Mercury was created as a car marque in 1938 by Edsel Ford, to fill the gap between Ford and Lincoln-Zephyr, competing against middle-priced models from General Motors, Chrysler and other manufacturers. After the Second World War Mercury was conjoined with Lincoln in Ford’s new Lincoln-Mercury Division (see Auto Review 162 Lincoln and Continental). Mercury settled in the mid-market, which it shared for a short time in the 1950s with the doomed Edsel, which is also described in these pages. Sub-ranges in later years included Comet, Cougar and Merkur, but in a 21st century process of rationalisation, Ford axed the Mercury brand in 2010.

It had been in existence for just over 70 years.