I love chocolate. For most of what has been almost a quarter-century of working in the insurance industry, I’ve had easy access to chocolate treats in the office, whether in a breakroom, in a candy bowl at the accountant’s desk, or as part of a meal served during a meeting or team-building exercise. Our department recently had a build-your-own-waffles event to celebrate some recognition we had collectively received. Generally speaking, I have strong willpower and have been able to maintain my health and fitness goals often by looking the other way when such things are going on during the week. It ain’t always easy, and I’m not going to lie.
I’m all-in on my dietary cheat days, but I save them for weekends. This doesn’t mean I pretend not to know that there’s a small, neatly arranged pile of rich, moist, delicious-looking brownies sitting on a plate on a filing cabinet less than a flying rubber band’s distance from my cubicle. This chocolatey abundance usually ends up in a place I pass every time I need to leave my desk for some reason. I’m not sure if other people in the office simply don’t know these leftover brownies are there, but only a handful more of these baked treats will disappear over the course of the day. Ordering too few of something is worse than ordering too many, and the planners want to make sure there are enough to go around.
Still, I hate to see such things to go waste. These poor brownies sit there, looking all forlorn and delectable, unwanted by my other insurance cohorts who seem simply above having just one more sweet indulgence from the previously held meeting. And then what happens? The remaining brownies get thrown out, or in the case of the recent waffle celebration, almost two entire Solo cups’ worth of semi-sweet chocolate chips go straight into the trash, after maybe the second day of sitting there. Not on my watch.
I’ve never been really poor, not even when I was a college student and a twice-a-week regular at the local plasma center basically selling my immune system, but I know what it’s like to be hungry. Subsisting almost entirely on mac-and-cheese and canned tuna for a short period in my early twenties gave me a real appreciation for things like extra pepperoni, the occasional name-brand soup, and actual meat in my freezer versus reconstituted whatever I was eating at the time. Throwing away good brownies or chocolate chips just seems wrong on so many levels. These are usually top-tier brownies, made with good ingredients. So, what do I do about this situation? I use the resealable container in which I had brought my lunch from home and load up just a few treats to take home with me for the weekend.
Maybe it was because of this recent waffle event that I had chocolate on the brain, but the very first thing I thought of when I saw this Grand Marquis LS coming southbound at the intersection of Monroe and LaSalle on a Thursday was a big, goopy, decadent, flying brownie on turbine fin wheels. So rich. So thick. It even had a brick-like shape like a brownie, “frosted” with that vinyl roof up top. The factory Woodrose Clearcoat Metallic paint on this example had just the smallest hint of red in it, much like the best brownie mixes. This Grand Marquis is acres away from the impression I would later come to hold of this model, having morphed as it did into one of the main choices for basic, no-frills livery when I had first moved to Chicago twenty years ago. This car has a presence and dignity not quite matched by some of the later, rounded designs.
I wasn’t crazy about these cars when they were new, as they reminded me more of people my grandparents’ age (and my grandparents would own three of them in a row), but I’ll go out on a limb and say this ’90 Grand Marquis represents peak Panther-platform style. These seemed to hit their full stride years after they had been introduced for ’79, selling 110,000 units or more annually between 1984 and ’89. Sales fell sharply by almost half to just 77,400 units in 1990, after 138,900 had found buyers the year before. The redesigned rear-drive, full-sized cars from GM wouldn’t arrive until the ’91 model year, so we can rule that out as the cause of the Mercury’s sales drop. There was even a new, standard driver’s side airbag for ’90. The truth is that these cars were in their twelfth year of production by that point, and that’s a really long time.
Similar to my heroic rescue of discarded chocolate treats from their filing cabinet exile, I wonder about the circumstances around this car’s ownership. Looking like it had been pampered for most of its life, I would like to think it had belonged to the current owner’s grandparents. Few people would wind up with a car like this by accident or sheer coincidence. No… perhaps all 213.6 inches long of this brown beauty was purposely selected and rescued from the indignity of an estate sale to complete strangers. Many of us readers at CC have either witnessed firsthand or read in the comments about someone else’s account of watching a once-babied car devolve into everyday transportation, with the battle scars of regular use (and sometimes abuse) becoming increasingly apparent.
Even if this car was a relatively new purchase for its current owner, it had regular, non-temporary plates on it and looked washed, waxed, and more importantly, maintained. External appearances are a good predictor of pride of ownership, and I’d guess that this Grand Marquis’s fuel-injected, 150-horsepower 5.0 liter V8 engine and four-speed automatic overdrive transmission were in fine running order to move around its two tons. The LS was the nicer Grand Marquis, complementing the entry-level GS, with both subseries being available as a four-door sedan and Colony Park station wagon. The LS sedan came standard with $500 dollars’ worth of interior upgrades over the GS that included nicer seats and lighting. I’d have spent that extra cash, though the GS was still very nice.
I have come to appreciate the style of these Grand Marquises only more with time, now even able to mostly overlook the 1984 – ’85 Buick LeSabre-aping taillamps on the 1988 – ’91 cars. This one looked positively delicious. Still, there’s that point after bringing a leftover brownie home that one realizes that in order to fully enjoy it, one must eat that bad boy. To have a big, brown brougham like this Grand Marquis and not luxuriate in its trappings from behind the wheel at least occasionally would seem a shame. I would certainly take this car out from time to time, even if not during morning rush hour in a busy financial district. It would be a balancing act between preserving this beautiful car and consuming it in little, well-savored bites. Ultimately, my gut feeling is that the owner is making all the right decisions.
Downtown, The Loop, Chicago, Illinois.
Thursday, March 2, 2023.
Brochure photos were as sourced from www.oldcarbrochures.org.
Weird coicidence that I saw a similar year Grand Marquis at work yesterday. It was also MINT AND BEAUTIFUL. Navy blue/navy blue velour, had that same style top and turbine wheels.
Thought about chatting up the owner but his daughter was in the front seat. Plus his Crye Leik real estate magnetic sign was on the door, dude had on a blazer with a name tag. Just a weird vibe I had that I didnt want to talk to him about his awesome car
If you heard the B52’s on the radio during this encounter, chances encountered a time warp!!!
Aaron, I’m with you about doing my due diligence with reading people before I engage, even when there’s an interesting car in the picture.
And yours was perhaps an example of the CC Effect in reverse?
Who is that idiot trying to cross the street in zigzag lines? Dude, you wait at the corner and when the green hand is lit, you can then cross safely.
Some people jaywalk, but usually when the coast is clear. I can’t remember if the featured car was approaching quickly or if it was moving more slowly in traffic, but playing “Frogger” with actual traffic isn’t the best idea. Agreed.
To take your brownie analogy a bit further, I have overindulged on these and gotten sick on them. I see how good they look, but I have no desire to partake again.
As cars, these are both really appealing to me and really unappealing, all at the same time. If I were to get another one, one of these late ones with the new dash would be the only one of interest. But even that one would have that awful AOD transmission that I came to hate so much.
I will admit to really loving that brown paint!
Thumbs-up on the color of this Rosewood Clearcoat Metallic! I agree with you. I’m trying to remember if my grandparents had voiced any particular complaints about the overdrive transmission, but I honestly can’t remember any such instance. If they chose three G/Ms in a row, they must have really liked a lot about them.
Around 1990, looking for a bigger car, we found a cream puff 1984 GM. One owner, loaded and with low miles, it was a Brougham LS with leather interior. We thought we had it made. We had the car for a year and the great AOD tranny went out.
$1400 bx. Ouch!
What was Ford thinking. A 302 fuel injected V8 good enough for 150 stompin, drag strip winning horses pulling that almost 4,000 lb sled!
Yeah you hit the nail on the head. This is a well-styled car and I have always liked this generation of Marquis and LTD. Clean, correct lines, similar to the late 1980s Caprices. That’s why these cars were popular in their day and now. The color, vinyl roof and nice road wheels all look great on this Marquis. These were also very reliable cars. This one has obviously been garaged most of its life.
So many U.S. cars of the ’80s had spotty this-or-that. It’s great to see an example like this Grand Marquis that delivered on its promise, and did it well.
Joseph
Great article as always. I don’t recall seeing too many chocolate G/M’s up here, with most being Blue or Gray. They really are like having a well sorted ’85 or so Buick, with fuel injection. Attached is my Dad’s old G/M that I took over after he was confined to the Big House, not to suggest that most G/M owners are destined for the dementia ward!
Thanks, Dean! And what a beautiful example you got from your dad. Looks like a great, light interior color that I seem to remember seeing in some examples. I remember my grandma or grandpa (I can’t remember) mentioning using a toothbrush to clean the wire wheel covers on their so-equipped Chrysler Fifth Avenue.
I’d much rather have this than the Vanilla Caddy from yesterday.
I don’t dislike the Cadillac, but this Mercury is also more my style, I think.
This color is very similar to a 78 Town Coupe I once owned 🏆. Although I originally hated idea of down sized FMC full size vehicles,I later had 83 Grand Marquis coupe (Silver and Black) and 89 Crown Victoria LX (white with red interior and extra formal roof)! Loved both with plush velvet interiors. This generation had old school traditional upscale appeal. Four doors needed the formal roof cap for me. The 90 models were an effort to gradually move to more rounded subsequent full sizes,which didn’t appeal to me. Had 2007 Grand Marquis LS and currently have beautiful low mileage Town Car Signature Limited. Both also great cars, but with leather interiors (I prefer the plush velvet) but do not have the classic style of pre 91s. ESPECIALLY miss chrome bumpers! Still the 2007 Signature Limited is the last gasp of traditional American Luxury Sedans. A recent article referred to these as the American ROLLS-ROYCE! I will NOT let this one get away!
Rick, your point about the four-doors needing the formal roof cap is a good one. I hadn’t thought about what they look like without it, but as I’ve been watching reruns of old cop / detective shows from the ’80s that show bare-metal roofed examples of the big Fords and Mercurys, it’s clear just how transformative that roof cap and vinyl were to the overall look of these cars.
I have always loved Limo like look of sedans, although Have had some coupes. As a kid,first to impress me were 60 through 75 Imperial LEBARON (only Imperial with special roof), another great formal roof was a cap Chrysler used for 82 through Fifth Avenues (had 83 and 85). Also had 80 CROWN VICTORIA LX with similar treatment. The Grand Marquis shown here is nicer than base Fords and Marquis used for cabs and police, but still not as great as the formal cap applied. Check out 89 Crown Victoria LX and you will see the difference! Grand Marquis also did similar treatment!
The 1990 GM/CV model year was cut short, so may be why sales #’s were down. This was to bring out 1991’s [final year of ‘box’ look] in spring ’90, and only changed grilles/lights.
Was maybe to have a ‘new’ car to compete with GM’s “whale” body. Then, a year later, spring 1991, the rounded Panthers arrived. Wonder why spent a little cash on 1991 changes?
Thank you so much for this, and for solving the mystery for me. A foreshortened production cycle – makes total sense. I knew there had to be more to the story, and what you say makes sense in terms of why such a significant sales drop from one year to the next.
The box Panthers have a way of escaping some dusty cages, you never know when you’ll suddenly see a clean one like this where suddenly it’s 1990 again.
Their stark all business straight lines look refreshing in their own way, even though I owned one, and was surrounded by them for many years.
These used to look large and in charge when K cars and J cars were plying the roads. The photo of this Marquis behind the Prius shows how much things have changed.
See my original post. Kcars saved Chrysler for a while but having had 83 and 85 Fifth Avenues and loving them, believe Iacoca made a mistake in axing larger vehicles. Also note my opinion on these FMC vehicles. Things have definitely changed, NOT for me!
Totally agree with you, Dave. The absence of linear styling (like this, anyway) on modern cars makes this Grand Marquis stand out, and especially (as you pointed out) in contrast to the Prius and cars like it.
My favorite Panthers are the 88 to 91. The 1988 update corrected the awkwardness of the 1979 styling. The 150 hp 302 was more durable than the 4.6 and felt just fine up to 70 mph. I purchased a 1989 Crown Victoria with 12,000 miles in October 1989 and owned it for twelve years, only giving it to a co-worker when I inherited my mother’s 1993 Taurus after her death in May 2001.
I did actually like the frontal styling of the ’79 Marquis, even if I don’t prefer it to the ’88 – ’91. I thought the ’79 Marquis looked clean and purposeful up front, especially compared to the poverty-spec, two-headlight Ford LTD. The rear of the ’79 Marquis wasn’t bad, IMO, but it lacked distinction. It was almost like a ’79 Cougar with larger taillights and the removal of the spare tire hump.
I prefer the ’79-’87 cars; the ’88-’91 Grand Marquis front end looks crudely, carelessly hacked. The rounded trailing contour of the park/turn signal lights does not belong on this origami-square car. Same goes for the front light setup entire; a composite lamp the size and shape of that assembly would have looked a whole lot better than this tacky, thrown-together half-effort they threw on.
As to the 2-headlamp LTD…I kinda prefer it to the 4-headlamp car, particularly after a bit of cleanup work:
Nice work. I do like it without the fake-fog-lamp turn signals. Similarly, I wonder how I’d like the front of the Mustang II (and I do like them) with the turn signals moved out of the grille.
I also have never been a fan of Panthers, but must admit that this late box Grand Marquis looks quite attractive and dignified in its dark brown paint and even the interiors in these later versions were toned down from the overstuffed pillow look of 1979-81. The squared off lines and proportions suit the car, in contrast to the clown-like early versions with their too-short wheelbase and the more aerodynamic final versions, which looked out of step with then-current styling themes.
I unfortunately struggled with passing by the leftover plate when I worked in an office setting. Brownies were often really easy to pass up, though as they were often whipped up from a store-bought mix and always tasted dry and full of preservatives. At least that’s what I told myself. These, though, might be moist and the real thing made from scratch…let’s see!
It’s funny you should use the word “suit”, because the dignified, dark brown colors on this Grand Marquis are not unlike those on a crisply-tailored brown suit – suitably formal and looking just right for business attire.
Great catch, Joseph. That is a very nice Marquis.
In keeping with your tasty treats theme, if I were at Ford naming this color, I would call it “Chocolate Ganache”, and yes, that car speaks to my brougham tastes of old… A certain 1972 LTD Convertible in my neighborhood with which I was smitten as a teenager was painted in a similar color.
But our office is quite different from yours. When tasty treats are dropped on a table in the lunchroom, it’s like the title of a Nicholas Cage movie! Ok, this is CC, and you all prefer the H. B. Halicki version for some reason…
my bad. 😉
Thanks, Rick. I had to look up “chocolate ganache”, but I wholeheartedly agree with you that this would have been a great name for the color of this factory finish. I love that we all seem to be appreciating the color of this brown car.
I confess that I have never seen the remake of “Gone In 60 Seconds” – only because I love the original so much that I didn’t want to risk disappointment. Cage is a fine actor, though, and I have respect for his body of work.
What’s weird is that I’m the exact opposite… I’ve never seen the Halicki original version… my only exposure to it was the video of the epic chase seen with the mustard colored “Eleanor” that was linked here on CC years ago.
The remake was something I watched because a girl I dated back then liked Nick Cage, and well, twist my arm to get me to go and see a cool car movie.
Back in the 90’s I brought a 1981 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser Beach 🏝️ 🏖️ Wagon Station 🚉 Wagon, it was Fully Equipped, Fully Loaded and Fully Powered. One day I was on my way to work and taking my nieces to school some individual decides to run a stop light and t-boned us totaled my Wagon very badly. I was very highly disappointed and upset. I got so many compliments on that wagon at that time the first person who had that Wagon before me did an amazing, awesome job of taking care of it. That Wagon had everything in it.
You name it it had it. Again I was so angry 😠 😡 😤, pissed 😠 😤 😡 off and highly disappointed ☹️ 😔 😢 sad 😞 😔 😢 and upset 😠. I had my twin nieces in the wagon taking them to school 🏫 that day thankfully that Wagon was built like a tank. We were all ok 👍🏾 but the Wagon was completely destroyed and totaled. The individual who t-boned us that morning acted like they didn’t have a care in the world 🌎 🌍 🗺️ he was driving a dodge full sized van 🚐 of the 70’s we exchanged info my insurance company said my wagon was was completely destroyed and totaled that they wrote me out a check and I brought a 1986 ford Country Squire LTD LX Beige with brown vinyl trim and the material was like a tweed cloth material. Drove that around for a while till the engine went.
I was fortunate our dad 👨🏾 lived right next door to a good friend and was also a retired mechanic 👨🏽🔧. He made a phone call to a recycled junk yard that had just towed in an 88
Lincoln Town Car with very low mileage on the engine. I paid very little money 💵 and n to have it shipped to my mechanics 👨🏽🔧👨🏻🔧. As my mechanic was was doing the transplant exchanging power plants replacing the bad power plant with the good power plant, the tranny was on its way out to he was doing work on another car that he was junking that had a bad engine but a really good transmission he says to both our dad 👨🏾 and me for a $150.00 he can do a swap. Take the bad transmission out of my Ford Wagon and put in the good transmission out of the car that was being junked. I said do it.
That Ford C.S.Beach Wagon seemed like 👍🏾 it came back from the 💀 ☠️ to new life.
That Power Plant and Transmission transplant gave it a new lease on life.
We test drove that Wagon, talk about the torque that power plant and transmission had to me was unbelievable. We pushed both power plant and transmission to the limit at that time to us it was like driving a new car. The power that power plant had under the hood damn near blew our socks off. You can imagine the excitement we felt at that time.
A few years later an 86 GMC Sierra Classic Suburban was bought for a gift 🎁 from our mom 👩🏽 that hit the lottery. It was Fully Equipped, Fully Loaded and Loaded with Electric ⚡️ powered tailgate glass factory 🏭 installed roof rack rear wind 💨 🌬️ window deflector to help keep the electric ⚡️ powered tailgate glass clean 🧼 🧽 and clear of debris, dirt and dust with a 4 on the fly 4X4. And AM/FM Stereo with tilt steering wheel and cruise 🚢 control as years progressed in the 2000 thousands I brought a 1991 Mercury Brougham Grand Marquis LS Park Lane Beach 🏝️ 🏖️ Wagon Station 🚉 Wagon and a 94 Ford Custom Econoline Customized Fully Equipped, Fully Loaded and Fully E150 Van. The company that customized the van 🚐 for Ford Car Quest Custom Customizers.
Oh prior before those Rides from the early to late ⏰ 80’s I had a 78 Dodge Diplomat 2dr coupe dark brown with white landau roof, a 79 Mercury Cougar XR7 and a 76 Chevy Caprice Classic 2dr coupe maroon with a white vinyl roof.
Like i said before before and I’ll say it again I’ll take take any if not all of the Antique, Classic and Vintage Big 3 Automakers of the 50’s, 60’s 70’s 80’s and early 90’s of those era year. Especially the Luxuriously, Luxurious, Luxury Land Cruisers, Luxurious Luxury Land Liners and Luxury Land Yachts. From the years 69 to 99 GMC Sierra Classic Suburbans, the 2000 to 2020 Cadillac Escalade and GMC Yukon XL and Yukon XL Denali, Ford 2000 to 05 Eddie Bauer Series Excursion to the Expedition EL, LTD, Eddie Bauer Series and the 2000 to 20 Lincoln Navigator L Platinum Series.
Over these new cars 🚗 🚘 🚙 and SUV’s 🚙 that are made and manufactured today.
Ivan, you’ve had quite the selection of cars – thank you for sharing this. I can only imagine your disappointment when your ’81 Olds was totaled by the driver in the Dodge van. Thankfully, it sounds like your nieces were spared.
And how exciting that your Ford wagon was able to be brought back to life with the Lincoln transplant. When you finally turned the key and fired it up and it worked like it was supposed to.
And I’ve long been a fan of the original M-Body coupes from 1977 – ’79. I saw a Diplomat coupe, maybe a ’78, a few summers ago and it looked really sharp. A sensibly sized and beautifully styled personal luxury coupe of the day. I’ll admit I’m partial to the “upside down” headlights of the concurrent LeBaron, but both cars have that dramatic rear deck styling that I think has held up really well. I’d like to think some really nice examples still exist out there.
The build quality on those “late 70’s Diplomats, Lebarons” was abysmal.
Even though I was never and still am not much of a Ford guy, I’ve always loved these for the box look with super clean lines. Much the same reason why I have liked so many Chrysler products over those same years. These GM’s had some of the most comfy seats in the industry and visibility outward was great. That’s a very nice looking car in the brown too.
Those seats were very comfortable. I remember riding in my grandparents’ car in the summer sometimes and thinking I was afraid to get even a little sweat on those seats, but the ice-cold a/c took care of things in a hurry!
Of the cars that I’ve owned I wish I would have kept two … the ’62 Chrysler Newport my dad gave me back in 1970 and the ’88 Mercury Grand Marquis LS I bought in 2001.
The Newport was my first car and the Grand Marquis was my best car.
Excellent. I do remember really liking the ’88 restyle when they first came out.
I’m on a program with my Dietician so no brownies for me, but that Grand Marquis looks irresistible. I’d definitely take a bite, especially in that colour. Dark tones often need a chrome frosting to work and we have that in abundance here.
Earlier today I saw a brand new brown metallic car, an unusual shade here in SA, and thought ”Ýeah! this looks so right” It was a Haval H6 SUV in Messiah Brown. I liked the colour so much I looked it up soon as I got home.
In my opinion, brown is one of those colors that can make an ordinary car look special. Brown seemed to go through a mini popularity boost here in the US about 10-15 years ago, and I remember seeing a brown Buick LeSabre around my neighborhood. Not a car I was particularly attracted to, but I found that brown LeSabre oddly alluring. I can see the same holding true for newer SUVs like the Haval too.
I don’t think I had ever heard of Haval as a make before I read this, so of course I had to look it up. And “Messiah Brown” wasn’t an autocorrect mishap, but apparently the actual name of the color – and it is gorgeous. There’s a lot of red in it.
Yes, I’ve got to say that “Messiah Brown” ranks up there with the most unusual automotive colors I’ve come across.
If it’s any comfort to you, being a chocoholic is not mutually exclusive from living healthily. My grandmother lived to be 106, and (as frequently happens with very old people) folks would often ask what’s the secret of her longevity. She’d often say “chocolate,” which was a lifelong indulgence of hers.
I, on the other hand, never liked chocolate much. That caused my grandmother to think I was an alien or something. But despite that, I’ve always liked brown cars, and I hope they come back in fashion. And something about that chocolatey brown interior such seems so… relaxing. No surprise, I think this was the Grand Marquis’ best color.
Props to your grandmother, Eric! I mean, chocolate – I have to be able to have something. I don’t drink, smoke, a lot of things… I’ve got to have something! Something, I tell you! Let me have chocolate on weekends! LOL
I’ve seen “good” brown on cars, and “bad” brown, and the good browns look really good to me. The bad browns look awful. I would also like to see a brown car renaissance of some of the beautiful shades, like the one on this Mercury.
One beautiful ride.
Prior to my current classic, a 1964 Chevrolet Bel Air Six, I owned a 1984 Mercury Grand Marquis LS that I bought cheaply in 2014 from the Netherlands for something like 1,500 dollars. It was a high-mileage car and had quite a bit of visible wear and tear, but it was complete, everything worked, and rust was not a major problem. Also, Panthers are an absolute rarity over here, which spoke in the car’s favor.
I’ve always liked the boxy Panthers, particularly the ’79-87 models, so I don’t regret my decision to buy the GM even though it did give me some major headaches:
– The AOD needed a rebuild one year after the purchase.
– The 302’s main bearings made foreboding sounds, so a rebuilt engine was installed.
– Ford’s pathetic CFI system never worked properly no matter what remedies were tried.
All these and some other minor problems notwithstanding, I held on to that car for seven years and did get some fun out of it.
In summary, though, it was a costly experience. I don’t buy old cars to make money, but the Grand Marquis was just too much of a budget-buster. When the Bel Air came up, I was glad to let the Mercury go for approx. 7,000 dollars.
The picture attached shows the Merc parked on my street next to a neighbor’s car.