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Mercury Colony Park Wagon Long Roof Shooting Brake Wood Grain Sides on 2040-cars

Year:1968 Mileage:74000
Location:

Hialeah, Florida, United States

Hialeah, Florida, United States
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I have always liked wagons and purchased this one a few years back. I remember back in the day these were the cars that were used to pull race cars to meets. I still enjoy watching old movies like The Thomas Crown affair and The Get Away and seeing these old wagons cruising along. I searched for years before coming upon this one and I really never thought I would be selling it. However, my addiction to vintage VWs and family obligations simply don't afford me any more room or time. So here goes...

I purchased the car from the second owner here in Florida. He acquired the car from the original owner who kept the car inside of his warehouse. As far as I can tell, it is mostly original except for one re-spray in it's original color and a few things that I did after I purchased it. For example, the rear cargo area was pretty beat up when I got it so I reupholstered the rear panels and refinished the cargo area and also replaced the headliner. I then installed new shocks, springs, brakes, white wall tires, and performed a full tune up. The mileage on the car is original, the drivetrain is original, the carpet, seats and door panels are all original.

MECHANICAL - The car drives very well and has lots of power with it's original 390 and automatic transmission. The choke system on the carb works with heat from the manifold that comes up through some steel tubes. Those tubes were missing when I bought the car so I made some and the choke works as expected. However, I am not a fan of this system and would recommend changing to an electric choke. White wall tires, springs, shocks and brakes are all new.

BODY- The paint is old and faded, but I have waxed it in the past and it looks fairly decent then. However, the paint on the hood is badly "checked". The body of the car has some rust, but nothing structural (see photographs). There is rust on the bottom of both rear doors, the tailgate, the left rear window and the cargo belly area. This is something that should be taken care of soon before it gets worse, even if the car isn't repainted. Someone "fixed" a dent in the lower part of the rear left fender and the repair leaves a lot to be desired. The Nidoc (wood grain) is original and faded. I tried using a bunch of different products to try and make it look better and the best results were with Liquid Gold furniture polish. The first two photographs show the car after applying this product to the wood grain and the results are night and day. However, it eventually does wear off. But here in the wonderful South Florida heat and humidity it holds up for about two weeks. All the chrome looks nice, but is not perfect and has it's share of dings and scratches. The rubber door and window seals are old and should be replaced.

INTERIOR - The interior looks good overall and is original except for the rear cargo area which I refinished. There are no rips or tears in the seats. The door panels look nice, but there are some areas that are a bit faded and some of the trim shows wear. The front power seat works well. The rear seat folds down and locks in the upright position as designed. I made a carpeted mat for the cargo area that can extend out to cover the whole area when the seats are folded down. The carpeting is faded and worn in places, but original. All of the windows roll up and down as intended and all doors open and close properly. The dash is nice and clean, and everything works except the clock. The dash pad top is severely cracked from the sun. The glove box contains the original owner's manual and some old maps. Some of the plastic coverings and buttons on the buckles of the seat belts are broken and/or missing. The rear view mirror recently came unglued but will be installed prior to delivery.

OTHER - The rear tail gate is what Ford called the "magic door", as it can be either folded down tailgate style or swung open. A switch on the dash controls opening and closing of the power rear window.

I have a box of extra parts for it which include mechanical parts, reflectors, name plates, and even an original "tear-drop" antenna which I had planned on installing after painting.

I have provided numerous photographs in order to allow prospective buyers to make their own assessment as to the overall condition of the car. I highly recommend seeing the car in person due to the subjective nature of condition assessments of vehicle, particularly vintage and antique cars.

Now on a more personal note: If you like the car, please feel free to bid. The worst thing that can happen is that you don't win. The best thing that can happen is that you do win and then you will have one very cool wagon. With that said, I humbly ask that if you intend to buy this car and do what those folks at Gas Monkey Garage did to that Chevy wagon, please don't tell me. I have had more heart breaks than I can bare and just can't stand any more.

Oh, and one more thing....

I am on eBay a lot. Probably too much actually. I buy. I sell. But I also see all sorts of strange things on here, like cars that don't sell for $10k and then get relisted for $20k. Other times I see cars that "sell", and then some time later the same car pops up again. Then, it "sells" again, but then pops up again, and again, and again, and again. I see this plenty and I really don't understand why. I have sold items on eBay where the buyer has not kept up with his end of the bargain and ended up having to relist the item, but not 10 times. My point is this: I am listing the car for sale because I want to sell it, not because I have to. The reason I don't have to is because I live in what I believe to be the greatest country on earth, where I don't have to do anything. I don't like playing games with this sort of thing, so if the car doesn't sell within the allotted time, you very likely won't see it here again.

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Junkyard Gem: 1979 Mercury Marquis 2-Door Sedan

Sun, Jul 25 2021

As the creator of the now-much-overused term "Malaise Era" (which I say started in 1973 and ended in 1983, full stop), I have a certain affection for the big two-door Detroit cars of the late 1970s. When such a car is built on the very first model year of Ford's long-lived Panther platform and I find one in a junkyard, I must document it. The 1979 Mercury Marquis is such a car, and this one was found in a San Francisco Bay Area self-service yard last month. Since Ford built the Grand Marquis all the way through the demise of the Panther platform— and Mercury itself— in 2011, it's easy for us to forget that the model name started out as just the plain old Marquis, back in the 1967 model year, with the Grand appellation used for the car's top trim level. While today's Junkyard Gem has some of the features of the Grand Marquis and Marquis Brougham trim levels for 1979 (notably the padded vinyl landau roof and power windows), it lacks the huge chrome lower-body moldings of those cars. Instead, it's a regular Marquis 2-door sedan with a big load of expensive options. That landau roof has suffered greatly from its decades beneath the vinyl-disintegrating California sun. The Panther platform was a big technological upgrade from the late-1950s-vintage chassis technology of full-sized Fords of the 1960s and 1970s, and it stayed in front-line service in much the same form through 2011. Though its ride and handling were much improved, the 1979 Marquis was quite a bit smaller than its predecessors, and that caused some grumbling among Mercury shoppers. Some ham-handed junkyard shoppers really tore up the interior of this car while extracting a few bits and pieces, but we can still admire the Pine Green pleather of the glorious Twin Comfort Lounge front seats. You had two engine choices when buying a new '79 Marquis: the base 302-cubic-inch (5.0-liter) Windsor V8 making 129 horsepower or the optional 351-cubic-inch (5.8-liter) Windsor V8 rated at 138 horsepower. This one appears to be the 351, the same engine as had been swapped into the pizza-delivery Mercury I drove in the middle 1980s. New cars sold in California around this time had these giant emissions-numbers stickers on the side glass. Later, they went on the underside of the hood.

More than 800,000 Fords recalled for faulty Takata airbags

Thu, Jan 12 2017

The Basics: Ford is recalling about 816,000 Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles built in the US for faulty passenger-side Takata airbags. The affected vehicles were all built in North America, with 654,695 recalled vehicles in the US and 161,174 vehicles in Canada. A wide variety of cars, trucks, and SUVs are affected. This is a planned expansion of an earlier recall. 2005-09 and 2012 Ford Mustang 2005-06 Ford GT 2006-09 and 2012 Ford Fusion 2007-09 Ford Ranger 2007-09 Ford Edge 2006-09 and 2012 Lincoln Zephyr and Lincoln MKZ 2007-09 Lincoln MKX 2006-09 Mercury Milan The Problem: Like every other Takata recall, the problem rests with faulty airbags that can potentially expel shrapnel, injuring or killing vehicle occupants. Millions of vehicles from dozens of automakers are affected, so don't think that Ford is alone on this one. Injuries/Deaths: Ford stated in a press release that there have been no injuries or death linked to the vehicles in this recall. All in all, 11 deaths and 180 injuries across a variety of automakers have been linked to these Takata airbags. The fix: Ford will contact owners soon, and the affected vehicles will have their airbags replaced by a dealer at no additional charge. If you own one: Wait for contact from Ford, then head to the dealer to get a replacement. If you're wondering if your vehicle is affected, go to this Ford website and enter their Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). The recall reference number is 17S01. Related Video: News Source: FordImage Credit: Associated Press Recalls Ford Lincoln Mercury Auto Repair Ownership Safety Truck Coupe Crossover SUV Sedan airbag Takata airbag recall

Junkyard Gem: 1992 Mercury Grand Marquis LS

Thu, Nov 24 2022

We've all been seeing the instantly familiar Ford Crown Victoria P71 Police Interceptor on North American roads for what seems like forever, though in fact the very first of the aerodynamic Crown Vics didn't appear until a mere 31 years ago. Yes, after more than a decade of boxy LTD Crown Victorias, Dearborn took the late-1970s-vintage Panther platform and added a brand-new, Taurus-influenced smooth body and modern overhead-cam V8 engine, giving us the 1992 Ford Crown Victoria. The rule was, since 1939, that (nearly) every Ford model needed a corresponding Mercury, and so the Mercury Division applied different grille and taillights and the rejuvenated Grand Marquis was born. Here's one of the first of those cars to be built, now residing in a Denver-area self-service boneyard. The Marquis name goes respectably far back, to the late 1960s and a Mercurized version of the Ford LTD hardtop. The Grand Marquis began life as the name for an interior trim package on the 1974 Marquis Brougham (also LTD-based), eventually becoming a model in its own right for the 1979 model year. Today's Junkyard Gem came off the Ontario assembly line in March 1991, making one of the very first examples built. For 1992 (and through 2011), the Grand Marquis was a Crown Victoria with slightly enhanced bragging rights. This one has the top-grade LS trim, with an MSRP of $20,644 (that's about $44,370 in inflation-adjusted 2022 dollars). The corresponding Ford-badged model (built on the same assembly line by the same workers) would have been the Crown Victoria LX, which actually cost a bit more: $20,987 ($44,910 now). The very cheapest civilian 1992 Crown Vic cost just $19,563 ($42,045 today). There weren't any powertrain differences between the Crown Victoria and Grand Marquis in 1992. The only engine available was this Modular 4.6 SOHC V8, rated at either 190 (single exhaust) or 210 (dual exhaust) horsepower. The transmission was a four-speed automatic with overdrive. How many miles are on this one? Can't say! Based on the worn-out interior, I'm going to guess 221,719 miles passed beneath this car's wheels during its 32-plus years on the road. I've seen some very high-mile Police Interceptors, of course, including one with 412,013 miles, but Ford didn't go to six-digit odometers in the Grand Marquis until a bit deeper into the 1990s. Thanks to flawed speech-to-text applications on smartphones, the Grand Marquis is known as the "Grandma Keith" to many of us today.