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HomeMercury

Mercury

1953 Chrysler Town & Country rear quarter
Gallery

1953 Chrysler Town & Country was the granddaddy of today’s large SUVs

August 28, 2025 Steve 0

The 1953 Chrysler Town & Country wagon was one of the more obscure cars of the early postwar period, but it was essentially the granddaddy of today’s large sport-utility vehicles. Not the only one, but […]

1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1
Data Dive

1960s marked the beginning of the fastback’s slow revival in the U.S.

August 12, 2025 Steve 4

(EXPANDED FROM 8/7/2023) Today fastbacks are so mainstream that you can find them on the most conservative family sedans. Indeed, the rakishness of their rooflines can be more extreme than even the sportiest American cars […]

1963 Buick Riviera interior
Drive-By Musings

What are the top-10 coolest American car interiors from 1955-70?

August 6, 2025 Steve 9

(EXPANDED FROM 6/6/2024) Top-10 lists strike me as rather clickbaity, but I am not above presenting them if they illustrate an important historical theme. Last year I was motivated to create this list after seeing […]

1971 Chrysler New Yorker
Fake Design

1969-71 Chrysler: An Exner idea fumbled again

July 29, 2025 Steve 30

(UPDATED FROM 8/3/2022) The 1969-71 Chrysler was an unfortunate example of a promising design that went sideways because of a few bad decisions. The styling was exceptionally clean and purposeful for an American premium-priced car […]

1968 Mercury Brougham 4-door hardtop
Data Dive

1968 full-sized Mercury: A pioneer of brougham was overshadowed

July 25, 2025 Steve 12

(EXPANDED FROM 12/8/2023) One of my lingering questions from a Collectible Automobile story about the Mercury Park Lane was why it didn’t sell better in 1968 (Biel, 2021). This was arguably the first year that […]

1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1
Photo Essay

Mid-1930s-to-70s design evolution shown at LeMay event

July 20, 2025 Steve 3

(EXPANDED FROM 1/1/2020) The Tacoma, Washington area has two car museums that are often confused. America’s Car Museum is located downtown in a fairly new building whereas the LeMay Collections at Marymount is eight miles […]

1955 Buick Century 2-door hardtop
Data Dive

General Motors’ premium-priced brands illustrate the decline of big cars

June 20, 2025 Steve 11

(EXPANDED FROM 1/24/2024) Last year Paul Niedermeyer (2024a) discussed the decline of premium-priced big cars in the late-1950s. One of the points of contention in the comment thread was the degree to which these cars […]

1970 Mercury Cyclone
Drive-By Musings

1970 Mercury Montego had a last-of-the-wine quality

June 2, 2025 Steve 2

In a number of respects the 1970 Mercury Montego exuded a last-of-the-wine vibe. For one thing, it was the final reskinning of the mid-sized platform that the Ford Motor Company introduced in 1962. Let’s just […]

1958 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser C-pillar
Design Notes

1958 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser is a monument to Ford’s failed ambitions

May 27, 2025 Steve 12

(EXPANDED FROM 4/8/2022) The Edsel and Lincoln were the Ford Motor Company’s most visible failures of the late-50s, but the Mercury was also an embarrassment. The ill-fated Turnpike Cruiser epitomized both the promise and futility […]

1968 GM premium big cars
Data Dive

1965-68 GM big cars: The end of different strokes

April 28, 2025 Steve 13

(EXPANDED FROM 7/21/2023) General Motors had one of those “be careful what you ask for” problems. In 1962 the automaker captured three-fourths of the premium-priced, big-car market. This was a key reason why GM sold […]

Posts pagination

« 1 2 3 … 5 »
  • 1950 Nash Rambler hood ornament
    Speedreaders.info is a rare source of book reviews, but quality varies
    June 3, 2026 0
  • 1958 Lincoln
    1958-60 Lincoln: Failing to beat GM at its own game
    June 2, 2026 12
  • 1957 Nash Ambassador
    Three videos: The death of car culture, rich people’s cars and the 1957 Nash
    May 29, 2026 6
  • 1963 Mercury Marauder
    1963 Mercury Marauder: Ford tries to do a premium-priced car on the cheap
    May 27, 2026 11
  • Did 1964 Ramblers share more parts between size classes than competitors?
    May 26, 2026 1
  • 1976 Tatra T-613
    Tatra was yet another automaker that deemphasized aerodynamics by 1970s
    May 22, 2026 12
  • Patrick Foster shows how International Harvester failed to adapt
    May 13, 2026 5
  • Internet problems reminded me of U.S. automakers in the 1970s
    May 2, 2026 1
  • 1956 Buick hood scoop
    Readers brainstorm ideas for future Indie Auto stories
    October 14, 2022 141
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