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Mercury rises around sexy Cougar pack

With a slightly larger body and a more luxurious interior, the Mercury Cougar doesn't carry quite as much cachet among pony car enthusiasts as the venerable Ford Mustang. But don't try to make that argument around Cougar super-fan Mike Brown. Since starting his Cougar collecting in 1988, Brown has become an absolute expert on the model, and he claims to have owned 400 of the Mercury pony cars in that time. Ten of them are in his collection today, not to mention a heap of spare parts in the garage. Check out some of the rarer members of Brown's fleet and allow him to tell you about them in this interesting interview from Electric Federal.

Watch as an out-of-control car demolishes gas pump

A Baltimore area man was fighting for his life Tuesday after crashing his car into a gas station. According to WBAL, the unidentified 64-year-old lost control of his vehicle for unknown reasons around 4:55 a.m. May 1 in Parkville, Md. The 2007 Mercury Milan careened downhill, ramped over a curb, and smashed full-speed into a gas station pump. The car then flipped and came to rest against one of the station's canopy support pillars. Don Karbowniczek, owner of a service station across the street, told WBAL he was shocked there wasn't more damage. It's also surprising that the car even made it to the pumps, as it had to thread past a coin-op vacuum machine, the station's sign, a utility pole, and a traffic light pole. "It came right through, took some of our bushes out, just trimmed them for us, and how it got through and flip the way it did, I don't know. From what I see on the marks, it had to go airborne and just come down on the pump," Karbowniczek said. Thankfully there was no fire or explosion. Gas pumps have shear valves - safety devices that immediately cut the flow of gasoline when a pump is damaged. The driver was rushed to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, and was in critical condition. Police theorized the driver may have become stricken with a health issue when he lost control. Related Video: News Source: WBAL Auto News Mercury maryland gas station

Ford Recalling 70k Escape and Mariner Hybrids for cooling issue

Ford is recalling about 70,209 examples of the 2005-2008 Ford Escape Hybrid and the 2006-2008 Mercury Mariner Hybrid because the cooling pumps for their hybrid systems could fail.
According to the company's defect notice, it's possible for the original "Motor Electronics Coolant (MEC) Pump" to wear out and fail, which would could cause the hybrid system to overheat. If this happens, the vehicle goes into a safety mode that takes away most or all of its power. However, braking and steering still operate normally. After cooling down, the affected models restart normally. The company says that it's not aware of any accidents or injuries related to this problem.
Ford will begin repairing the vehicles in late October, and dealers will be installing improved, brushless pumps on the affected models at no charge to owners. If drivers had their pumps fail before this recall, they can contact Ford for a possible reimbursement. Scroll down to read the recall announcement from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or download the full defect notice as a PDF, here.