“It’s a great car,” he said. “She loves it.”
That Mercury, if it’s on the road long enough, will become a rarity. Ford announced last June that it would kill the line in the fourth quarter after years of falling sales.
The last Mercury, a Mariner, rolled off the line on Oct. 3, although more are being produced for government agencies. After Dec. 31, the Mercury name will disappear from dealerships, marking the end of a once-heralded brand that was a step up from Ford, the everyday people’s car.
Today, few recall that Mercury once was beloved as a stylish and powerful ride. It had roles in movies ranging from Rebel Without a Cause, (James Dean was behind the wheel of a customized 1949 Mercury) to On His Majesty’s Secret Service, where James Bond’s love interest drove a souped-up red 1969 Cougar XR-7 known as the Eliminator.
And the Mercury has garnered its fair share of collectors over the years. William Crumrine Jr. of Kerrville, Texas, had always admired the Mercury Monterey during his college years, and about four years ago, he added a 1955 model to his two Pierce-Arrows from the 1930s.
“Cars made in the 1930s aren’t all that drivable on the modern highway,” Crumrine said. The Monterey is the car he takes to auto gatherings. “It’s a really, really nice car.”
Their fans aside, today’s Mercurys haven’t been different enough from Ford to attract buyers in sufficient numbers, experts say.
“Mercury has been a redundant brand for Ford for at least the last five years, if not longer,” said Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry trends and insight for the auto research website TrueCar.com. “For the most part, they were just cosmetically enhanced Fords.”
Mercury was designed to be an automobile “for the aspirational class,” Toprak said, “for those who couldn’t quite afford a Lincoln but wanted something more distinctive than a Ford. But that strategy didn’t stick.”
Through November, 84,802 Mercurys were sold, a 57 percent decline from the 195,949 sold just five years before, according to TrueCar.com figures. And this year Mercury sales represent less than 5 percent of Ford’s total sales of 1.7 million, TrueCar.com said.
“There has been a starvation of product,” said Jerry Robbin, president of the International Mercury Owners Association. Before Ford announced the end, the Mercury line was winnowed to the midsize Milan sedan and the Mariner SUV and their hybrids.
Ford was candid about Mercury’s declining appeal in June, when it said it would eliminate the line.
“Mercury’s customer profile, pricing and margins are almost identical to Ford,” the company said in a statement.
For now, some dealers see an opportunity to satisfy Mercury lovers.
“We saw a lot of value in buying a lot of Mercurys,” said Billy Vaughn, general manager at North Park Lincoln Mercury in San Antonio. “We purchased all we could find and put our hands on. The response has been absolutely overwhelming. I think that by the end of February, we’ll probably be totally out of Mercury.”
Other dealers are mourning the loss of the Mercury.
“The older people are going to take it the roughest,” said Clay Clifton, general sales manager at Ancira Ford Mercury in Floresville, Texas, because they’ve long favored the Grand Marquis with rear-wheel drive. The closest vehicle to the Marquis is the Ford Taurus.
“It has been completely redesigned and it’s a good replacement” for the Marquis, Clifton said. “But some people are hard to convince.”
Starting at the first of the year, Lincoln Mercury dealers will sell only Lincoln.
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