(our new COAL didn’t quite get ready to start for today, so if you’re desperate for something to read, I offer you this one first posted 9/27/2014.)
The Second Annual CC Heartland Meet-Up is in Auburn, IN, on Saturday, October 4th. Now you don’t think I would squeeze into one of those flying sardine cans along with 250 other packed-in folks who bulge over the armrests, cough incessantly, chat too much, have screaming babies or smell bad? No waaayyy. I’m going to be traveling in style, even better than first class: Brougham Class. And not just any old Brougham, but one that really typifies the breed in its greatest glory. By the time you read this, I’ll be wafting my way across the vast Western deserts and plains in this 1971 Marquis Brougham. That is, if I make it through the Cascade Mountains with my breakfast intact.
I would really hate to sully this fine green brocade interior with my similar-colored regurgitations, as we tackle the winding McKenzie Pass early Saturday morning. I’m used to taking this driver’s delight road with a bit of verve in our Acura TSX, but I’m confident Ford’s racing experience at LeMans and such was put to best use in their finer cars during their Total Performance era. Or had that come to a close by 1971? I sure hope not.
Well, even if the famous Ford-mallow shocks have gone a wee bit soft, and I can’t quite make it through the twisties as fast as in the TSX, I know I’ll make it up in the straights, thanks to the Marquis’ honking standard 429 V8. Even in the base version, it made a still-healthy 320 hp in 1971, and an optional 360 hp version was available for the more serious Brougham-sportsters. But for really dedicated performance freaks, like me, more is better, so it’s too bad Mercury didn’t see fit to offer the Ram-Air version; it would have made a genuine Euro-sport sedan, before that became a schtick. Hood scoops would have broken up the endless expanse of this hood nicely, and the bold “RamAir” badges in appropriate cursive font under a heraldic crest which included two rams would be a nice warning to all comers, as well as cop bait. Maybe it’s just as well.
Well, if I can’t have 370 under-rated hp, I still had high hopes about its handling, since I assumed this particular Marquis Brougham came with the Holman-Moody-Lotus-Shelby (“HMLS”) competition suspension option, which turned this not-exactly svelte car into a genuine canyon carver. The give-away were the special Goodyear racing black-wall tires that came with package, since no other Brougham would be caught dead in anything other than white-walls. Porsche and BMW drivers in the know kept a healthy distance from any black-wall equipped Marquis.
Well, my hopes were popped when the HMLs script and heraldic crest featuring the likenesses of the four racing legends that collaborated on this utter transformation of the Marquis into a Marquis de Pista de Carrerras. And the somewhat less-rare de Sade option hadn’t been checked either. Well, what can you expect for $175 on the streets of Eugene? Plain old Marquis de Brougham was going to to have to be good enough for the job at hand. And I’ve got some left-over white latex house paint for the tires; can’t show up in Iowa in a Brougham in blackwalls.
I had to face the painful truth: The ’72 LTD I almost bought last year just didn’t deliver the goods compared to this Marquis, what with its mere 400 CID V8 and Float-O-Matic suspension, even if it did have my favorite color combination and the brocade seats. And it just wasn’t nearly big and comfortable enough for me; I felt cramped and crowded, I hear these LTDs were just stretched Falcons.
This Mercury is something altogether different; a much bigger car in ever dimension, especially width, where it really counts. When you’re stretched out behind its wheel, it just makes you feel like a real…marquis! And isn’t that what it’s all about?
I’ve finally come to appreciate what Jason Shafer has been drumming on about here for what seems like forever: there really is a huge difference between a mere Ford and a genuine Mercury. I mean, look at this rear seat, compared to the one in the Ford below.
The poor LTD comes off like a taxi in comparison. I’ve studied these green brocade patterns very closely under a magnifying glass, and I can tell you with great certainty that the Mercury fabric has 38% more fine detail in its pattern, 48% less pattern repetition, and is decidedly more luxurious (slippery), as proven in the critical “sliding across it with one’s bare butt” test.
The seller of this Mercury was a bit hesitant when I insisted on doing that test right there on W. 13 th Avenue, but I always bring some baby wipes to assure the seller that I’m clean, and in Eugene, seeing a disheveled middle-aged man dropping his pants on the sidewalk is hardly worth a second glance. I just won’t consider buying a used Brougham without this critical test, nor should you, which makes buying one in the winter a bit of a challenge in certain parts of the country.
Ford invented its famous “panty cloth” Brougham fabric back in 1965 or so, and its pretty clear that the LTD’s fabric has been de-contented, with a decidedly lower percentage of actual panties in its fabric compared to the Merc. I slid a full 19″ further in the Marquis. Case closed.
Forget about checking anything else; these cars are built to last at least a century without any repairs or maintenance. If it slides; you’re good to go.
It’s time to grow up and forget about all this Eugene dippie-hippie kumbaya bullshit: life is a zero-sum dog-eat-dog competition, all about accumulating maximum prestige. So why would I be seen in anything that doesn’t have a genuine Marquis Brougham heraldic crest on its side, to proclaim to the world that I am a man of substance, power and refined taste?
No more stubby, tall, cheap, little boxy furrin’ cars for me! Or CUVs, God forbid; look at how silly this one looks compared to this real car. Or mere LTDs, for that matter. It explains why Stephanie just wouldn’t warm up to the LTD; women like to be seen in prestigious cars as much or more than men, but it has to be the real article, a genuine luxury car, not a cheap imitation brougham wanna-be.
Yes, this Mercury Marquis is really all about her; given her uncompromising taste for the truly finer things in life, I just knew she would be bowled over. So why then isn’t she coming with me on this trip? The two big sofas would make fine overnight accommodations, and there’s plenty of room for a Porta-Potti in the back floor. And I even bought a cookbook for cooking our meals on the Merc’s big engine, “Manifold Destiny“. I can’t wait to wedge some some canned wienies and tater tots in between the big exhaust manifolds and engine, and give ‘er the spurs for half an hour before supper time. Yummm.
Trying to figure out what women really want is still a headscratcher for me even after 37 years of marriage. Whatever; I’ll make the best of it, alone. Good thing I like to sleep in the buff…all that sensuous brocade. But you’d think she’d be worried about all the women hitting on me at truck stops when I pull in for the night in my mighty Marquis.
A little over a year ago, just before the first CC Meet-Up in Iowa, I found a Chevy Caprice Classic Brougham that finally opened my hard little heart to Broughmance; the perfect car for the trip out. And as all of you that made it to Iowa City will confirm, I arrived only about 20 minutes late, but then that was in a mere Chevy, the perpetual object of disdain by several of those in attendance (you GM haters know who you are). You’d think the Caprice still had a Powerglide. But I know the real reason: that Chevy had a bit of West Coast P-A-T-I-N-A. And that’s a dirty word with these uptight white-brief wearing Midwesterners. I’m a sensitive soul, and the subtle barbs and put-downs (nobody would ride with me to dinner) stung.
OK; I survived, put on a good face, and licked my wounds all the way home in the Caprice (nobody would buy it out there on account of that patina). Stephanie flew home alone, her expectations of basking in the reflected glory of my moment in the Iowa sun dashed. My T-level dropped through the floorboards. And you wonder why Stephanie isn’t coming this year? All because I came out in a Chevy, even if it was a so-called Brougham.
And here I thought that magic name was good enough, regardless of what it was affixed to. Ok; I’ve learned my lesson, and But I’m determined to be accepted in the cool CC in-group, just like any highschooler adult. Yes, it’s taken me a while for me to figure it out, but now I know what it will take with you high-falutin’ snobby Mid-Westerners to be treated like a real human being, not some scum-bag left-coast dirty hippie.
Yes, this time in my genuine Mercury Marquis Brougham, I will win your hushed respect when I glide up soundlessly in front of the ACD Museum in this modern equivalent of a Duesenberg, and maybe even score a seat at the main dinner table. I am a relentless social striver, and will do whatever it takes, including six days of perpetual motion sickness. Uh, oh; maybe Klockau will actually dare to drive his 2000 Lincoln Town car all the way to Indiana…and it’s a Cartier Edition too. Oh jeez; now that would be a real prestige pecking-order problem. It’s a bit late to go find a triple-green Continental Mark IV in Eugene.
Naw; he wouldn’t do that….
I’ll believe it when I’m in Auburn next week.
Until I see it, this is bull$#!+.
-Ye Of Very, Very, Very Little Faith.
It’s not April 1, 2015 is it?
It’s a 4622 mile round trip…at 12 mpg. That’s 385 gallons of fuel. At $3.50 that adds up to $1350. I’d rather fly.
12 mpg??? I wish my LTD got that.
My uncle’s 1970 Mercury X-100 Marauder would get that on his trips to visit us in Arkansas. His had the 429.
We don’t limit making fools of ourselves to one day a year. 🙂
a very similar car like this was on Portland craigslist last year for 1500 dollars in Beaverton,called the guy&he said the vaccum system is not working so I did not even bother to look at it but for better MPG,you can find a wrecked Tacoma with good engine(trans&rear axle)swap it&have yourself a sweet ride.
Well, the old axiom works: With enough repetition, anybody will start to believe what they hear. Mission accomplished.
On the other hand, you may be happy to know I have developed a severe dislike for wearing underwear. However, I did buy a new pair of nice, crisp, white, Fruit-of-the-Looms for next weekend. I don’t want to em-bare-ass anyone.
Paul, having once spent a week in Indiana, I did learn something. Those folks are relentless and love Mercury even more than I. Hell, they used them for their state police for years. So you might want to bring the title in case the museum wants to cabbage onto this ultra-suave chariot you have.
Just bring along a debit card for all the fuel you will be purchasing.
Oh, and it is me or is that brome grass I see in that yard? It’s indigenous to Austria and grows well in Oregon.
http://forages.oregonstate.edu/resources/publications/fs/smooth_brome.pdf
I went to a car show with my dad last weekend and was surprised to learn that my own local police department used ginormo Mercury Marquis outfitted with 460s and heavy duty suspensions in the mid-70s for highway patrol duty on the Long Island Expressway. The guy who owned the lone remaining example also had a very sweet ’63 Falcon Squire, I’ll have to ask my dad if he got pictures of them.
Ever since then I’ve been dreaming of big Mercurys chasing W116s and E12s at triple digit speeds, while listening to Steely Dan.
Nevermind – a quick Google search got me pictures of the same car! Looks like a ’76, although I’m certainly not an expert.
Maybe they chose the Marquis for its “aerodynamic” hidden headlamps??
They weren’t alone; go to the third picture down. I believe part of was the longer wheelbase was seen as being desirable.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/law-enforcement-classics-a-trip-to-the-retirement-home/
More road-hugging weight; the more the better!
I remember that article and thought of it as soon as I saw this car. The interior of this one was black but otherwise identical, with the 140-mph speedo and everything. State troopers here had those same SSP Mustang notchbacks, too (later replaced by 4th gen Camaro Z28s).
I think the most plausible explanation for the purchase of the Marquis patrol cars in both cases is that someone who worked for the county/state had a brother/cousin/etc. who owned a Lincoln-Mercury dealership.
The CC Effect strikes again!
Just two days ago I discovered a shockingly clean two-door version of one of these sitting in the row at Ecology Auto Wrecking in Wilmington, Ca. It was straight and rust-free and the metallic green paint was still glossy. The white vinyl top had one small rip. That was it. The biggest flaw the car had was a busted out back window. Don’t know why it was junked.
Question for my fellow CCers- am I the only one who thinks these cars look way better in four-door guise than as a two door? Every time I look at the two-door version of a malaise-era big Ford or Mercury, the proportions just seem rather awkward.
That’s a damn shame…
For sure, the 71 & 72 Mercs are much better proportioned in the four door version. The two doors are like a real pretty lady that’s carrying 30 extra pounds, all on her hips. Its the upswept body line under the rear side window. Also, the two doors have no more room in back than the Ford pictured, but opening the trunk is like peering over the South Rim of the Grand Canyon!
Its the 53ft long quarters on the coupes that tend to look a bit odd, especially in relation to the curvature of the earth underneath them.
+1 on the 4 door looking better
It’s probably ’cause at this time FoMoCo put all its good 2-door stylists to work on the T-Bird, Cougar and Mark series and forgot to do it on the regular cars.
driving a two door of these today is the equivalent of dressing like Jimi Hendrix with shoulderlength hair in the 60s…middle finger high to the modern world.
The hood ornament of the “somewhat less-rare De Sade option”.
Oh man now you’re talking Paul. That ’71 front end is a classic – yes at nearly a Duesenberg level – and what a fine specimen. You are doing the west coast proud!
The perfect event would be you pulling up in this grandest of all Marquis, Tom in his Town Car and the rest of the guys in something just as bold and beautiful. I could see a road rally in the morning, a gentle gymkhana in the afternoon and a car show on the second day. This incredible green machine would “win” all categories 🙂
You should post pics of the Merc on the road with your driving impressions, and a video or two of the quietness and bliss from inside that beautifully pleated cabin.
And I thought I had found just the perfect cross-country road car for you. There was a white 1989-91 Seville for sale in Davenport with white paint, a navy blue carriage roof and…wait for it…a continental kit!
Just your style! 😉
That Marquis is virtually the very one mom and dad traded in the ’65 4-4-2 for in 1971, when I was five, and my first sister one. Same color inside, and out. Ours was fully equipped with the climate control system, four barrel 360 hp mill, and the turbine style wheel covers (which are HEAVY). We kept it through the 70s, as primary driver, because dad drove a work truck, and nothing rusts in Los Angeles. Around ’79, a drunk clobbered it head on in the middle of the night, and the insurance company totalled it. Good for us in that we got to keep the hulk, to pull the drive train, and they paid us to buy its brother two door, with 2V carb motor, darker green exterior, and down graded a/c and wheel covers. That was the luxo-barge I piloted through H.S., I still have the engine. For luxo-barge duties, the ’71 and earlier high compression 429 will move mountains, as proven here. Even if the Cobra Jet variants had been available, they likely would have gotten stomped by the standard versions low end torque. I surprised a few 350 powered chebbies, before an “undocumented driver” totaled the 2nd Merc in 1984.
I know you will enjoy the drive. That’s one of the best looking and running sedans of its time, bar none.
“Manifold Destiny” — could it really have taken so many years for this book to be mentioned on this site? The authors of this book were true CC fans before this site existed, with their copious references to 1970s Lincolns and other classic Detroit iron. I had a copy of it for many years, purchased in Philadelphia’s classic Reading Terminal Market, no less. I don’t have it any more, because at one point in the mid-2000s the book was out of print and a collectible in high demand, and when prices climbed to an insane level, I sold mine for $85. If only all of my car purchases and eventual resales had ended up so well financially …
Me too, I forget what happened to my copy. I must have sold mine too during the pricing bubble.
I can’t say I ever got brave enough to ever try cooking on my car engine.
We’ll have the tugs waiting for you at the museum to help guide you into a berth.
Well played.
Well I love it, anyway. Genuine big block full size car.
“with a decidedly lower percentage of actual panties in its fabric compared to the Merc.”
Which is why the Merc was the true gentleman’s car. With the higher quality fabric it was easier for your date to forget she wasn’t wearing any (panties).
In my opinion, it was all going downhill when they switched to simulated panties instead of the real thing, sort of like when Pontiac finally exhausted the hides of the endangered low land Morrok.
Does anyone make a big chrome middle finger that you could use as a hood ornament for this car?
If this car had one of those modern “blooming leaf” economy gauges like a Fusion, it would swing between Forest Fire and Burning Tire Dump depending on your driving style.
“Put the pedal to the floor! I wanna see it jump to Whale Massacre!”
On a side note, that’d be a great name for a rock band. As would Burning Tire Dump.
“Does anyone make a big chrome middle finger that you could use as a hood ornament for this car?”
I’m sure any manufacturing jeweller or silversmith would be happy to oblige!
Since this discussion has veered towards women’s undergarments, I have another question for you guys.
Am I the only one here who’s grown a bit tired of thongs and g-strings, and prefer to see women wearing “real” underwear- like the kind we all used to steal glances at in the Sears and JcPenney catalogs as youngsters?
lol…
Personally I like the “cheeky” style with a cut that reminds one those good old “Daisy Duke” shorts.
Of course those don’t work well for the emaciated girls that pass for models in our current culture.
+1
Although I’m not a chubby chaser, I definitely like my women to be soft, round, and curvy. Super-skinny women often look too masculine in my opinion.
Another trend I find irritating is the attitude that any womens’ underwear larger than a postage stamp are considered to be “granny panties”. Give me a break.
I once asked a lady friend of mine in her late 20’s if she ever wore the classic style of women’s undies. You know- plain white or off white, full cup bra, and brief style panties. She said absolutely not- they remind her too much of “old people”. LMAO.
well…I’m a batchelor, so the only thing I can contribute to this topic is a clip from one of my favorite films
Great movie! If you like Robert Traver (John Voelker)’s books, try Trout Madness…even if you don’t like fishing.
Great movie! If you like Robert Traver (John Voelker)’s books, try Trout Madness
For those not lucky enough to live in Michigan, Voelker based “Anatomy of a Murder” on a case where he defended the accused murderer, and won. Voelker was later a Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court.
He was something of a charactor. The NBC TV station in Grand Rapids had a reporter who did “On The Michigan Road” segments through the 70s and 80s. The reporter visited Volker at his fishing camp, and asked if he was still writing. Volker replied that every time he tried to write, the mosquitos would pick up the sheet of paper and fly away with it.
AND if you visit Marquette, you can check out the exact courthouse and courtroom where they filmed the movie.
John Voelker’s a bit of a hero of mine; he’s kind of like Michigan’s Steinbeck. I’ve always felt Voelker’s “Danny and the Boys” was based on “Cannery Row.”
Steal glances? My eyes as an adolescent could have burned a hole in the sears catalog as much I stared at it. The girls in the underwear AND the pages with the go-karts.
Yes.
These were good enough for Steve McGarrett….even the CHP ran Mercurys in 1970.
Love that green upholstery in either the Ford or Mercury. The pattern and stitching are refreshing to look at. No bland lease car charcoal grey cloth/leather here.
Though I will point out that Steve-O did skip this generation Marquis and held onto the 1968 Park Lane Marquis through 1974, though through the magic of Hawaii Five-O’s less than stellar editing department, the 1968 still appears in the series through 1980.
I was reading the comments just above on “granny panties,” and when I subsequently read “These were good enough for Steve McGarrett,” I did a “wait, what?”
I really don’t think there were big differences between this and a ’74 under the sheet metal.
Panty fabric is exactly right! My grandparents had a ’72 LTD Brougham with the tombstone front seats, and that smooth yet thin (sheer?) upholstery which was only used in Ford products at that time and nowhere else. That fabric was one of the memories of my grandparents cars from my early childhood- the LTD with those soft seats, and Grandpa’s B210 with a smell that only Datsuns had.
The Marquis certainly was a cut above my ’71 Ford Custom, which had the cheapest of cheap brocade that was as soft as Soviet toilet paper, and about as durable. The only thing that made me love my ’71 was that it was had the 240 ‘big six’, which is one of my favorite engines. I also think the Mercury rear seat passenger was spoiled by having those handy ‘oh-sh**’ bars on the back of the front seats for rounding corners at speeds over 10mph, which could be equally used for suspending ‘feel better’ bags. Plus, in a car ride-engineered to induce motion sickness, color coding the interior to match the inevitable is a stroke of genius.
I know this is a old post. But I just seen it. My dad bought a brand new 71 marquis brougham it was a dark brown with dark brown interior the same design as the one in that horrible green my dads car was plush would barley fit in our garage it was so long, but it road like a limo if I had the extra cash I’d find one and duplicate my dads my dad passed away 1975 I was 13 my mom kept it until 1975 my dad bought a 1975 Chevy nova to get back and forth to work in. My mom decided to let me and my brothers keep it to drive so she liked it so much other than it was a three speed on the floor she bought another 76 nova. And traded my pops mercury in on it but on her way to do the trade she hit some ice and hit a telephone pole and totaled the merc.
Love this car. I’ m a fan of the Mercury brand as my first “I paid for it myself” car was a 68 Montego/Cyclone GT. I also love the green interior and exterior. Yes, the 4 door hardtop looks better proportioned than the 2 door.
As far as the nylon “panty” interior, my folks had a 66 LTD with that interior (actually, it was nylon tricot and it was also used at that time to make women’s panties). Their LTD was a dark green 4 door they got used and unfortunately the previous owner did something to the seats that stained them a medium grey. We never could get the green of the seats to “reappear”. The same or a very similar fabric was used for the top line Fairmont and Zephyr. My folks didn’t realize that when they bought their 79 Zephyr and the “pumpkin” colored seats turned grey quite fast.
I’m looking at late model Crown Vics and Grand Marquis as a possible next car, but would rather have a 71 or 72 Marquis.
I’ve always wondered why Ford continued the LTD one last year as a convertible for 71, but not the Marquis. Given the census that the sedan has better lines than the coupe, I think a convertible, in top down mode, may have corrected the aesthetics. The 69-70 Mercs look somewhat like slightly underdeveloped preemies with braces compared to the 71’s in their buxom glory. A missed opportunity at the end of the drop top era.
IINM, the LTD convertible actually continued for two years after its Mercury counterpart was dropped, through 1972. The convertible was also dropped from Mercury’s intermediate line after ’70, with the Ford version continuing for just one more year, through ’71. This left the Cougar as the last remaining Mercury ragtop; it lasted as long as the Mustang did, through the 1973 model year.
Convertibles were being phased out all across the industry in this period. (In addition to the intermediate and fullsize Mercurys, GM also dropped its C-body convertibles at the end of the 1970 model year, and Chrysler all of its fullsize and intermediate convertibles, leaving only the Barracuda/Challenger.) I’d guess that sales of the Mercury versions had gotten so low that Ford saw no point in continuing them, whereas the Ford versions had the greater sales potential of the two, and Ford figured they might as well keep building them to the end of the current design cycle, since the tooling was already paid for. In both cases, when the end of the current design cycle was reached and a new design debuted, the convertible was not carried over.
The Marquis in the junkyard- I’m very tempted to strip it bare and sell the pieces on Ebay or Craigslist for double what I paid. Somewhere out there is someone restoring one of these with a broken / missing taillight or crunched bumper.
Never much cared for the Marquis. Looks bloated and heavy. If I require FoMoCo luxury in 1971 trim I’d go with a Lincoln Continental 4 door. One of my best friends Dad had one back then, I loved it. The square lines, proportions; one of the few cars that looked good with skirts. I did like the Monterey, however. Our neighbors bought a brand new ’73 Monterey in this exact color combo, with poverty caps. I really liked it. I can’t recall the last time I saw an early ’70’s Monterey.
Speaking of the meetup, heres the Indiana DOT map showing contruction zones and road closures. Looks like Paul picked a good weekend as the road from I-69 to downtown Auburn is closed this weekend for the county fair
http://indot.carsprogram.org/#roadReports/layers=allReports,roadReports,weatherWarnings,trafficSelectAll,googleTraffic,trafficWise
I took my driver’s test in one of these (a 4-door, Dad’s car), and was allowed to take the car for high school dates. Ah, the memories (“panty cloth,” indeed!), sometimes in the front seat, sometimes in the back…
Late one night I took it out onto the (nearly deserted) Interstate to see how fast it would go. I don’t recall any sort of limiter kicking in; I just lost my courage to press on after an indicated 122-ish (probably slightly optimistic). The 429 hardly seemed to be laboring–merely “breathing deeply.”
Thanks for this one, Paul…I always felt these were especially “fancy Fords,” and that they must have sold far fewer than the LTDs. (I’ve gotta check the price vis-a-vis LTD and also the “base” Lincoln.)
To add to this wonderful article, here is a magazine advertisement for this car to share with you all.
that is really interesting that power windows is standard on the Brougham models, I always wondered if manual windows were offered on the Brougham models up until now, we’re the Brougham models more common than the base models?
The buyer could delete the standard power windows for a price credit. The Marquis and Marquis Brougham sold better than the Monterey and Monterey Custom in the Mercury line. The Ford line sold more Galaxies and LTD’s than the Ford Customs and LTD Brougham.
Our family had a Ford/Mercury/Lincoln dealership during this time period. Being an 8 year old car crazy kid I found out everything I could about all the cars we sold. I always liked the detectives cars, usually a Ford Custom or Mercury Monterey (even rarer) with the 429 4 barrel and hubcaps. I was one of the detailers for the new incoming units, and also washed customers cars that came in for service. These were great cars with few exceptions. Just make sure when you park one that the transmission lever is all the way in “Park” mode. And never leave one running while you get out of it. The transmissions like to slip from Park to reverse while idling.
Hey Paul,
Are you sure this car is big enough for a road trip? Will you have enough room for everything?
Since Stephanie is not joining me, yes. 🙂
I’m planning to pick up any and all hitchikers and ask them to chip in on the gas, otherwise I’m not sure I could afford this much room and luxury by myself.
I have to admit that this Marquis is very close to my abstract “The Perfect Car” image from purely aesthetic point of view. And my favorite color combination, too !
The only (ONLY) thing I don’t really like is the pattern of seat upholstery pleating – these diagonal pleats look somewhat crude and simultaneously overdone to me. But the cloth is also perfect
(By the way, thanks for referring to it as “brocade”, I’ve heard this word before but didn’t connect it to the silky patterned cloth used in American car interiors which I always liked tremendously; the literal translation of this word into Russian means a type of cloth you are much more likely to find on Russian Orthodox Church ritual vestments rather than in a car interior).
I can hardly believe that on a developed consumer market car buyers could opt for dull black / gray / tan interiors replacing something like THAT, as it actually happened in the more recent US cars.
Are these black seat belts an after-market add-on ? They look so alien in this perfectly-color-coordinate interior…
But man it SOOOO huge… makes the square-body Caprice look downright tiny in comparison… I really can’t imagine people daily-driving these, even though I know that’s how it was.
Re: panty cloth, here’s a little-known fact: It inspired the interior stylists at Dodge to develop their own thong cloth variant. It was never offered to the public, though, for fear that Dodge historians would someday recall the era of the Thong Dynasty.
Ba-bump-bump-dzzt!
Yes, much the same as the experimental joint venture between Chevrolet and a well known textile manufacturer on a seat fabric to be called Fruit of the Lumina.
An excellent choice. I know that the expected fuel costs were causing some hesitation, but I have solved your problem. I have emailed you the contact info of a diamond cutter who is salivating to work out of the back seat of a genuine Marquis. He is prepared to pay in cash or in gemstones for rental of your back seat. Just be sure the a/c is up to snuff. This guy once lost a finger when his driver sneezed, and he’s a little obsessive about it not happening again.
You have no doubt noticed that the quality of cut gems has fallen off drastically since these started to become scarce. After that commercial showed how it was done, gem cutters everywhere discovered that these were even better conditions for their craft than were stationary benches. Something about undulation counterfrequency, I think.
Anyhow, although this guy prefers cobblestones, I told him that I-80 will be pretty much the same thing, especially in Illinois.
Thanks. It’s good to know I can count on you to help solve these little practical problems in life. But he better be prepared to top the bid I got from the mohel who wants to do circumcisions on the go in the back seat. The quality of mobile circumcisions has also been getting a bit iffy since the demise of these big-boy Marquis. His liability insurance carrier is going to give him a big break for getting back into a real Marquis, even if it’s not a DeSade edition.
You should’ve bought my LTD when you had the chance, Paul. I miss it, but am glad to see my gas bills. I always told people that LTD stood for “Lane Transit District” because it is all the transportation you can afford with the 400 ci Ford in the driveway.
This Marquis has the 429, is heavier, and takes premium too, I suspect. So your 400 LTD was undoubtedly cheaper to feed than this bomb.
10.5:1 compression, short duration, low overlap, torque enhancing cam timing. The best current RON*MON/2=93 hydrocarbon concoction may just barely stave off detonation if in the highest state of tune. Which antique petrol leaker is on duty under the Great Plains of the hood, the Motorcraft 2150 (2V), or 4300 (4V)?
What’s really cool about the Motorcraft 2150 is that the venturi diameter varies depending on the original application. For some extra power, put a 2v from a 390 or 400 onto a 302. I think the largest ones had almost a 500 cfm flow rating. The largest ones were the 1.45 diameter while the smallest had a 1.1 (or even a .96, it’s been a long time since I sorted this out) diameter.
I don’t know… I had a ’70 Brougham in the dark bronze favored back then. Mine had the 320hp 429, and it didn’t seem to really get on the cam until around 70 mph. If I recall correctly, my mileage on the highway was around 14-15.
Speaking of the meetup, I presume everyone will get together for a group photo on the stairs in the ACD showroom?
The plan is the NATM in the morning, break for lunch, then the ACD in the afternoon? Being too cheap to get a room, being retired so I don’t get up before 9am, and being a 2 1/2 hr drive to Auburn, I’ll be lucky to get there by noon.
I’m talking about the stairs on the right in this pic
I don’t know. I thought we were supposed to meet at the ACD first, then go to NATMUS… We need some clarification here…
EDIT: I followed the link from the earlier post… It IS NATMUS first, then the ACD museum. I had it backwards…
Another classic.. nearly pissed myself at a few points!!
Hope a good time is had by all at the CC meet up. We have to do a Northeast one eventually!
I was 15 when the ’71 Mercs came out (my mom had a ’70) and I couldn’t believe the bloat. I mean, the ’70s were big, but comparatively lithe and clean…
I love big Mercs like this 4 dr. hardtop. However the 2 dr. coupes in 1966-68 are very nice. This beauty practically resembles mine in color as I believe this is code H light green. In 1967 the Marquis was only a 2 dr. while the 4 dr. was called the Park Lane. Mine is Seafoam green (code O) with black vinyl top and the green brocade fabric interior powered by the 410-4V. These cars just glide down the freeway with all the power you could ever want. Too bad the mileage is so bad on premium gas.
My all time favorite year of the Mercury Marquis, I always thought they’ve really improved along the styling department yet it still has the great high compression 429 cubic inch engine, the 1971 Mercury Marquis is one of my all time favorite automobiles in history.
I always thought green was a great color for these cars.
for the coupe versions I thought they looked better on the 1969-70 Marquis’s but the sedan versions looked better on the 1971-72 Marquis’s, I do overall prefer the sedan’s over the coupe’s of these cars.
“Gonna buy me a Mercury; cruise up & down this road.”
Paul, you’re sick. But in a South Park I-Like-It way.
How the hell we navigated these barges through life back then I have no idea. No wonder VWs were so popular….
Hey, it’s my first car! Mine was the 320 hp 2 valve version in some sort of white with the Brown vinyl top. The first day I had it, I used Armorall on the front vinyl seats, took it for a cruise, and at the first left turn, would up riding shotgun:)
Hit a deer with it at 75, and the only damage was a 6″ hole in the grille.
Then, driving the beast to H.S., got rear ended by a Honda accord, the merc had a slight crease to the panel under the bumper, and the Honda was totaled.
The best part, it would hold two kegs in the trunk.
God, I miss that car
Go big or go home? No, go big *while* going home. Or anywhere else, for that matter.
My wonder is how they fit these beasts into garages. The one place I’ve lived with a garage would barely fit my Marauder, and a friend’s house wouldn’t even fit that. Or a narrow 1920’s 1930’s garage–how would you get out?
I suppose being the King of the Road in one of these isn’t always easy…
What a fantastic car!
+1. I wish Paul wouldn’t toy with my emotions like this.
I just now noticed that the insert color on the hubcaps is matched to the vinyl roof. Now *that* is a detail. If the hubcap centers are actually vinyl…I may fall out of my chair.
I have your girls sister. She is going through a full body off. She is a 2 barrel. Yes I said 2 barrel and no she doesn’t eat gas like the 4 barrel. My girl will put you to sleep like a baby she is so smooth. She has 440,000 miles on her and is the most wonderful car in all the world. So when you see my California Baby Girl 71Yacht the license speaks for itself. Remember you can cut a diamond in the back of this beauty. Check out the ads on Youtube. This time around she will be yellow. She was mint green, then white with pearl, then continental white. I can’t wait until she’s done. Her engine is done, the fan put back and she is now getting wiring put in. She will be beautiful from head to toe just like the day we brought her home.
this car is at our shop…
My dad bought a triple blue 1972 Mercury Monterey with a 2 barrel 429 that was similar to the Marquis except it didn’t have the hidden headlamps. If I recall correctly, the CHP even had a few black & white 72 Montereys as well. I remember driving his car up I-15 from San Diego to fix my ride (my parent’s former 1963 1/2 Country Squire) whose generator had died on the way home from watching a Can Am race at Riverside Raceway. My feeling that everyone was creeping along faded when I looked at the speedo & I was cruising effortlessly at 85! I promptly backed it down to a reasonable 70 mph. That car is also a memory regarding a parking ticket, but that’s a story for another time.
My father bought a new ’72 Marquis Brougham when I was in high school, ‘loaded’ 429 4bbl. Had the pneumatic tube around the inside of the steering wheel to honk the horn. Six ash trays!!! The wheel covers would often fall off in a ‘hard’ corner. The rear wheel skirts would rust in place. Electric bech seat that would recline darn near flat as a double bed, a very important feature. Don’t ask how I know.
Indecision would have paralyzed me and I just could not have decided what to get. The green interior is splendid but the red, blue, grey, brown, two tone brown vinyl, are all equally appealing. I am sure black was available and likely white vinyl but I could not find examples of those.
It is a baby RV!