Road Authority

[ocnblu]

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[ocnblu]

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[ocnblu]

I think it would be cool to drive around in a big bomber like a Grand Marquis. I'd get some Flowmaster mufflers, tint the windows, maybe stick a K&N air intake on it...

We have a few customers who had the same idear. There's something wicked and authoritative about a big ol' American car.

[Robert Hall]

Love those big Mercs, from the oldies through the Panthers.

[balthazar]

Gawd- the Mercs in that first vid are horrific. Even as RWD, V8 coupes, I find them ghetto-craptastic & repulsive.

[balthazar]

And that late model Merc sounds like a food processor. Mercs are supposed to sound like this :

[Robert Hall]

Gawd- the Mercs in that first vid are horrific. Even as RWD, V8 coupes, I find them ghetto-craptastic & repulsive.

I like the '73-78 Merc styling...huge, long, relatively clean w/o opera windows or other mid '70s cliches. That era was the lower, longer, wider approach at it's apex for Ford. I find them much more appealing than the humpy, overrated '49-51 Merc coupes (esp. the hideous chop-top customs) or the finned nightmares of the late '50s.

That's just me, though..I know a lot of people are enamored of 50s cars, very little from that decade that I find appealing.

Edited April 11, 2010 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[Intrepidation]

Speaking of road authority, it's one of the things I love about the Grand Marquis. AT night people think it's a cop car and are afraid to pass it on the highway. From cars to semis, they'll creek up to just behind the car and just stay there until they either get the balls to pass or we flash the dome light a few times.

You can't buy that kind of respect.

[Robert Hall]

Speaking of road authority, it's one of the things I love about the Grand Marquis. AT night people think it's a cop car and are afraid to pass it on the highway. From cars to semis, they'll creep up to just behind the car and just stay there until they either get the balls to pass or we flash the dome light a few times.

You can't buy that kind of respect.

That's one of the things I've loved about driving GN and CV rentals over the years... I really noticed it the time I drove a black CV around Chicago for a few days...in daytime, people would move over if I came up behind them on the freeway, probably thinking it was an unmarked cop car.

[balthazar]

[balthazar]

>>"...relatively clean w/o opera windows or other mid '70s cliches.."<<

And how is it padded vinyl headlight doors aren't, again ??

[2b2]

Thanks for those photos, balthazar!

the first 2 a just a bit before 'my time'

almost didn't expect that wagon to be Merc but it sure is sweet!

[ocnblu]

Mom had a maroon '66 four door hardtop for a while after she had to get rid of the Corvette. I don't remember which model it was. Had a conventional back window. It rode like a cloud.

I like the giant '73-'78 models, especially the coupe, but I also like the earlier models, stretching back to 1949, with a few exceptions. The '79-'91 was kind of a low point (I do prefer the later models of that era with the flush bumpers, the early ones looked like the bumpers were off a wider car, they did not fit). I wish there had been a coupe with the '92 redesign, but alas. The newest ones still have that swagger if you look at them from the right angle.

I'd love to have more photos posted of big Mercurys in here.

[balthazar]

Edited April 11, 2010 by balthazar

[balthazar]

[Robert Hall]

Love those Marauders, both the '69 and the '03-04.

[Satty]

I'd give just about anything for a '49 Mercury. Beautiful.

[ocnblu]

That '69 Marauder rivals some of the best Pontiacs, with a blend of sport and luxury that is just about perfect. Sublime.

[balthazar]

Ocnblu- could not disagree with you more WRT bettering Pontiacs of the era.

Both here are F/S, with 2-tier bumpers, but to my eye, the Merc is just dead, design-wise. A host of detail inconsistancies, and it's just so massive & blunt...

I keep a mental post-it note in place for the '69 X-100 because someone in the big car Merc studio woke up for the first time since MY1964 and squeaked that unique RR 'tunnel back' treatment out- unfortunately it was pasted on the concept-less blob that was the RPO F/S '69 M.

[ocnblu]

Haha, cool way to put a point across. In your photos, the Mercury is dusty and dark, eyes wide open, and stuck in a decrepit carport that appears ready to collapse soon. The (gorgeous) Pontiac is preening for onlookers, shiny clean red, lowered from stock, in motion on a sunny day.

And I said the '69 Mercury rivals a good Pontiac, not "betters". The Mercury clearly was a "junior Continental" in those years... no bad thing, imo. The black Marauder coupe posted above has a "gentleman's hot rod" look, it is relentless in its Road Authority.

[Robert Hall]

I like the styling quite a bit of the related '69-70 Ford XL and LTDs...

[A Horse With No Name]

I think it would be cool to drive around in a big bomber like a Grand Marquis. I'd get some Flowmaster mufflers, tint the windows, maybe stick a K&N air intake on it...

We have a few customers who had the same idear. There's something wicked and authoritative about a big ol' American car.

It's amazing what you can do in the back seat of a more door Oldsmobile...ask me sometime...

Seriously, my dad wanted one of those big Mercury's back in the day...I remember going with him to the dealership to look at them when I was in the 4th grade...sweet cars.

Your not going to believe this Blu, but I saw a big Merc like that at MacDonalds when I took my two teenage daughters outfor a coke...and I thought of you when I saw it...

Chris

I like the styling quite a bit of the related '69-70 Ford XL and LTDs...

That's a really sweet full size Ford rag-top...sadly I remember one like that getting trashed in a Disney movie when I was a kid...dark green with a black top IIRC...

Gawd- the Mercs in that first vid are horrific. Even as RWD, V8 coupes, I find them ghetto-craptastic & repulsive.

It's all on a relative scale...it is still miles and miles better than a Camry...

I remember back in high school a bunch of guys cut the roofs off a bunch of seventies more door junkers like that...drove around all summer in cheap convertibles...

[ocnblu]

Cool, 66!

Moltie, I am without knowledge on that white Ford. I see the blacked-out front end. Is that an XL? More 411 prease.

[Robert Hall]

Cool, 66!

Moltie, I am without knowledge on that white Ford. I see the blacked-out front end. Is that an XL? More 411 prease.

1970 XL. I need to find a better photo. The '69 and '70 Galaxie 500 and XL fastbacks shared the tunnel C-pillar and rear window w/ the '69 and '70 Marauder.

[mustang84]

Speaking of road authority, it's one of the things I love about the Grand Marquis. AT night people think it's a cop car and are afraid to pass it on the highway. From cars to semis, they'll creek up to just behind the car and just stay there until they either get the balls to pass or we flash the dome light a few times.

You can't buy that kind of respect.

Around here, a couple of the undercover state patrol vehicles are Grand Marquis, one being white and the other maroon. The only distinguishable aspect are that both have tinted rear windows. And to make things worse, so many old people drive Grand Marquis on I-80, so it's the norm to pass them. Brilliant move on the state patrol's part, but sucks for those of us that like to travel a little faster.