When Mercury merged with Ford in 1945, it became Ford’s intermediary brand. Mercury sat between the lower-tier Ford brand and the higher-tier Lincoln brand. In its early years, they focused on large, high-displacement V8 cars to fill the gaps in the Ford/Lincoln lineups.
After Ford revisited the Mercury strategy in the late 1950s, they began to reverse the downswing with new full-size models. However, they then introduced the Cougar and Marquis in the later part of the 1960s as an introduction to the muscle segment. The Cyclone was also added to the line in 1964 as a submodel of the Comet.
For collectors today, five of the best classic cheap muscle cars are the 1970 Ford Torino 429, 1968 Ford Thunderbird 429, 1971 Pontiac LeMans 455 HO, 1968 Mercury Cyclone 390, and 1968 Buick GS 350. These represent the ultimate of the muscle car era. They have long hoods, short decks, big-block V8 engines (except the…
Introduced in 1960, the Mercury Comet was one of the most consistent performers of the Ford lineup for many years until its demise in 1977. From 1964–1971, Mercury produced the high performance version of the Comet, which they branded the Mercury Cyclone. The Cyclone got larger V8 engines and increased performance, and was a very…
From the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, the Mercury Cougar was one of the top pony car options on the American market. Essentially a luxury version of the Ford Mustang, the Cougar was a top performer for Mercury and a solid ride. Its original run lasted from 1967–1997, before Ford briefly retired it for one model…
