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Orphan Car Show 2010: Mercury makes its inaugural appearance... sort of

Sam Abuelsamid — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 07:29:00 EST

Mid-Eighties Mercury Grand Marquis - Click above for high-res image gallery

Unfortunately for the Mercury brand, last week's surprise announcement that it would now be eligible for the Ypsilanti Orphan Car Show coincided with severe storms that rolled through southeast Michigan just 12 hours before the festivities were set to begin. The flooding of Riverside Park caused the cancellation of the official show, but a few dozen diehards gathered in the parking lot behind nearby Miller Motors anyway, including one lone mid-1980s vintage Grand Marquis.

Sadly, while this rust-free Grand Marquis is in surprisingly good condition, it is not one of the more inspired examples of the brand. It's a start, however, and hopefully the 2011 show will take place as planned with more representatives including some first generation Cougars in attendance. At least three other brands are now eligible as well including Saturn, Hummer and Pontiac. We will be looking forward to seeing some GTOs and Trans Ams mixing it up with the H1s, L-Series and, of course, the traditional Hudsons, Kaisers, Packards and MGs as well.

Gallery: 2010 Orphan Car Show: Mercury Grand Marquis

Orphan Car Show 2010: Mercury makes its inaugural appearance... sort of originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 08 Jun 2010 07:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mercury dying: No updates planned past 2010

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:05:00 EST

Filed under: Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Rumormill

There's further proof that Ford's planetary division could soon wave goodbye, according to Automotive News. While we've already reported on the apparent lack of supplier deals for the ailing upmarket brand from Ford, some further dissection reveals just how close Mercury may be to the brink of extinction. For instance, no Mercury vehicle currently exists which isn't a mild rebadge of a Ford product. While we have had hints of new models wearing the Blue Oval badge, not a peep has been provided regarding future Mercury products. Lincoln too has gotten some love as of late with its new MKS sedan, but a Mercury flag-bearer is conspicuously absent.

While the Mariner and Milan could arguably justify their positions in Ford's lineup, the Sable, Grand Marquis and Mountaineer seem completely irrelevant. Are two models really enough to justify an entire brand? While no official announcements have been made regarding the death of the Mercury brand, the new product silence is deafening enough for many to conclude that there's just not enough money in Ford's pockets to worry about anything past its bread-and-butter Ford brand and the ailing Lincoln luxury marque.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

Mercury dying: No updates planned past 2010 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Crown Vic prepares to give up its scepter

Jonathon Ramsey — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 08:01:00 EST

Filed under: Sedan, Ford, Mercury, Police/Emergency

click above image to view more pics of the Ford Crown Victoria

According to Ford sources who gossiped to Ward's Auto, the Ford Crown Victoria won't be available on retail lots after 2008. From 2009, the only folks who can buy one are police and taxi drivers. Even that frontier is being threatened, with police departments snapping up Dodge Chargers and Chevy Impalas. New York's taxi fleet has to go hybrid by 2012, and Ford is pushing the Escape Hybrid to replace 2,500 Vics on Big Apple streets.

If you've got to have a full-sized rear-driver from the Blue Oval, the Mercury Grand Marquis will still be available. The Marquis is apparently much more popular with the public than the Vic, with nearly 38,280 Marquis' sold by dealers in the first nine months of this year. Compare that to the Crown Victoria, which moved 3,000 Vics to retail buyers in all of 2006. I guess this means we'll have to start looking out for Charger headlights in our rearview mirrors at night...

[Source: Wards Auto]

Gallery: Ford Crown Victoria

Crown Vic prepares to give up its scepter originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 01 Nov 2007 08:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ford's RWD offerings are focused on fleets

Frank Filipponio — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 18:29:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying, Sedan, Plants/Manufacturing, Ford, Lincoln, Mercury

While most of us haven't even thought about the big rear-drive Ford sedans much lately (unless one was wearing taxi or limo livery), those cars have received a lot of attention internally at Ford. The Lincoln Town Car, Mercury Grand Marquis and Ford Crown Victoria have moved from active duty to scheduled for deletion to back into semi-production over the past year or so. The antiquated Panther platform was actually in production throughout 2007, but most people probably hadn't noticed. For 2008, that trend will continue.

Fleet sales will continue to take up a bigger portion of production, with dealers no longer ordering Crown Vics for customers. Town Car production was shifted from Ford's Wixom, Mich. assembly plant to its St. Thomas, Ontario, plant, but dealers will have a very limited set of option packages available, with the vast majority of production going to limo duty. The Mercury Grand Marquis, on the other hand, will continue to sell 45/55 private/fleet. Although Ford moved nearly 160,000 of these vehicles in 2006, production should be down to about 100,000 by '09.

[Source: Automotive News, sub. req.]

Ford's RWD offerings are focused on fleets originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 27 Aug 2007 18:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Volvo, Ford, Chrysler recalling thousands

Chris Tutor — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 12:05:00 EST

Filed under: Recalls, Safety, Chrysler, Ford, Volvo

The NHTSA says Ford, Volvo and Chrysler are recalling a total of about 300,600 vehicles.

Ford gets off relatively light and is bringing in 422 Crown Vics and Mercury Grand Marquis to replace improperly secured windshields.

Volvo, however, will install new software to fix speed controls on more than 170,000 cars. Models affected include the 1999-2000 C70 coupes and convertibles, S60, S70, S80, V70, V70XC and XC70.

And just as Chrysler is getting rid of the Pacifica, it'll be seeing 127,928 of them coming back for new fuel pumps and powertrain control module software. The affected crossovers were built from Aug. 1 to Sept. 30, 2004. DaimlerChrysler is also sending Jeep Compass owners updates to their cars' manuals. NHTSA said the books omitted a required rollover warning. We imagine the folks over at TTAC could think of a few more warnings NHTSA could have included in the Compass manual.

[Source: NHTSA via The Associated Press via Yahoo Finance]

Volvo, Ford, Chrysler recalling thousands originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 23 Nov 2006 12:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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IIHS side crash ratings for FJ Cruiser, Ford Freestyle, Fusion, Crown Vic

Damon Lavrinc — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 09:02:00 EST

Filed under: Sedan, SUV, Safety, Ford, Mercury, Toyota

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has wrapped up its latest round of clinical crashing and, as is customary, improvements were seen on newer models, while older vehicles didn't fare quite as well.

Toyota's FJ Cruiser scored a 'good' rating due to its optional side-curtain airbags, with minimal intrusion into the passenger compartment. Joining the FJ Cruiser in the mid-size SUV category was the Ford Freestyle, which also received a 'good' score due to side-curtain airbags, but the IIHS noted that the Freestyle's structure didn't hold up as well as expected.

The Ford Fusion and Crown Victoria had the opportunity to redeem themselves after earlier evaluations ranked both vehicles as 'poor' when struck with the IIHS' movable barrier. The Fusion added side-curtain airbags and brought its score up to 'acceptable', while the Crown Vic, also equipped with side-curtain airbags, increased its score to 'marginal.'

The full report can be viewed after the jump.

Continue reading IIHS side crash ratings for FJ Cruiser, Ford Freestyle, Fusion, Crown Vic

IIHS side crash ratings for FJ Cruiser, Ford Freestyle, Fusion, Crown Vic originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 14 Sep 2006 09:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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