And then right next to the great big '69 Mercury coupe is a great big Chrysler coupe. Both cars came from the factory with monstrous big-block V8s- a 360-horse 429 for the Marauder and a 350-horse 440 for the 300. What's wrong with the world, when a pair of over-the-top, single-digit-gas-mileage, two-ton two-doors can survive through all the oil crises and recessions and only now land in the Crusher's waiting room? It gets worse; this is one of the now-defunct NorCal Pick Your Part yards, which means we can assume both these cars have now been rendered into China-bound scrap metal by now.

Check out that snazzy steering wheel and two-tone interior!

Now, your serious Cougar zealot is most likely going to favor the sleeker '67-70 models, but I've always thought the '71-73 cars were pretty cool-looking. Only in America could you get a grille like that. This example seems pretty much solid and rust-free, and the interior is reasonably intact.
Sure, it's just the 351 Windsor two-barrel, not the big 429, but it's still a shame to see this car get crushed. As always, we hope its pieces live on in other Mercuries.

Yesterday you provided a pinto with a plethora of positive platitudes proving that performance pulverizes picayune pedigree. Today, we're going to visit Ellis Island.

The Ford Motor Company has been a global auto maker for nearly 100 years, and their vehicles built and sold outside the U.S. were eventually designed to conform to the needs of those specific markets. The Blue Oval company has also had a long history of bringing these foreign-Fords to the U.S. in an attempt to fill a supposed market niche. Some were more successful than others- the Mercury Capri being a notable example. Others, such as the Cortina, Fiesta, and Australian Capri convertible were less so, and most of these exchange students have been orphaned by their host family in Dearborn, who turn out the lights and refuse to answer the door when they come a knocking.

In the mid-eighties, Ford decided to not only bring over one of their most popular and award-winning models from Europe, but to create a spankin' new brand under which to sell them. Sadly, Ford chose to name the germanic brand the same as that of custodial parent Mercury, only in its native Deutsch, thus birthing Merkur . This proved nearly unpronounceable by the vast majority of Mercury sales people, condemning the cars to being called Merkers, murkurs, murkins, or worse. The appellation confusion was only exacerbated by the jelly-bean shape and unique detailing, highlighted by the double rear wing and a third side window that seemed to serve no purpose but to piss people off by its mere presence. The XR4Ti was based on the hottest version of Ford's European Cortina replacement, the Sierra, which had been winning accolades since its introduction. Powered in the U.S. by the sturdy 2.3 Turbo from the Mustang and T-Bird, the car brought sophistication and driving dynamics beyond anything Ford offered to domestic buyers at the time. Unfortunately, the weird overwhelmed the wonderful, and, in the face of impending safety requirements, the XR4Ti, along with its Scorpio big brother, were sent back to home country when their visas ran out in 1989.

But that was not before this metallic blue ‘88 hit our shores. Turning down the weird a bit, this car has the later single plane rear spoiler, but maintains the two-tone appearance with unpainted plastic cladding and bumpers. Built in Cologne, and modded for the U.S. market (700 changes!) by Karmann, the 3 door has all the attributes for success in Europe, and for failure in the U.S.. Hatchbacks, especially large ones, have never been popular here. Small, turbo four cylinders were shunned for their torquier and less efficient V8 counterparts- as evidenced by the buyer's choices of cousin Mustang models. Based on these factors, unfavorable exchange rates, and marketing that seemed half-assed at best, the XR4Ti never really caught on here, and even the buff mags began to diss the car despite initial praise.

But look at those specs- 130 mph top end, trailing arm IRS, roomy five seat leather-swathed cabin, slick T9 gearbox, and a 175 bhp turbo four that's pretty bullet-proof. What's not to love? And it could be yours for $5,775. The seller isn't too forthcoming with the facts on the car, other than that it's a one-owner car with only 85K on the clock. That's only about 4,000 miles a year, and other than the typical wear on the driver's seat bolster, the car looks pretty tidy.

So, would you pay close to six large for an athletic German orphan? Or, does that price make you say XR4T-I don't think so?

You decide!

eBayerische or go here if the ad makes like schnell.

Help me out with NPOCP. Click here to send a me a tip, and remember to include your commenter handle.

Just click on any of the thumbnail images below to jump to the original post about that car or truck.

1919 Ford	1924 Ford	1932 Ford	1945 Ford
1950 Ford	1950 Ford	1954 Ford	1955 Mercury
1956 Lincoln	1956 Ford	1960 Mercury	1960 Ford
1961 Ford	1962 Ford	1963 Ford	1963 Ford
1964 Ford	1964 Mercury	1964 Ford	1965 Mercury
1965 Ford	1965 Ford	1965 Mercury	1965 Ford
1965 Ford	1965 Ford	1965 Ford	1965 Ford
1966 Ford	1966 Lincoln	1966 Ford	1966 Ford
1966 Ford	1966 Ford	1966 Ford	1967 Ford
1967 Mercury	1967 Ford	1967 Ford	1968 Mercury
1968 Ford	1968 Ford </td	1968 Ford	1969 Mercury
1969 Ford	1969 Ford	1969 Lincoln	1969 Ford
1969 Mercury	1969 Ford	1969 Ford	1970 Ford
1970 Ford	1970 Lincoln	1970 Ford	1970 Ford
1971 Ford	1972 Lincoln	1972 Mercury	1973 Mercury
1973 Ford	1973 Ford	1973 Mercury	1973 Ford
1973 Ford	1974 Ford	1974 Ford	1974 Ford
1975 Ford	1975 Mercury	1976 Ford	1977 Ford
1977 Lincoln	1977 Ford	1977 Ford	1979 Ford
1979 Ford	1986 Ford	1986 Ford	1987 Merkur

When you're done here, you can follow the links below to see the rest of the Down On The Street 450 (actually more like 491 by now) celebration:

When you're done here, you might check out our favorite VW ads, then go right on with the Datsun, Toyota, Renault, General Motors, British Leyland, and Chevrolet ads.

1990 Ford Festiva	1932 Ford Model B	1980 Ford Pinto
1984 Ford LTD	1977 Ford Capri	1979 Mercury Zephyr
1980 Mercury Cougar	1982 Ford Granada	1992 UK Fords
1983 Ford F Series	1958 Lincoln	1970 Mercury Monterey
1955 Ford	1986 Ford Taurus	1991 Ford Escort RS2000
1984 Mercury Topaz	1981 Ford Escort	1973 Lincoln/Mercury
1978 Mercury Cougar XR7	1974 Mercury Comet	1969 Australian Fords
1991 Ford Escort GT	1978 Ford Granada	1969 Ford Torino
1989 Ford Taurus	1984 Ford Ranger	1989 Ford Taurus
1986 Ford Sierra XR4	1997 Mercury Grand Marquis	1970 Mercury Comet
1970 Ford Pinto Squire	1986 Mercury Sable	1980 Mercury Capri
1984 Ford Tempo	1977 Ford Thunderbird	1971 Ford Torino
1978 Ford Futura	1972 Ford Pinto	1982 Ford Cortina
1981 Ford Capri	1963 Fairlane Squire	1990 Mercury Topaz
1965 Ford LTD	1968 Ford Torino GT	1966 Lincoln Continental
1978 Fords	1975 Mercury Cougar	1990 Ford Falcon

Unfortunately we weren't able to make it down to Giddings, Texas for this edition of Billetproof, Jalopnik reader and camera-jockey Eric Nelson did, and passed on these great photographs for everyone to enjoy. It's got everything, cool kustoms, rusty rods, engine pr0n, chopped tops and even an Edsel that's had the letters over its yoke rearranged to spell "SLED," super cool. Thanks again for sending us a little bit of Texas Eric.

There's just something extra cool about a full-sized fastback Ford from this era; all the NASCAR-inspired style of the Torino/Cyclone fastbacks, but with the added presence of the big machines. An up-and-coming young mobster might have chosen a fastback Galaxie, but the really hip ones would have gone with the slightly snazzier Monterey coupe- slick, but not trying to outshine the high rankers' Continentals and Fleetwoods.

How about one of these cars with a 428, four-speed, and fat rubber on big steel spoked wheels, maybe with a few inches taken out of the springs? Not for this one, though… next stop, Crusher!

Mercury's always sort of been a lost brand. Adrift in what was once Ford's seemingly ever-changing product strategy, Mercury's always lacked the same level of brand identity found at Lincoln or Ford. Maybe the best way to look at Mercury is to think of it as Diet Ford — a brand supposedly just like Ford, except with no calories and only the slightest hint of anything resembling taste. As was the standard operating procedure, anything in the Ford brand got itself an afterbirth at Mercury. Enter the Sable.

When the 1986 Ford Taurus debuted to wide acclaim, Mercury was around to create the ever-so-slightly more feminine version, with slight hints that it might contain more luxury. The first generation of the Sable offered a reasonable visual difference, namely a clear plastic grille-insert. Like the Taurus itself, sales were strong as people flocked to the modern-looking sedan.

As successful as the original Sable was, the dramatically redesigned second generation vehicle from 1992 was one of the most popular Mercury vehicles in the brand's history. The clear, back-lit grille was maintained from the gen-1 model but with the added benefit of swooping fenders (by early 1990s standards) and a remodeled greenhouse. Unfortunately, it was to be the last Sable to stir the emotions of the middle-class professional woman as the next generation was to end what was once a strong legacy of well-built mid-size sedans for Ford.

When Ford tried to strike gold again by creating an even newer, fresher look for the third generation Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable they struck out instead. The egg-like Sable lost the signature grille-insert and, with it, the spirit of the badge. The fourth-generation was somewhat more conservative, like the Taurus, but it was too late to save it. The stumbling Sable was replaced with the Mercury Montego and Milan, thus ending the badge. Until...

After Ford abandoned its silly "every car starts with F" alliteration debacle that led to the thankfully aborted "Five Hundred", incoming CEO Alan Mulally made the smart decision to bring back the Sable and Taurus nameplates, attaching them to the full-size Montego and 500, respectively. Unfortunately, while the Taurus sold fairly well, the Sable didn't. Now Ford's decided not to resurrect the less-famous Sable alongside the Taurus.

In honor of its death, we've decided to leave you with this — the most famous popular culture exchange ever about the Mercury Sable from the SNL-inspired film Coneheads starring Dan Akroyd:

Beldar Conehead: An owner's manual to a Ford Lincoln Mercury Sable.
Highmaster: Ford Lincoln Mercury Sable?
Beldar Conehead: A personal conveyance named after its inventor, an assassinated ruler, a character from Greco-Roman myth and a small furry mammal.
Highmaster: Ah.

There was a tantalizing image of Ford's "Wrist Twist" steering wheel concept in the 1970 Motor Service's Encyclopedia, and it didn't take long to turn up this 1965 Ford promotional film. Sure hope the power steering belt doesn't break!

Tech inspections start on Friday at Reno-Fernley Raceway, and racing begins at 11:00 AM Saturday. I'll be there, LeMons Supreme Court Justice Lieberman will be there, some guy from Autoblog will be there, and many of you will be there as well. Let's get a sneak preview of some of the "race cars" we'll have the pleasure of watching shed major engine components on roar around the track:

We're pretty excited about the first-ever Ford/Mercury/whatever Capri to show up to a LeMons event. Our friend Bill, of wrecked MGB-GT fame, is on the team, and their Cologne V6-powered '74 Capri is one of the most unspeakably terrible finest race cars we've ever seen. Not only that, but the team will be racing to raise funds to help a little girl who's battling leukemia. You can sign up to donate a certain amount per lap; we suggest $20 per, because, well, it's a 500-buck Crapi and is nearly certain to might blow up on the track pretty quickly. I don't want to spoil anything here, but word at LeMons HQ is that these dudes are raising the LeMons theme bar with their team costumes.



You know what's wrong with the 24 Hours Of LeMons? No Fauxrraris, that's what! Happily, Team Lemons Vice has butchered the living crap out of tastefully modified their Altamont- and Thunderhill-veteran CRX, and it looks so vile we have no words strong enough great! Here's what the team has to say about their car:

Here's some photos of the current build and the previous themes for the car. It started out as a stock 88' CRX DX with 450K+ showing on the odometer when we bought it. Clean body but had some previous front end damage and cut springs. It had a really bad front end shake which turned out to be lump where one of the front tires was beginning to separate (all were showing steel). The big homemade wing and exhaust tip provided the irony for the little "Team Size Matters" CRX. The before and after shots are from our first race at AMP in Oct 07. The wing actually produced enough down force to bend and then break the supports at the first Thunderhill race. Other than bent fenders and getting the steeing knocked way out of alignment, the only mechanical problem we've had was a 4" gash in the gas tank at AMP last May. Fortunately we'd wired up the exhaust tip that had been dragging the day before.

After three races we rebuilt it as the Slow Santas sleigh. That was our first time using the styrofoam insulation sheets, which we used all over for the current build. The sleigh was high enough to avoid contact, but we'll have to be especially careful this time.

The car is several inches shorter on the left than on the right now, so it was tricky to frame up the "italian" rear end. The body already looks straighter (which isn't saying much) and should look a lot better after this weekend. We're hoping all the foam might provide some impact cushioning should another car experience braking or steering "problems". That seems to happen a lot. The painting (with rollers) will get finished this weekend, and we will have graphics for the "gills" on the sides and the tailights across the back. We just might consider offering a body kit based on this design. A rat took up residence in the engine compartment after the last race, hence the peanuts, snails and turds on the valve cover. Other than that, the motor is totally stock.

How about a really puzzling internet meme as a LeMons car theme? Casadelshawn, formerly of the Faster Farms Chickens (whose Belvedere will be serving as the Goin' For Broken Official Pace Car), and his water-cooled-VW-fanatic henchmen will be racing a 4-door Rabbit known as the Bunny With A Pancake On Its Head.

That's right, they're turning a brutally swiss-cheesed VW Rabbit into a rolling replica of Oolong the Rabbit, complete with fur, ears, and huge foam-rubber pancake on its head. The car isn't quite, you know, done yet, but Casadelshawn assures me that they only have about "nine rats left to kill" on the project, whatever the hell that means.

The car drove under its own power for the first time a couple days ago, and supposedly it made the team members feel like this.




Then we've got the Mustard Yellow Volvo Doing 45 In The Fast Lane, formerly known as the Black Metal V8olvo. I'm not on the team any more, because I tend to make bonehead mistakes on the race track am too busy judging and doing the journalism thing, but I have been retained as the team's Artistic Consultant (and I'm sure they'll come pull out all my toenails with pliers if my innovative wiring job from last year goes up in smoke). Naturally, they'll need to bribe the bejasus out of me in order to avoid the 1,000-lap penalty with which I should hammer them just on general principle, but I'll probably let them slide due to their allowing me to inflict my really annoying theme on them. Yes, any East Bay resident can tell you all about the scourge of the Berkeley Volvo 244, painted that distinctive mustard color (which we've approximated with Caterpillar Yellow train-car paint), covered with dishwater-strength lefty bumper stickers and pootling along in the fast lane with the left blinker on… and that's what will be clogging up the track at Reno-Fernley!

I've put a lot of thought into the bumper stickers, with the vintage Mondale-Ferraro one being the real prize. Can't have anything too hippie, because hippies get high and groove on good tunes and that's too much fun for Berkeley Volvo 244 drivers… and anything too revolutionary is right out, too, because it's all about the tedium, you see. Walter Mondale, however, is about right, and did you ever see one of these cars that didn't have a FREE TIBET sticker?

As for the Eternal Left Blinker, all it took was a couple of yellow bulbs, a Chrysler turn-signal flasher, and a quick repurposing of the wiring that once operated the Yammering Swedish Skulls Of Black Metal Doom:

The two cowboy-hatted "Equine Entrepreneurs" at some point noticed the horse always seemed interested in tagging along whenever they went somewhere, so they modified their car to make it easy for Patches to do so. He apparently lives for a good cheesebuger and has put down as many as five in one sitting, doesn't like Coke though. At home Patches will earn his keep by fetching a beer from the refrigerator and answering the phone. Well, picking up the receiver a handing it off. Seems to be a better trained pet than most of the dogs we've owned. [Youtube]

VintageRacer was the winner of that Mystery Car contest, but I never followed up by posting the original shots that Kitt took of the car. Sorry about that! Here's the full set of photographs for you:

Alameda has a fair number of early Cougars (for example, this '67 (which ended up getting junked), this '68, and this '68) but so far I've found just one Farrah-grade example: this '75.


I have now decided that this Mercury's neighborhood is the DOTS-iest of the entire island. There's the '56 Lincoln you see here. There's another Cougar in the driveway, and the owner of these fine Ford products also drives this '70 Lincoln Continental Mark III when he needs a change of pace. We've got the '67 Imperial and the '69 Volvo P1800 around the corner. The '67 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser is just down the block a ways. I haven't even shot the early CRX and late-60s GMC pickup yet!

We've got representatives of each of the Big Three (sadly, no AMC products), from the days when Detroit ruled the automotive universe. Four from GM and one apiece from Ford and Chrysler. Tomsk writes:

1964 Buick Riviera: This second-year example of Buick's personal luxury coupe has arguably seen better days, but you've gotta admit, it looks positively menacing.

1963 Mercury Monterey: With Mercury having been against the ropes since...well...a long-ass time now, it's worth remembering just how rad their products once were. Take this 1963 Monterey Custom 2-door hardtop, complete with the "Breezeway" roll-down rear window and the accompanying oddball roofline.
Am I alone in having a burning desire to cruise this baby down the main drag on Saturday night with a certain J. Wagner snuggled up next to me on the big bench seat? Didn't think so.

1965 Chrysler: This majestic child of Ma Mopar, though clearly fallen on hard times (Dig the precision-engineered driver's window repair!), still has that certain presence about it. That certain GIGANTIC presence about it.

1956 Chevrolet: Considering how much coin Tri-Five Chevys command these days, you'd think a clean, stock looking '56 Bel Air 2-door sedan would at least be hidden under an industrial-strength car cover and parked in the driveway. Well, that isn't the case with this one, which apparently calls a Costa Mesa cul-de-sac home. I've always thought the '56 was the best looking of the three shoebox Bowties; how about the rest of the Commentariat?

1968 Pontiac Catalina: The current Pontiac advertising tagline is "Pontiac is Car." Unfortunately, the models other than those belonging to the G8 and Solstice families are not Car; they're things you use to cover the oil spots on your driveway.
However, there was apparently a time when all new Ponchos were indeed Car. Exhibit A: This 1968 Catalina ragtop. If Oprah had given these things away, she'd be President Winfrey now. Stick that hyperbole in your pipe and smoke it.

1962 Cadillac: This 1962 Cad (I'm fairly sure it's a Sedan deVille) has seen better days, but what state would the true Jalop rather have it in: An over-restored beauty you'd be scared to take out of its plastic bubble, or this property-value-sucking, pseudo rat rod form? Exactly.

When we saw a F—-, L—-—-, or M—-—- roll up into the BS Inspection area, we'd cover the corporate emblems with special "REDACTED" stickers. That way, the F—- M—-- C—-—- doesn't have its image damaged by the hoopty machinery on the track! And, yes, that's an IRS-equipped L—-—- M—- V—- you're seeing.
Things are about to get pretty crazy here and I can't promise many live updates for a while, so check out this site for some live race coverage!

And we love those cars, no doubt about it, but looking at one is much like hearing the same classic-rock song for the millionth time. Sure, "Satisfaction" is a good tune (especially when performed by The Residents), but ennui sets in eventually. But there were plenty of vehicles built that can be classed as muscle cars, yet never attained truly iconic status. I'm a big fan of some of the less common machines, and UDMan truly loves them. He's put together a regular Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot series over on CarDomain, where you'll be able to see obsessively documented and illustrated studies of such greats as the 1958 Packard Hawk, 1970 Mercury Marauder X-100, 1957 Rambler Rebel, and 1977 Pontiac LeMans Can Am. We say check it out!
[CarDomain Blog]

Today we're honoring Detroit's first mass-produced overhead-cam V8 engine (yes, it beat GM's Northstar to the marketplace; no, jillion-dollar factory-racer engines like the 427 Cammer don't count as "mass-produced"), an engine that's proven to be very reliable as well as capable of serious power numbers: the Ford Modular V8/V10 family. If it's a Ford, Lincoln, or Mercury vehicle made after 1992 and it has room for a V8, odds are it has a Modular; everything from the F-series truck all the way up to the Ford GT has been a Modular recipient since the 16-valve, 4.6 liter Modular V8 made its debut in the '91 model year. The Mustang started going Modular in 1994 and ditched the old pushrod Windsor V8 completely by 1996. You can find the Modular V8 (which, despite the name, doesn't have much parts interchange between versions- this in keeping with hallowed Ford V8 tradition) in 4.6, 5.0, and 5.4 liter variants, with single or double overhead camshafts, with two, three, or four valves per cylinder, naturally aspirated or supercharged, and with blocks made from cast-iron or aluminum. The V10 version, displacing a monstrous 6.8 liters, has been powering Ford trucks for more than a decade.
[Wikipedia, photo source: EngineForAll.com]

These are the cars and trucks that, for one reason or another, really made my day when I ran across them on the streets of Alameda. Some of them are on this list because they're rare and/or interesting (the "Whoa! What's that?" factor), while others made the cut simply because I yearn to own them. And, yes, the Fire Arrow falls into the latter category, because I'm sick like that. So here we go, my personal Alameda DOTS favorites for Ought-Eight: