By Tony Castellano

Tcassa

Just as show season is winding down in the northern hemisphere, winter has reached its end here in Australia things and the car show schedule is getting back into full swing. Believe me, it couldn’t come any sooner! This particular show here in Melbourne was small, but the quality of rods and customs on show was sensational. It’s a great indication of what’s to come as car show season revs up, and I always enjoy checking out the smaller local events as you often get to see cars that don’t usually attend the more large-scale shows. Follow the jump for more pics!

Continue reading "Goodbye Winter, Hello Car Show Season!" »

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Spotted at LeMay, this see-through roof belongs to a 1954 Mercury Sun Valley, the first production car (along with its sister model, the Ford Skyliner) to come with such a thing. They used a green translucent plastic, and I’ve never seen one in such good shape–clear plastic made with 50′s technology tends to be pretty crackly and hazy after a lifetime of exposure, and it’s amazing how well this one has held up. Hit the jump to see the rest of the car.

Continue reading "Early Clear Top" »

By Alex Vickers

Katakuna

After months of constant searching, disappointments and near deals, I’ve finally acquired (and payed for) a college beater. Yep, you no longer have to listen to me go on and on about buying a car! What kind of car, you ask? A 1993 Mercury Cougar XR7.

Now, my father paid $250 for the car, but I’m only to pay back half of that. Can you imagine scoring such a sweet ride for $125! It runs perfectly! No missing, no backfiring, it doesn’t so much as burn a drop of oil. Brakes are new, tires are decent, and almost no rust. The interior, it’s not great, but it’s not the worst I’ve seen. The power seats work (yeah, power seats in a $125 car) even! There’s a mystery burn on the steering wheel…

Not bad for a car that sat in a parking lot for six months, eh? What do you guys think?

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

We got a ton of comments on the list of “Top Ten Vehicles That Need to Come Back”. I didn’t include any of the cars below cause they are all from dead brands. But if we lived in an alternate universe, then yes, all of these rides would need to come back! See the rest of the list after the jump!

Pontiac Trans Am

Duh.

Continue reading "Top Ten Vehicles That Need to Come Back But Can’t Because Their Brands No Longer Exist" »

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

I guess this shouldn’t be surprising, but I’ve been noticing a ton of really nice-condition 70′s cars for sale lately, but certainly not for 70′s-car prices. If you go on your local Craigslist and simply enter your desired year in the search under “Cars and Trucks”, you can get a pretty good idea of the range of stuff that’s in your area. My search for “1973″ turned up this mint-condition Mercury Cougar XR7. I want it, but not for 6000 bucks! There was also this beautiful mildly-cammed Centurion, which Rob swears should be a 1200-dollar car because of its four doors, for $2900–I think the engine rebuild and the performance goodies alone make it worth it–and this gorgeous 460 cu-in Ranchero for an unheard-of $8500. Why is everyone trying to offload undesirable 70′s rides at Barret-Jackson premiums all of a sudden? To search a particular year nationally on craigslist, go to Google and enter exactly this in the search window:  site:craigslist.org 1973. What year(s) are you searching and what kind of cool stuff have you found?

By David Clarke

highspeedhijinks

The other night I had to break the bad news to my Grandfather: Mercury is dead. He was a little surprised. For an 81-year-old man whose owned a 1952 Club coupe, 1963 Monterey, 1965 Monteclair, 2001 Grand Marquis, and a 2006 Grand Marquis, he can definitely say he was a fan. Although he may have strayed over the years, his loyalty was always with this storied brand. His biggest gripe though isn’t so much that the brand is soon to be gone, (he hated all their current model cars except for the Grand Marquis), it’s that there are now no affordable, V8, rear-wheel drive, long-wheelbase cars left. I for one agree with him. With Ford’s “Panther” chassis going the way of the dodo, what other car being made fills that niche? We both conceded to the fact that the Lincoln Town Car, albeit overpriced and unattractive, will more than likely be the last car he will buy. On the other hand he is open to suggestions. What new car would you suggest older people like my Grandfather should buy now that the Grand Marquis is gone?

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

It’s official: Ford’s Mercury division is the latest casualty of the automakers’ brand-shedding craze that has claimed a host of GM littermates and narrowly missed a beloved Euro or two. I guess it’s only right to say that Mercury will be missed, that they produced a lot of cool cars back in the day, etc., but I honestly can’t muster up anything to feel other than numbness. Brand killings are getting to be an almost daily occurrence, and it’s hard to recall much of anything cool that’s come out of Mercury in recent memory that isn’t just a novelty variant on the corresponding Ford product: the 5.0L Capri comes to mind. And with its current offerings of porky SUVs and blandly derivative sedans, it’s clear the make has been dying a slow death for years. R.I.P.

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

In what has to be the least shocking rumor regarding the closing of an automotive brand, Ford seem to be getting ready to close down Mercury for good. Making up only about 6% of Ford’s sales and having zero identity of its own, Mercury’s time has come. Mercury has really lacked any sort of individual personality for more than 20 years. Any residual sales coming from owners who had a loyalty to Mercury have pretty much dried up.

There have been more than a few BangShift approved Mercs produced over the years and the legacy of the brand amongst car enthusiasts will live a long life. There is no more quintessential tail dragger than an early 1950s Mercury and the fact that the Comet had such an integral part in the evolution and amazing popularity explosion of the Funny Car will never be lost.

For us, there is none of the teeth gnashing, stomach turning, angst that came with the news of Pontiac being zapped. There was still some life left in Pontiac, but Mercury is a dead man walking, both literally and figuratively.

Mercury is the latest in a long line of brands which were doomed decades ago by “badge engineering” and hideous corporate decision making.

Source — NYTimes.com — Dealers Brace for Ford to Phase Out Mercury

By Dan Strohl

Hemmings

Heyyyy, didn’t we just see this 2002 Mercury Marauder concept car recently? Yes, it was one of the many cars that crossed the block at Mecum Kissimmee last month (the Mecum ad for the car remains up for now as well). We see from the auction results on Mecum’s home page that it bid up to $50,000, but didn’t hit the seller’s reserve. So now we see the seller’s putting it up for sale again, here on Hemmings.com, with an asking price of $75,000. From the seller’s description:

This one-of-one 2002 Mercury Marauder was built by Ford for the Chicago Auto Show. Ford invested over $300,000 in this unique contender, which features a supercharged 4.6 liter V-8 rated at 335 horsepower, 3-speed console-shifted automatic. Beautiful Leather interior with just 107 miles.

See more pics at Hemmings

By Fireball Tim

Movie Car Design Master

C…. Stands for cool. Or maybe crunchie. But seeing as how this is about cars, crunchie makes no sense whatsoever. Cool, eh? See how I just whipped that out?

Cars. Cartomobiles. Ooo. That’s a word. You ever wonder how car companies come up with their names? Like Continental? Corniche? Cordoba?

Wait. I’ve got one. … Cooltinental. And so… here are some Cooltinental C’s.

Name ‘em, and win a Million Doolareshlattens!!

Continue reading "Fireball’s Alphabet of Awesomeness… The C’s" »