Readers who follow my posts may or may not remember a previous post I had on our 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis. On that occasion, I shared an ancillary fun story about the car. For today, I’ll provide a fuller version of our story with the vehicle, the last car my father in law, Paul, ever owned. As you may know, I’ve talked many times here about him, and on January 22nd, he passed away peacefully. I thought it might be fitting to do a write up on the last car he was able to pick out, and that is now a precious family heirloom.
The story begins in May of 2023. At the time, Paul was driving a 2018 Chevy Equinox. We live in the Northeast of Tennessee near the Virginia border, and one day, he and I drove my mother in law, Ethel, to the local Walmart, about two miles from home on the main road. Later that day, I was cleaning the house and Paul decided to go pick her up by himself. Later that day, I got a frantic phone call from Ethel saying he was late. Turned out, he went up into Virginia and got lost for three hours. Finally, he called my phone and I was able to help him find his way.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Ethel insisted that Paul’s keys and driving privileges be taken away. I was “nominated” to do this very difficult task and wanted to make things as pleasant as possible. Cindy (my wife) and I had already discussed me getting another car for myself, and now that we knew that the Equinox had to go away, the timing was perfect.
As I shared in a previous post, Paul was a fun father in law and he loved his cars. By 2018 he had owned 71 of them (I’m sitting at 77!), traveled all over, had run four businesses and enjoyed life. So, in order to soften the blow, I told Paul that, while we would be making a new purchase for me to drive him around, I wanted him to pick the car from the selections I would show him. It worked.
We started out looking for a 1995-98 Town Car but had no luck. So I moved to the idea of a newer Grand Marquis. There was a clean one just a couple hours away that fit the budget and needs, so I showed it to Paul. He loved the car, gave me his input, which was all good and told me what he’d offer. Then, he asked if he could go with me to pick it up. This, turned out, would be his last road trip.
I called the dealer, made the offer and told the salesman that my father in law would be with me for the deal. I explained the family situation and said that Paul would doing the negotiation. Which he did! He was pointing out imperfections and making sure that we got a better deal. It made him feel very special.
Today, that same car belongs to our son Jacob. And, knowing it was grandpa’s last car (of sorts) makes it that much more special. Throughout our years together, Paul was a mentor and taught me the art of business and great customer service-things that are lost today. I will miss Paul dearly, but still have access to “his last car.”
Also, I wanted to thank Rich for keeping in touch with me. In November, I was about 10 hours away from my own death due to blood clots in both lungs. Slowly, my health is coming back, and one of my blessings is being able to write for CC. Thanks to all for being part of these stories.
Related CC reading:
My 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis: My Kindness Comes In Different Forms
Hang on to this! They were great old school cars with a real body on frame built , eight cylinder engines and fairly luxurious interiors. Even the parts supply is still good, A real cruiser, great for long trips. Also a tangible reminder of a person who was loved and a valuable reminder of your relationship. In today world of faceless, look alike SUVs, the character if this car just stands out among most of them. It may be an ‘old mans car’ but that’s part of its charm. I personally had a `92 Grand Marquis and I loved it,
Thank you Phil. The timing for both the purchase of the GM and passing it on to our son were both perfect. Our son had an 02 BMW 330ci that he’d already had to put a clutch in. He didn’t tell me much one day but said he thought the coolant was low, which it was, so I topped it off. On the way to trade it in on my replacement vehicle (a 2017 Explorer Sport) his car overheated. There was a mechanic with me who said it was any number of issues including a possible broken pipe on the radiator. The dealer was a still happy to get it.
Similar experience but decades earlier. When I bought my original condition 1930 bungalow in 1987, I knew I’d be doing a lot of Home Depot/Handy Dan runs so one of my cars had to be traded for a pickup truck. The ‘81 Corolla coupe was a great, reliable daily driver, the ‘79 Audi 5000 was a lovely car but fussy. I traded the Audi in on a new Nissan hardbody SEV6; as I arrived at the dealer on deal day the car was overheating horribly despite all new cooling workings being replaced 2 months earlier. Backed it into a spot, tossed them the keys and said “good luck with all that”. Loved the car but don’t miss the constant apprehension when taking it out of the neighborhood….
Great story and a fine selection from your father in law.
Back in 2021, I sold a 2019 VW Golf Sportwagen to Carvana to get a panther platform. I wanted one in good condition to daily before they were all used up and or overpriced. The Grand Marquis is the best fit, right in middle of the offering between the mostly beat up Crown Vics and higher priced Town cars. The VW was bought new at pre covid prices for $19k and Carvana offered me around $22k for it a year and a half later with 10k miles on it. I couldn’t pass it up.
I found a 04 Grand Marquis GS that I bought from a 93 year old lady in 2021 for $4500. The car had 45k miles. Since then, I have put 50k trouble free miles on it and it has been a treat. Love these cars.
Yes, your story falls in line with our experience. I was surprised when we found this one because it has every option from the year including that trunk insert, which I’ve been offered $250 for!
It even has the sales brochure with it so someone clearly loved it.
I hope it’ll give Jacob years of great service. There’s one on a Facebook group I follow that just rolled 501,000 miles.
For a guy who’s owned 77 cars (!!!) it must be a pretty special car indeed for one to be declared a priceless family heirloom. And yeah, I absolutely get it…I can see how this Mercury qualifies due to its, how shall we say, provenance. The fact that you can still take it on 1700 mile road trips is even better.
If I recall correctly, your father in law was the Rubber Stamp business guy…something I still find fascinating and was thinking about recently (given that I’ve not encountered other people who specialized in the rubber stamp business) when visiting a local museum that featured, among other things, rubber stamps. Basically everything related to printing and typography of one form or another. I may write that up here someday if I can figure out an angle that in some way intersects with cars.
Glad to hear that your own health is on the mend!
He is the one who owned Century Rubber Stamp In Manhattan. He used to tell me about how he could read upside down and backward from setting type. He told me once that Manufacturers Hanover Bank was their biggest customer!
As to my health, when the doctor told me my lungs were full of blood clots, I’d never heard of such a thing. But I couldn’t even speak a full sentence so I knew it was a dire situation. He told me what they would do but then told me the risks.
Once he told my wife I was 10-12 hours away from dying, those side effects no longer were an issue.
I don’t have the energy I did have anymore, and don’t know that I ever will. But I’m grateful for everyday.
Submassive pulmonary embolism I am guessing. That is a critical life threating condition. Glad you are still here and I do know what some of those side effects are.
I have always liked these cars whether Crown Vic or Grand Marquis although I’ll go Mercury first. This should last a very, very long time if given care. As a comparison, and I kid you not, I saw three 2011 Crown Vics two weekends ago within 30 minutes of each other. Where? Why The Streets of San Francisco as they were SFPD cars. I couldn’t believe it. Picture saved for a future story.
I remember your earlier story, and I’m glad your family still has this car!
It’s interesting about cars as family heirlooms, because earlier this month, my wife and I took over her parents’ last vehicle, which is a 1997 F-150. Her mother passed away this summer, and we happen to have needed a third car, since our kids are both learning to drive. The F-150 had several practical benefits: Namely, it was free. But because it’s old and has a low value, we also don’t get socked with personal property tax (which is quite an onerous tax here in Virginia). And of course, unlike other cheap older vehicles, we knew the history of this truck.
But I was very clear to my wife and kids that this is just a truck – PLEASE don’t get emotionally attached to it! Yeah, right. Two days after we took it over, one of my daughters told me she was emotionally attached to the truck because it was her grandfather’s. It’s inevitable, I guess. And I’m sure my in-laws would be glad that their purchase from nearly 30 years ago is still being used by their family.
Of course she did, and there’s nothing wrong with that. 🙂
In my house, we’ve managed to inherit both of my in-laws’ cars (Grandpa’s because the only way to get him off the road before he killed someone was to physically take his car, and Grandma’s because she gracefully gave it up. Draw your own conclusions.). One was sold immediately since it was a Prius and while no one here wanted that, it brought good money at the time. The other – Grandma’s low mileage FIT – has happily taken up residence with her grandson in graduate school. It does make it back here for oil changes, mechanical work such as brakes and suspension, and reattachment of various plastic bits that it sheds regularly. But knowing that it’s Grandma’s car will likely keep it on the road longer, and in good repair, than a 2015 FIT might otherwise.
As I’ve written, I tend to feel that cars have souls of a sort and are more than fungible assets. Keeping them on the road and in use by those who care about them and their human overlords is a totally rational decision in my book.
My reason for trying to get the rest of my family to view the truck as just an inanimate object was because of our last “emotionally attached car” – my wife’s Thunderbird. She bought it new in 1995, and we kept it until last year. At that point, keeping it was just economically unfeasible.
Actually, the T-bird became economically unfeasible years ago, but we kept it for sentimental reasons. But I was mad at myself for keeping it as long as we did – after all, I’d like that money we sunk on it back now. So I thought, NO MORE! Vehicles are just things, and I don’t want anyone getting emotional about one again. That lasted for two days. Oh well… it was a good try. At least we all like the truck that we’re now emotionally attached to. And it does have a soul of a sort because my in-laws were very practical people – so their truck reflected that. Nothing unnecessary… they ordered the biggest engine (5.4L), trailering package, and air-conditioning, but no other options, and even got the cloth seat deleted (saved $100!), so it has vinyl. The truck exudes their personalities.
I am so glad I came back to read this because I an really happy to know of your recovery from something so dire! You make me realize how much I take good health for granted, and I should not.
I also identify with the GMs story. I bought our 93 CV from my mother and it became a kind of family heirloom too, though one that eventually got pretty used up by 3 successive kids driving it.
These are really nice driving cars, especially if they have the sway bars. For those of us who grew up driving big cars that specialized in smooth, quiet and drama-free torque, one of these is hard to beat. I’m glad your offspring is getting to experience it!
There are still a fair number of low-mileage used Grand Mas out there at reasonable prices. They are the epitome of a classic Grandma and Grandpa car, often infrequently and lightly used. Personally, I think that the back seat should have a bit more room considering how big the car is, but that is a minor quibble. The performance and handling is very decent and the gas mileage is quite good considering the size, the room, and comfort.
My own father had a ’92 Crown Vic, ’98 Grand Marquis and an ’04 Grand Marquis before he passed a year ago. His last ride was a ’13 Traverse.
Nice story Chip about keeping a car in the family. So glad to hear about your recovery as you strike me as being the best of men. I’m just at that age where I feel a health reckoning is coming. I want to stave it off but I am sure every 60 year old does.
Thank you. I had a lot of time to think while laying in ICU with both hands being used for medical devices, so no iPhone!
I should have be dead so many times over- I’ve had a gun drawn on me twice, had 4 TIA’S and a heart attack, my triglycerides were once 1760, etc!
I really came out of that hospital a changed man having learned to appreciate the little things.
To say that Grand Marquis is super special is an understatement. Watching Paul negotiate was priceless!
My new to me replacement is a 17 Explorer Sport so we’ll see how that goes.
I always enjoy your stories Chip, but the last paragraph was a bit disconcerting. Take care of yourself! Your family (and CC) are counting on you! All the best.
Very kind words, thank you. This came from nowhere. I’d never even heard of blood clots in my lungs before. And it was a whee bit scary!
I truly enjoy writing so thank you for having me. In the meantime, my cardiologist sees no heart issues so now on to a hematology doctor to find what is going on.