| Mercury
Mercury was founded as another Ford brand in 1939 to market near-luxury cars slotted between entry-level Ford and luxury Lincoln models. In 1945 Mercury and Lincoln were grouped into the Lincoln Mercury Division, attempting to associate the brand as a starter Lincoln instead of an upscale Ford (and was successful in doing so). Mercury even got its own body design department. During its heyday in the 1950's, the Mercury brand was known for performance and its formula of stretching and lowering existing Ford platforms proved very successful. In 1958 Edsel joined the division and it became the Mercury-Edsel-Lincoln Division. After the demise of Edsel in 1960, it returned to Lincoln-Mercury Division. From the late 1950s, the 1960s to the early 1970s, Mercury began to distance itself from Ford offering several different models; the Turnpike Cruiser, Park Lane, Cougar and the Marquis. But in the late 1970s to the early 1980s the brand became joined at the hip with Ford in order to offset costs and its image suffered significantly as a result. Today, all Mercury models are based on Ford models offering a few extras.
http://www.mercuryvehicles.com
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