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Junkyard Gem: 1977 Mercury Bobcat

Cultural memory of the Ford Pinto, 38 years after the last new ones were sold, boils down to one thing today: the notorious "exploding Pinto" stories of the late 1970s. Yes, many Pinto jokes were told, the resale value of Pintos crashed, and few paid any attention to the fact that most of the cars sold with the fuel tank between the rear axle and the bumper — that is, just about every Detroit car made during the era — suffered from the same weakness. The Mercury version of the Pinto was badged as the Bobcat, but nobody told Bobcat jokes. Here's a '77 Mercury Bobcat 3-Door in vivid Medium Jade paint, spotted in a Denver self-service yard. The Pinto with glass rear hatch was known as the Pinto Runabout in 1977, while Mercury called this car the " Bobcat 3-door with Glass Third Door." When a car sits for years or decades in High Plains Colorado, rodents tend to nest in it. This Bobcat's air cleaner made a cozy home for our Hantavirus-carrying friends. The 1970s were the last gasp for eye-searingly green vinyl car interiors. Since the Bobcat was a luxed-up Pinto, the door panels have shinier trim than what you'd have had in a proletariat-grade Pinto. Pinto/Bobcat transmission choices boiled down to two: a four-speed manual or a three-speed automatic. Unusually for a Malaise Era Mercury, this one has the manual. Most Pintos and Bobcats came with four-cylinder engines, ranging from the 1.6-liter pushrod Kent to the 2.3-liter engine that lived on for many post-Pinto years in Ford Rangers. This car has the 2.3, rated at 89 horsepower, but the same 2.8-liter Cologne V6 that powered the Capri was available as an option in the Bobcat. That engine made a mighty 93 horsepower. These cars were not too miserable to drive by econobox standards of their time, at least when they had three pedals. You'd blow the doors off a '77 Corolla with a 4-speed Bobcat in a drag race, though the Corolla got better fuel economy. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Gives you hundreds of pounds more car than most small imports and includes standard self-adjusting rear brakes! Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Featured Gallery Junked 1979 Mercury Bobcat View 15 Photos Auto News Mercury Automotive History ford pinto bobcat

Feds open investigation into Chevy Express, Ford Freestar rust issues

'Tis the season... for road salt. And with that, comes rust. And what does rust bring? Well, for Ford and General Motors, a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation. According to The Detroit News, NHTSA is looking into potential recalls issues with Chevrolet Express vans and Ford Freestar minivans.
The feds have received five complaints that rust has caused leaking fuel filler pipes on 2003 Express vans. Separately, seven complaints have been filed over excessive rust in the rear wheel wells of 2004 Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey minivans. The Freestar and Monterey went out of production in 2007. Neither issue has resulted in any crashes or injuries, according to the report.

Ford recalls 382k vehicles across six campaigns

Ford needs to repair a total of 381,633 vehicles in North America across six newly announced campaigns, including five safety recalls and one compliance recall. By far the largest of these campaigns covers the 342,271 examples of the 1998-2003 Windstar to double check an earlier recall repair. Among these, 283,413 are in the US and 58,858 are in Canada. The combination of corrosion and stress can cause cracks in the rear axle and eventually lead to the part to snap completely. The company reports a small number of accidents might be connected to this, but there are no injuries. The minivans were recalled for this issue back in 2010, and it was investigated by NHTSA. According to Ford's latest announcement, the reinforcement brackets on some of these models might not have been installed correctly. This time, dealers will perform an inspection. Minivans with incorrectly installed brackets will get a new rear axle. The rest of the owners will be offered a deal to replace the part at a reduced cost. The next largest campaign covers 36,857 examples of the 2015 F-150 to fix a problem with the adaptive cruise control. Specifically, there are 33,481 affected trucks in the US, and 3,376 in Canada. According to Ford, "when passing a large, highly reflective truck" the radar in the system can misidentify a semi as being in the same lane as the pickup. The collision warning system would then activate, slowing the F-150. There's one report of an accident with this happening but no injuries. The fix is simply an update to the adaptive cruise control module software. Ford also has a recall for 1,477 examples of its 2016 F-53 and F-59 stripped chassis models, and they're all located in the US. A manufacturing issue might allow the trucks to shift into reverse without the driver first applying the brakes. There are no reports of any accidents from this, though. To repair the problem, the models get a new transmission shift control bracket and an adjustment to the shift cable. The Blue Oval's safety compliance recall covers 708 examples of the 2016 Fusion and Lincoln MKZ, including 658 of them in the US, 28 in Canada, and 22 in Mexico. On these models, a manufacturing problem with the fuel tank could allow it to crack in a crash, which isn't allowed under federal rules. There are no reports of accidents, injuries or fires. The fix will be a new fuel tank for all of them. The company is also repairing 251 units of the 2015 Taurus and Lincoln MKS, plus the 2016 Explorer.