Mercury to join Studebaker

[okc63avanti]

It seems Mercury after 71 years of production will join Studebaker and other Marquees and will no longer be made ....

This letter (see attached) was posted on the Ford website on June 2, 2010.

We have said good bye to Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Plymouth in recent years to name a few.

[4961Studebaker]

So sad

I have a feeling the auto industry's not done shedding yet.

Too bad.....I'll miss my pointy shoed Mercury Girl Jill Wagner.

[raprice]

I feel bad about Mercury. My first new car was a '61 Mercury Monterey hardtop. My dad talked me out of buying a Studebaker Hawk because Stude was in financial trouble. Although I would have preferred the Stude, the Merc was a good car that I drove for over 105000 miles.
Rog

[studeclunker]

Oh please. Was Mercury ever it's own brand? I've never understood these sub- brands that were started up by the auto manufacturers. It was just another marketing ploy to squeeze a few extra dollars out of the gullible public. Yes, Ford has produced some beautiful cars through the Mercury marque. For the last forty years though, Mercuries have just been re-badged Fords. That's why GM eliminated the marques they did. The public can now see through the ruse. Therefore, since the public now knows the sub-marques are all produced on the same assembly lines, there's no reason to produce them. It's about time Ford quit the pretense of separate marques also. They don't have the money to waste on silly marketing ploys any more.

Join Studebaker indeed. Join Erskine or Rockne maybe, but not Studebaker which was a genuine brand not a marketing ploy fake.

[rjohnston79]

I'll always have a soft spot for Mercury... my first easy resto was a Black 1964 Parklane with red interior, the breezeway roof and special anniversary trim. I was the second owner, and it was a special order car with a 427, one of only 11 built. I almost cried when financial pressures made me sell it, and the new owner turned it into one of those bouncy hydraulic cars =(

[stude62]

Oh heavens yes it was! While the 1949-1951 Mercury was originally slated as the 1949-1951 Ford it and the car that became the Ford were two different things entirly. And the Mercury's of 1957-1960 were also their own vehicles. Robert McNamera tried to get ride of Mercury and Lincoln in the early 1960s because he believed that every sale to Mercury and Lincoln took away from Ford, but Henry Ford II wouldn't hear of it. So full sized 1961-1964 Merc's we're basically Fords, but the 1965-1968 cars were different enough that they were truely their own brand. The end for Mercury (and Olds and Pontiac) came as GM and Ford started substituting fake luxury packages on entry level Ford's and Chevrolet's. Mercury, Pontiac and Olds became redundent.

As for Plymouth, Chrysler began mismanaging that siutaion as early as 1957 when it gave the green light for the "Dart" program for Dodge. But thats a different mess.

My prediction is that Dodge, followed Chrysler and Lincoln will be the next brands to fall.

Oh please. Was Mercury ever it's own brand? I've never understood these sub- brands that were started up by the auto manufacturers. It was just another marketing ploy to squeeze a few extra dollars out of the gullible public. Yes, Ford has produced some beautiful cars through the Mercury marque. For the last forty years though, Mercuries have just been re-badged Fords. That's why GM eliminated the marques they did. The public can now see through the ruse. Therefore, since the public now knows the sub-marques are all produced on the same assembly lines, there's no reason to produce them. It's about time Ford quit the pretense of separate marques also. They don't have the money to waste on silly marketing ploys any more.

Join Studebaker indeed. Join Erskine or Rockne maybe, but not Studebaker which was a genuine brand not a marketing ploy fake.

[Kurt]

Today on the radio they interviewed the local Lincoln Mercury/Nissan dealer and he commented that he had only sold 4 Mercury autos since Jan 1. He said he was not surprised about the brand being dicontinued.

[sbca96]

Alan Jackson will have to find something else to be crazy bout.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHEzBdtbQ6k

Tom

[bams50]

Too bad.....I'll miss my pointy shoed Mercury Girl Jill Wagner.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]799[/ATTACH]

Dude, she wore shoes?? How did you notice??

[Lark8girl]

My Rat Terrier dog wouldn't ride in any car but a Mercury, Dad had a 53 Coupe, 62 Comet, and a 65 Comet. "Junior' showed no interest in getting into any other car but a Mercury.
He was "crazy 'bout a Mercury" as he would even jump in to ride from the driveway into the garage.

Husband of Lark VIII girl

[studegary]

I owned Mercurys for the model years from 1949 to 1960 ('49 coupe, '51 coupe, '54 Monterey hardtop, '56 Montclair hardtop, '60 Montclair hardtop).
After 1960, the Mercurys were just Fords.
In 1989, I ordered a new Ford Thunderbird. I wouldn't even consider the Mercury version, Cougar.
The local Mercury dealer has been selling them since the 1956 model year. He is now a Mercury, Lincoln, Saab dealer. Maybe he will join forces with his brother that is a Ford dealer.

[tutone63]

I read this in the paper today. I was a bit disappointed, having driven a mercury for a few years. But, yeah, Mercuries were basically either dressed up Fords, or dummied down Lincolns. They were really rather superfluous. I read in the article that now that Mercury is gone, Lincoln is going to have a compact car released under it badge, along with some other mid-sized offerings. Perhaps to keep the people who want a mid-size that is more luxurious than the basic Ford. Honestly, I was a little more put out when I heard Pontiac was failing than I was Mercury, because I have known for a long time that Mercury wasn't really its own entity for some time.

[sbca96]

Along the same topic, as we all know, Pontiac also bit the big one. What's strange
is, I have people ask me, "Where will you get parts for your GTO now?".

The 2004-06 GTO is a HOLDEN, not a Pontiac. I bet these same people think that
a Pontiac Vibe will be difficult to get repaired. Granted, some parts will need to
come from Australia, but the majority of maintainence items will be unaffected.
The engine and trans are just an LS1 and T56, which came from the US anyway.

Body panels are all Holden, except for the corporate kidney bean urethane nose
and lower fog lights. I had planned on ordering a VZ Commodore or Monaro to
replace the Pontiac nose, but when Pontiac died, I figured its "their" last muscle
car, so I might as well leave it a "Pontiac".

Tom

[hotrodstude]

in 67 i went to pick up a special order at the plant for the local fml dealer.i will never for get this car as long as i live.it was a full size merc.a 2-door conv.in baby blue with dark blue leather interior.s-55 package,buckets consold,428/4=speed.what a beauful car. it was hard turning in this car but was a grad.present for a student at the univercity.