel 9:17PM (1/22/2007)
The James Dean '49 Merc from "Rebel Without a Cause" - Perfection!
What else can you say?
Maybe a retro '49 Merc to go up against the PT Cruiser and the Chevy HHR.
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Hamud 10:21PM (1/22/2007)
Mercury for the win, yessssssssssssssss.
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Italo 11:23PM (1/22/2007)
Wait, so let me get this straight -- you guys are reporting that they are NOT going to update the symbol? Did I read this correctly? And that any chances for a new symbol --- whether its a nostalgic winged Messenger emblem or some newly concocted emblem --- WILL NOT be making it to Merucry at all?
If that's the case, I hope that they revisit it soon and Mercury gets a new emblem...it needs it and a new logo to usher in a new image for the brand.
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Todd J. 12:36AM (1/23/2007)
Mercury has a ton of history, I'm sure if they update the logo in a retro fashion they'll come up with something either very cool... or very bad.
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james 10:52AM (1/23/2007)
Do you have any idea how detached from reality most of these comments are? It is obvious that the upper-midwest base of the American auto industry is at the core of the product issues. Mercury is not going to bea great American marque. EVER! And midwest tastes are well...... midwest tastes. Take a look at the new Mondeo. What Dearborn gave us is a recycled 10 year old Focus. Pathetic. Take the grill off a Fusion and you have at most an unremarkable car with sub Kia interior fitments.
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chesters liver 12:05PM (1/23/2007)
Will someone tell the idiots at Ford to dump mercury already! No logo can save this damaged brand. I recall crysler did a similiar thing with plymouth before pulling the plug. Save the money Ford, and dump mercury. Rebadging and putting a new grill on every new Ford product to make it a mercury has gone on long enough! STOP IT!!!
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JD 12:49PM (1/23/2007)
How can L-M "work getting the product right", if there is no strategy on how to brand the product?
The current logo lacks real personality and is rather bland... which is seems to mimic the product line. If Mercury is to be saved, L-M need to look holistically at the marque, and not throw out out a series of myopic cars with no common personality. Mercury stands for very little anymore, and it looks like Ford is aiming to keep it that way.
That said... maybe Autoblog should help L-M out and have a contest for a new Mercury logo.
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DDL 12:56PM (1/23/2007)
How times have changed - look at the ad for the 1967 Colonly Park:
"Mercury, the Man's Car"
"Colony Park: Man sized Luxury!"
What would Jill Wagner think?
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JON C 1:33PM (1/23/2007)
#13 If Mercury does do a new Cougar may I suggest a formal type roofline that copies the shape of the Mustang's convertible top? Then it could be a pillarless coupe if it utilized the Mustang convertible's alraedy existing roll-down side rear windows(trendy).Then add the 3 stage (vintage)rolling rear turn signal indicators.Bling-up the front end,and you've got a pretty cool car that's very different from the 'Stang
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JON C 1:37PM (1/23/2007)
May I add that as a 35 plus year old I would find that more my style than the younger Mustang.Especially if it had a higher end interior and was priced between the Nissan Altima coupe and the G35 coupe.
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Daniel 5:29PM (1/23/2007)
A retro Cougar is a no brainer. Just use the very solid Mustang platform, give it a nice range of engines for the customer to select from (3.5L V6, 4.6L V8, TwinForce V6, 5.0L V8). And, style the car with a good deal of homage to the '67-'68 Cougar. Using the Mustang platform would help amortize that cost and reduce the unit cost.
Make the interior and all materials and gizmos up to G35, IS350, 3 Series standards as that should be to competition. Price it a couple of bucks below the competition and you have a winner.
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