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)