Ford Ditching Mercury

[W. Gray]

The Mercury automobile is apparently biting the dust and joining the Plymouth, Pontiac, Imperial, Oldsmobile, and DeSoto in automobile heaven.

Other cars that have bitten the dust in our life time (some of us anyway) have been the Packard, Studebaker, Willys, Kaiser, Fraser, Crossley, Nash, Hudson, Marlin, Rambler, Henry J., and Metropolitan. Some folks on this forum could probably name a bunch of others.

Hard to believe--Mercury was the cat's meow from 1963 to 1968 when they featured a roll down back window.

[W. Gray]

Additional American automobiles which have disappeared during my life time:

All State (sold through the Sears catalog)

Studebaker

Checker (primarily a taxicab but up until 1983 a "civilian version" was offered.)

Tucker

Muntz

Playboy (A sporty three wheeler convertible with a removable hard top. Hugh Hefner had nothing to do with it but he was inspired by the name. The car was featured in a TV detective series in the early 1950s.)

Edsel

There has to be more.

[W. Gray]

Javelein
Corvair
El Camino
Chevette
De Lorean
Saturn
Gremlin
Airscoot (manufactured in Wichita)

and the Beechcraft Plainsman shown below, provided one had 4 - $5,000.

[twirldoggy]

I have a Mercury Sable with all the bells and whistles.  Will really miss the Mercury.   Susan

[Diane Amberg]

How about Cord, Auburn, Duesenberg, Stutz.

[W. Gray]

Susan, the Mercury Cougar entered the market with a big splash in 1967, but it was out of my price range. If I recall correctly, it was a serious upgrade to a Mustang. The only Mercury cars that attracted my attention were that Cougar and the Mercury sedans that had the roll down back window. I think the Marquis was one of the last of the big cars.


Well, Diane, I was looking for automobiles discontinued in our lifetime to make it a little more personal and easier to relate.

But those automobiles you mentioned would work if you were alive when they went out of business: 

Cord, 1937
Auburn, 1936
Dusenberg, 1937
Stutz, 1935

More:
International Harvester (They had the Scout and the Travelall)

King Midget (When I was a kid, they always advertised in Popular Mechanics, Popular Science and
Mechanix Illustrated)

Apollo (Produced by an independent company, the car came out while I was in college and disappeared before I graduated)

Bricklin

[W. Gray]

Glassic

This automobile was a fiber glass replica of a Model A Roadster complete with a rumble seat and fitted over a Scout frame. Started manufacturing sometime in the 70s maybe in Florida. I think on the inside with a radio, power steering brakes, air, etc., there was little resemblance to the original Roadster. The price was sky high but I saw one or two on the road, the last in the parking lot where I worked in the early 80s. They must have gone out of business around the same time International Harvester ceased making automobiles.

[W. Gray]

I was sitting at a stoplight at an intersection in Independence, Missouri, around 1963, when a very nice looking but strange sounding car came up along side of me. In fact, it sounded something like a toned down jet plane. The first thing I thought was that it was electric even though I did not know what an electric car might sound like.

Turned out it was one of the Chrysler gas turbine cars. There were only 50 ever made and all were the same body style and same color. None were offered for sale. They were provided to certain individuals, including women, at no charge for test purposes. Chrysler had trouble with engine wear and destroyed most of them.

[frawin]

Waldo, Eckert International was the local dealer in Moline and they sold quite a few pickups and 2 ton international trucks in this area. We had some Farmer-Ranchers that were solid International Pickup, Truck and machinery users. When I worked for the Dentons, almost everything they had was International including their 4-Wheel Drive Pickups.
I think the only trucks they build now are the big over the road tractors. Nothing is forever I guess.

[W. Gray]

1911 International Harvester


1960 International Harvester Scout


1979 International Harvester Scout