Tag: mercury

Kit Cat: Mercury Cougar makes perfect Bugatti Veyron substitute

Filed under: Coupe, Etc., Bugatti, Mercury, Humor, Specialty

Bugatti Veyron kit car – Click above for high-res image gallery

If you’ve got a pulse in your wrist and a snapping brain cell in your head, chances are you wouldn’t mind parking a Bugatti Veyron in your garage. But for most mere mortals, scrounging up the cash for a physics-bending piece of 16-cylinder glory would require all sorts of unpalatable tasks. Fortunately for those who want to look the part without having to participate in human trafficking, the kit car universe has stepped in to save the day. All you need is a 1999-2002 Mercury Cougar, a boat load of fiberglass and a little patience.

Oh, and $89,000.

Is that cheaper than an actual Veyron? Sure. Is it $73,000 more than we’d pay for this car? Absolutely. For that low price you’ll get all the looks of the Bug with a fraction of the actual performance. Buyers can look forward to a blistering 170 horsepower from a 2.5-liter V6 kicking at the front wheels via a four-speed automatic transmission. Don’t expect much else.

This particular machine is up for bid via eBay Motors, with four days left on the auction. Act now.

Gallery: Bugatti Veyron kit car

[Sources: PistonHeads, eBayMotors]

Kit Cat: Mercury Cougar makes perfect Bugatti Veyron substitute originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 14:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Mercury spokesmodel Jill Wagner defects to GM for Inside The Vault

Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Videos, GM, Celebrities

GM Inside the Vault

Jill Wagner on Inside the Vault – Click above to watch video after the jump

The first few episodes of Inside the Vault, the new General Motors marketing vehicle, have officially hit the airwaves. The clips feature some familiar faces from around the automotive sphere, including that of the lovely Jill Wagner, the former face of Mercury. Motor Trend Editor Angus MacKenzie and comedian Alonzo Bodden also stop by to lend host Chris Collinsworth a hand as GM looks into what makes a great guy road trip. Needless to say, the chariot of choice is a Cadillac CTS Coupe during one of the segments, but surprisingly enough, the video series doesn’t seem hell-bent on beating you over the head with the fact that the whole program is designed to shill GM vehicles. They’re even mostly entertaining.

The on-air personalities don’t seem stilted or overly scripted and Bodden helps throw in some needed levity. We have to feel a little pang of sympathy for Wagner, though. As the sole female on the cast, she’s left to defend womankind against the tide of machismo as the ambassador of her sex.

Hit the jump to check out the clips for yourself, and head over to Inside The Vault to see more episodes.

[Source: Inside the Vault]

Continue reading Video: Mercury spokesmodel Jill Wagner defects to GM for Inside The Vault

Video: Mercury spokesmodel Jill Wagner defects to GM for Inside The Vault originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 12:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jill Wagner retired as Mercury spokeswoman

Filed under: Etc., Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Mercury, Celebrities

Jill WagnerJill Wagner has officially given up her crown as the queen of Mercury. With the Ford middle child on its way to the scrap heap, Wagner no longer has any automotive hardware to promote. Given her varied talents, we wouldn’t be surprised to see her pick up where she left off with another automaker.

And here you thought you’d never be upset about Mercury’s passing.

Thanks for the tip, Gregg!

[Source: Twitter]

Jill Wagner retired as Mercury spokeswoman originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 17 Nov 2010 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Last Mercury for retail business built on Sunday

Filed under: SUV, Plants/Manufacturing, Mercury, Earnings/Financials

Mercury

Ford is already well into winding down its Mercury line, and the autoamker has announced that the very last of the soon-to-be dead brand’s products built for retail sales was manufactured on Sunday, October 3. The final Mercury Mariner rolled off of the assembly line at the company’s Kansas City facility, putting an end to a brand with over 70 years of history behind it.

Even after the Mariner heads off into the automotive sunset, Ford says that it will continue to manufacture a handful of Mercury models for fleet and government service for a while longer, though mum’s the word on how long we can expect that practice to continue.

Interestingly enough, according to USA Today, most incentives on Mercury vehicles have all but dried up, even as the brand’s August production increased by 120 percent compared to July’s figures. Instead of cash on the hood, some areas are offering no-cost maintenance or similar programs. Even so, Mercury has continued to out-sell Lincoln right to the end – besting Ford’s luxury arm’s sales by nine percent in August.

[Source: USA Today]

Report: Last Mercury for retail business built on Sunday originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 17:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mercury Messenger Concept up on the block at RM Auctions

Filed under: Concept Cars, Coupe, Auctions, Mercury

2003 Mercury Messenger Concept – Click above for high-res image gallery

“Mercury is a brand sending a message that modern design will lead its rejuvenation. Mercury is returning to its roots as a design leader introducing the Messenger concept, a distinctive and energetic high-performance two-seat sports coupe.” So said Ford’s former interplanetary brand when it introduced the Mercury Messenger at the 2003 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Needless to say, that hoped-for rejuvenation never actually panned out.

As much as we’d like to say that Ford spent a few hundred million giving Mercury a much-needed halo car instead of shuttering the brand entirely, it didn’t happen and the reality is that the eight generation of the Mercury Cougar went on to be the last non-Ford-based automobile ever to roll off the showroom floor. Sad, no?

Perhaps all is not lost, however. According to Automotive Traveler, the 2003 Mercury Messenger Concept is about to go under the gavel at the RM Auction during the festivities at Pebble Beach on August 13 and 14. Proceeds from the sale will benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Because the car was nothing more than a styling exercise, there’s no drivetrain in the Messenger… but we’d like to think that some willing participant will find a way to make it all go down the road with a brand spankin’ new 5.0-liter V8 underhood.

Gallery: 2003 Mercury Messenger Concept

[Source: Automotive Traveler via Hooniverse]

Mercury Messenger Concept up on the block at RM Auctions originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 03 Aug 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ouch! Killing Mercury said to cost Ford $500 million

Filed under: Ford, Mercury

Mercury

In life, Mercury was an under-funded brand mainly composed of waterfall grilles stapled to bone-stock Ford models. In death, however, Mercury apparently gets to see some of the money it always dreamed of having when it was alive. According to Automotive News, Ford CFO Lewis Booth claims that shutting down Mercury before the end of this year will cost the Oval roughly $500 million overall. Booth says Ford already took a $247 million charge in the first half of 2010 to cover the neglected marque’s mercy killing.

The lion’s share of the money being spent will go toward buying out 700 of the 1,700 Mercury dealers across the United States. Back in June, we told you about a package that Ford was presenting to dealers who sign a termination agreement. The reported buyout totaled as much as $200,000 per dealership. (Actual dollar amounts for individual dealers were based on the number of vehicles they sold over a three-year period; more cars moved meant more FoMoCo cash received.)

Would a half-billion invested in updated Mercury product instead of a cash-lined casket have made a difference? Mercury’s sales numbers (or lack thereof) suggest that few car shoppers would have even noticed. Ditching Mercury to concentrate on bread-and-butter Ford has seemed like a no-brainer for years. More importantly, Lincoln, which hasn’t exactly lit up the monthly By the Numbers reports of late, should only benefit from the much-needed infusion of resources that were previously being wasted keeping Mercury afloat.

[Source: Automotive News – sub. req.]

Ouch! Killing Mercury said to cost Ford $500 million originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 24 Jul 2010 12:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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