The Latest Orphan

Ford has indicated they will phase out Mercury, or rather what this really means, just stop making them. Another lifelong brand becomes an orphan group. Well, maybe, if you were born before 1939, not lifelong, but certainly for most a brand they have always known as part of the Ford family.

I find this all interesting as I have never thought about my Mercury family. In fact, I’ve never thought of myself as a Mercury fan. But, listen to this, 2004 Mercury Mountaineer (really my wife’s in her favorite color), 1988 Mercury Cougar, needs some repair but we’ve had it since it was “almost” new, Then there is the 1965 Mercury Cyclone, the 1964 Mercury Comet Caliente, and last but not least a 1951 Mercury four door.

While we weren’t planning on a lot of Mercury’s,it just seemed to happen. The ’65 Cyclone was purchased because it is an original Cyclone, and while not the highest performance model, it is a four barrel V-8 with an automatic and the factory bucket seat interior. But then the Caliente seemed too unique to pass up because it is a bench seat 260 V-8 four speed.

The 1988 Cougar was a favorite that my wife always wanted and when she first went to buy one the dealer talked her into a Tempo. I put 200,000 miles on that Tempo, mostly after I bought her the Cougar she wanted. The 1951 Mercury was in an acquaintance’s garage with only 78,000 actual miles on it. I thought maybe I’d get it running and just clean it up a bit. But the engine had a couple of seriously burnt valves and the rocker rust turned out to extend to the inner, middle and rear panel. So much more rust to repair and an engine overhaul are bringing things into some shape.

Well, that’s about it for the orphans. Got a little work to do in the garage, so better get going.

For Sale

1951 Mercury	Misc. Engines	Pontiac Cammer
Flathead V8 | Hear it Run	Flathead V8 | Hear it Run	Cougar | Merc. Orphans
Avenger Kit Car	Chevy C-10 Pickup	Javelin