Posted on 05/27/2010 9:11:13 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
Ford Motor Co. is preparing to phase out its 71-year old Mercury brand, adding to the list of storied Detroit nameplates that reached the end of the road in recent years as the industry has become more competitive.
Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally and his top lieutenants have won the backing of key members of the Ford family and are expected to seek approval from the car maker's board to kill Mercury after years of dwindling sales, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday.
Mercury was created in 1939 by Edsel Ford, the son of legendary founder Henry Ford. It was prompted by General Motors Co.'s strategy of building a "ladder of brands" that included Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac. That allowed GM to appeal to a wide range of customers and move them up the brand and price ladder as their incomes rose, enabling GM to pass Ford as the world's largest auto maker.
Mercury would be the latest Detroit brand to die since 2000. As part of its bankruptcy restructuring last year, GM shut down its Pontiac and Saturn divisions, and Hummer appears to be headed for the same fate. Earlier this decade GM phased out Oldsmobile and Chrysler Group LLC killed off Plymouth.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Definitely cool. That’s from back when stock cars really were stock cars.
Now that’s a good song!
Arkie Shibley continues the story in Hot Rod Race No. 2 (1951).
I'm definitely old school.
My first was a 1935 Ford coupe with a rumble seat and the second was a 1940 super deluxe Ford Tudor.. Just like the one Junior Johnson drives today ( see NASCAR Hall of Fame).
If you cannot refer to the original, at least point to someone who does a good (i.e. not hokey or cheesy) version.
I had a room in college that was a music major and it amazed me there were so many types of music he did not like. I find most music enjoyable - even a little bit of Jackson Brown.
I'll figure you are expressing a preference for one artists version of a song over another unless you happen to be a certain music major I knew many years ago.
Just watched the David Lindley version. You know who I’d really like to see do a version of this song? Johnny Winter.
Anyhow, you have provided me with more than I ever knew about a song I have always enjoyed. Thanks.
Wen’t looking to see if Johnny Winter had done the song. Did not find it but found a track with Winter playing with Hendrix. Had never heard the two of them play together.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqvBXqfOZiM&feature=related
My first car was a 1969 Mercury Montego. I paid my step-father’s boss $100 for it. His wife committed suicide in the thing and he just wanted to be rid of it. For a 16 year old kid in 1977, it was irresistible. My friends dubbed it the “Deathmobile” (Animal House was in the theatres that Summer) and they loved it.
The 49-51 era of flathead V8 and suicide doors were the only bright spots in an underwhelming history.
That is a boss ride.
If I had money...tell ya what I do....go downtown buy a Mercury or two.....crazy about a Mercury....
RIP Mercury....there were some truly fine cars made by Mercury over the years
I think Steve Miller remade that song as well.
While you're at it, turn the reliable, roomy, family cars into trendy, slick capsules with masses of superfluous buttons and controls staring you in the face like you're in an airplane cockpit.
And don't forget, eliminate automatic shifts on the steering wheels....just crow about the intrusive, dangerous, macho-man knobbed sticks sticking up in the middle of the front floor that those antediluvian old fogies with arthritis (and the money) hate.
Yep, no wonder the old fogies are hanging on to their venerable 10-year-old Mercuries, Lincolns, Chryslers (with the useful big trunks and good interior height) till their last gasps. They're not out surfing the new car showrooms much, anymore, either.
The only thing that will revive the U.S. auto industry is some genius designing "real-people cars" in various price brackets.....and there are some of you who know exactly what I mean.
There's a reason folks are nostalgic about old cars.....and it's not tail fins.
Leni
Leni
It will feature a lawn mower engine powering a Huffy bicycle (forced upon Ford because they will not “play ball”) and an attractive plastic “car body” to rest comfortably on your shoulders. It will get 118MPG on the highway and 122MPG around town.
“The Green Future is Here! Getcherself a Pluto!™” ¬
¬ Endorsed by Al Gore for Greener/Redder Amerika*
*Have we gone to that new govt approved spelling yet, or are we supposed to wait until 2013?
Just wait until GM unveils it's even greener 2013 Nogo!
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