Readers' Photos # 89: Mercury Coupe

More often than not, the UMPH editorial team prefers a three-quarter frontal or full frontal view as an opener but, in today's case, this combo side and rear image is the money shot! Just look at the car's length! How about its about-to-pounce profile?! Wow!!

If you're wondering what it is that I've lost my wheels nuts over, a discreet badge on the boot shows that it's a Mercury. A quick squiz at Wikipedia reveals the Mercury to be a now deceased Ford line, sitting between the basic Ford name-plated vehicles and the range-topping Lincolns, introduced by Edsel Ford himself (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_(automobile)#:~:text=Mercury%20is%20a%20defunct%20division,Ford%20and%20Lincoln%20model%20lines).

And whilst the Mercury may be no more, it was still a way more successful venture than Ford's eponymously named Edsel sub-brand, a nameplate the Wiki-boffins describe as having become "a symbol of ... commercial failure" (https://www.google.com/search?safe=strict&bih=840&biw=1664&rlz=1C5CHFA_enAU816AU816&hl=en&sxsrf=ALeKk01dbOH28iZd6nuFe9izkimEiz3M2g%3A1608543653854&ei=pW3gX4S6M6mb4-EPrPqL8AQ&q=edsel+car&oq=edsel+car&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQARgAMgQIABBDMgQIABBDMgIIADIGCAAQBxAeMgYIABAHEB4yAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADoECAAQRzoFCAAQkQI6BwgAEBQQhwJQ0OsJWK30CWCvjgpoAHADeACAAcABiAHaBpIBAzAuNZgBAKABAaoBB2d3cy13aXrIAQjAAQE&sclient=psy-ab). To be brutal, though, the Edsel was kinda homely and was never, ever going to compete with the looks of our car du jour.

On a closing note, you'll notice that this site isn't averse to using Wikipedia. What a great resource! But are you doing your bit to support the World's greatest ever reference source? How about flicking them $10, $20 or whatever you might be able to reasonably afford every twelve months or so? The UMPH team are proud to do their bit and urge you to do so, too.

U M P H

(uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)

Photos by the Special Correspondent for Canberra and the ACT.

Comments

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