Curbside Classic Outtake: 1978 Mercury Marquis Brougham
This Marquis Brougham certainly seems the polar opposite of yesterday’s Nissan Pao. It weighs three times as much, is a domestic, certainly not an illegal alien, not exactly artistic or tasteful, definitely not retro, and didn’t require a lottery to buy it (more likely rebates). It’s available 7.5 Liter engine is 7.6 times as big as the Poa’s, even if it only makes 202 hp. Yet, a number of similarities occur to me: They’re both in the same parking lot. Their owners are obviously making an artistic statement. They both have a horsepower to weight ratio of 31 lbs/hp. Both engines are carbureted. Nissan and Mercury joint-ventured on the Quest/Villager mini-van. Both of them are not displayed at MoMA. Somebody help me out here…
Back to the Mercury at hand. This is just not a car that inspires a full-on Curbside Classic. If it wasn’t wearing that appropriate majestic coat of purple, the traditional color of royalty, I probably wouldn’t have even taken its picture. But it was, so it’s earned its fifteen minutes of fame. And it has earned its place in history: the end of the road for the big Fords and Mercuries. The following year was the big downsizing to the new Panther chassis. But we’ll do a full-on CC on that subject with another of the Marquis’ stablemates. Engines were pathetically feeble: the standard 351 (5.7 liter) had all of 144 hp; the optional 400 (6.6 liter) squeezed out 160 hp; and the big 460 (7.5 liter) managed a whopping of 202 hp. Mileage? don’t ask. Ah, those were the sweet days of automotive malaise.
(Edit: I’ve corrected the earlier title and made a few changes to reflect this car’s historical significance. Thanks to the commentators for pointing them out)
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In 1976, when I got my license, my first ride was a 1973 Ford LTD. Green, green vinyl top, 400 cid 2-bbl. Rim blow wheel, IIRC. A/C that would frost the vents, and acres and acres of room. Great highway cruiser. 29 days after I got that license, the LTD gave its life when some idiot ran a stop sign in front of me. The LTD crushed the van, but the front end was gone, and it went the the junkyard. I walked away from that crash, so I'll always have a soft spot for these FoMoCo land yachts. And yes, they did make some torque.
When he was caught, Timothy McVeigh, the OKC bomber was driving a 1978 Mercury Marquis, (it was a a pale yellow one) escaping from his crime. He got caught because a cop noticed he had no license plates on his car, and that was enough to pull him over.