Well, that's not my Merc up there... It belongs to Seb at www.85merk.com, but it was the only picture of an '85 Mercury Grand Marquis I could find! That one up there is particularly hot... It's the Grand Marquis SS. Still, it's a picture of a Merc. (P.S. Mine is gray, not black.)
I guess, when it comes right down to it, it's not my Merc at all. It really belongs to my mom, but I drive it up here to work and around town and such. I love the boxy 302 P.O.S., but I won't be driving it around for a while, due to a little mishap I had last week while on the road home from work.
I hit a little patch of ice as I headed up a hill and this was the result.
ANATOMY OF A WRECK.
I'll let the picture do all the talking. You can pretty much see what happened from the little diagram I've mocked up. When the engine died, it didn't turn over again, and now there's something wrong with the fuel pump, or the fuel injection system somewhere. Dammit anyhow.
At any rate, Mercs rule absolutely. We've had our '85 around for two or three years now and it hasn't given us an inch of trouble except for maybe a flat tire once or twice. I'll definately put more Mercury Appreciation stuff on here, as I find it.
That reminds me! My brother and I had to take the family's Ford pickup to the dealer to get it serviced, and we borrowed a 1976 Mercury Cougar XR7 to drive around in. It was in almost IMMACULATE condition, only 56,000 ORIGINAL MILES on it! Factory tacometer!! Leather dash! Perfect seats! Mag rims!! (drooool...) I wanted it big time, as I'm in the market for a car of my own, and it fit me like a glove. Gimme a minute...I gotta go find a picture of one of these babies! [some internet searching later...]
Ahh, the XR7. I actually got to drive one! For people of my generation, the chance to get behind the wheel of something like this is a real treat, and this particular XR7 was so beautiful that having to leave it behind at the dealer just wasn't fair!
I've found some pictures of similar Cougars... A '70, a '71, but no '76. Just to give you an idea...
A 1970 Cougar...I don't think it's an XR7, but it could be. I'm no expert, but the rearend of this one looks a lot like the one I took for a spin.
This one's DEFINATELY an XR7, but a '71 model instead of a '76. Kind of like the '76, but seems bulkier and stuff. (I'm really, really, really not an expert.)
Original Material © 2002 JST