I just learned of another terrible blow to the United States auto industry. Ford announced plans today to kill off it's 71 year-old Mercury division by the end of the year. Yet another great old marque lost in the last decade. It started with the loss of Chrysler killing off it's storied Plymouth brand and was followed quickly by the oldest U.S. auto brand, Oldsmobile, being ditched by General Motors. Just last year, GM announced it was shutting down Pontiac, Saturn and then the Hummer brand of trucks. And now, this.... No more Mercurys. Being a car guy my whole life, this is particularly distressing to me. I've owned a lot of those brands in the past and now I won't ever be able to buy another one unless it's old and used to begin with.
I'm telling you, people.... this world can't continue on like it's been going the last few years - something's got to give. It's time you gathered up your family members and made peace with them. While you still can. There's about to be some very bad times soon. Get ready before it's too late.
And now a look at a few of my old cars whose brand names have gone to that great junkyard in the sky:
My full-sized 1985 Mercury Grand Marquis LS
My 1974 Pontiac Grand Prix LX
And lastly, a 1969 Oldsmobile 98 LS
I also had a 1957 DeSoto, but they stopped making that brand back in 1961; so I guess you can't count those in this recent rash of closures. Still, a mighty storied car company in it's day, though.
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