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

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

EJ or EH Holden? (Up-dated December, 2022)

-
Image
EJ or the later EH? Several years ago, I posed the question:  Can somebody please explain the difference between an EJ and an EH Holden ute or van?  The response at the time wasn't overwhelming, so I did a bit of Googling and ferreting through my photos and came up with my own rough guide to EJ and EH identification.  Sedans and wagons are easy to tell apart ;  the EH's vertical rectangular tail lights are a dead give-away.  However, the workhorse versions of both models share the rear-end treatment of the earlier EJ, making it harder to identify one from the other.    No super obvious hints here. Or here ...  . It turns out that the main clues are in the placement of the front   H O L D E N   lettering and GMH lion emblems, the style of the radiator grille and the width of the vents in front of the windscreen, with all EJs - sedans, wagons, utes and vans - having one combination and the EH line-up having th...
Read more

An Electric Fiat X1/9

-
Image
For several years, there have been whispers that an electric X had been constructed in Tasmania's south.  However, no one seemed to know much about the car and how it had been built. That's not to say that it was some kind of skunkworks project; it seems to have simply been an under-the-radar affair, quietly put together by a bloke in his shed.  It was actually so U-T-R that I'd seen it at least twice without me realising that it'd been electrified. The car's since been sold but this is what I could glean from its current owner:  - It's a 1980 model and, as such, was delivered to Australia as a "Series 1.5," meaning that it originally had the Series 1's 1300 cc / four-speed in a Series 2 body with impact-absorbing bumpers and the higher engine compartment lid, as well as the latter's interior; - The motor is a 120 volt DC unit from US company Advanced Motors and Drives, rated at 10 HP / 7.355 kW ( http://evalbum.com/advdc , accessed 03 JUN 24);...
Read more

Random # 301: Nanna-Spec KE36 Corolla

-
Image
  Once upon a time - six or seven years ago, actually - there was a lovely pale yellow GC Galant station wagon getting around Hobart.  It was totally nanna-spec; its paint was umarked, the chrome work and hubcaps were immaculate, and its very original interior was pristine. Then someone stuck feathers in its dashboard.  Next, the windows were adorned with Tibetan prayer flags.  And a hubcap went missing.  And the the rear bumper was pushed in, mangling the bodywork behind it.  And a mudguard got dented.  And rust set in.   I fear for this sweet, innocent KE36 Corolla.  Somebody please save it before it's too late.  Nanna needs you to do it. Hello, reader! I've noticed that this seems to be a particularly popular post.  Something to do with Google's algorithms, I guess ... .  But it's not my best piece!  Sure, it's ok, but there are so, so many more interesting classic, sports and performance cars on this site - as wel...
Read more