Ford did sell a rebadged version of the second generation Escort as the Mercury Tracer here in North America, but appears this Escort owner is trying to “open new doors” and “reach higher” with the three-pointed star. Well, at least insurance will be cheaper.
What’s next…a car for feminists, the Olds Ova-Achieva?
Reminds me of the mk2 Jetta 2-door I used to see around town. All the Volkswagen logos, even the wheel center caps, had been swapped for BMW roundels. If you squinted *just right* it kinda sorta looked like a pudgy E30…
My, Brendan, you have opened a long-dormant peeve of mine. Guys of my father’s generation commonly referred to a Mercury as a Merc. Whenever the topic of “first cars” came up, my father’s answer was always “a 47 Merc” and everyone knew what he meant.
Therefore, it always irritated me when people started calling a Mercedes a “Merc”. First of all, a Merc is (or was) a Mercury. Second, it cannot be pronounced the same way and make any sense. It’s not a “Merkedes”, but a “Mersedes”. To work, we have to call it a “Merse”. But that rhymes with Nurse or sounds like the shortening of an antibiotic-resistant disease. Benz is a way better nickname anyway.
Maybe someone can educate me on how and when Merc came to refer to a Mercedes instead of a Mercury. I recall starting to see it in the car mags of the 80s. Am I missing something?
To clarify, I am well aware that this battle is lost already, just as I have given up trying to fight the ubiquitous “everyone is entitled to their opinion.” I am trying to not be like those Japanese soldiers on isolated islands who fought WWII on into the 50s, but some things do grate on a person. 🙂
I couldn’t agree more with you. I may be incorrect about the origin, but it seems that calling a Mercedes-Benz a “Merc” is more of a British thing. The first place I ever heard it was on Top Gear, and it seems like the only people I hear refer to one as such are our friends from the U.K, Australia, and NZ.
Personally, I just like to say “Mercedes”. I like the way it rolls off the tongue.
Late here, but I suspect that’s because Mercuries were hardly, if ever, sold new in NZ (and I’m assuming Oz and UK). So a Mercedes is definitely a Merc here – in the same way a BMW is a Beemer, a Volkswagen is a V-dub etc.
IIRC Diana Rigg (an English chick if ever there was one) called her Mercury Cougar ” The Big M” in the Bond flick “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”
Of course the “Big M” has a legitimate spot in Mercury’s history.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1956-mercury-medalist-%E2%80%93-the-big-m/
But to an Aussie, that’s a brand of flavoured milk!
And here!
+10
Back to the car – Ya gotta love someone with a sense of humor. I can just hear one of the elderly neighbors “Didja see that the kid across the street has a Mercedes now? It’s onnnathem small ones. From the 80s, I think.”
I question if with the modern benchmark for comedy, that some poor kid in college did this thinking it was an ironic joke.
To be fair, it’s funny that the C-series the grill came off of is worth more than the entire car. On the other hand I get the very inviting urge to use my foot to remove the invader from the poor crapcan. It deserves better than to be used as a joke.
Reminds me the Brazilian GM J-Car Chevrolet Monza with the “kit Mercedes”, people used to call it “Moncedes”, take a look:
Rear side:
This is a pretty convincing knock-off, although there’s no hiding those doors. But one must be a pretty insecure social-climber to spend money imitating the cheap entry level 190
That’s kind true, however even any C class was considered an exponent of luxury at that time in Brazil and maybe the lack of something seemed to the E class in the market stopped the ingenuity of that kind of people hahaha
Wow, it wasn’t until I looked at the rear view that I found any reason NOT to believe this was really an M-B product. That rear roof pillar with it’air extractor vent is a not so big tip-off, I don’t think Mercedes ever did that.
Back to an earlier comment, it should be noted that nearly every country where “Merc” became the abbreviation for Mercedes is/was a country where Mercury never had a strong presence. As a former Cyclone GT owner (my 1st real car), I only hate the use of that abbreviation in classified ads where the car described could be the German and/or American brand car. As in: for sale, 1968 Merc 4 door sedan. Has 6 cylinder engine and automatic transmission with rare A/C. Could be a Comet or a 280SE.
That car is like the old saying, “I’m not a real cowboy, I just found the hat.”
And for that Teutonic vehicle, the nickname is “Benz.” Except after a crash, when it’s “Bent.”
Funny enough one reason my folks bought a 95 Voyager over a 95 Escort Wagon was because the insurance on the Voyager was cheaper. They were told the Escort was harder to see due to its size and thus the insurance was higher. Nice to see a car owner with a sense of humor and reminds me of that time dad and I were going to turn his 93 Legacy into a Ford Escort.
I once read in Car and Driver: “Mercs of both kinds”.
A ’94 Mazda Protege could pull it off as well. It would be the pre-mature baby benz.
In Caliornia, the car registration abbreviations are MERC for Mercury…and MERZ for that German brand.