Mercury full-sized muscle

[StealthBird]

First time I've seen one of these at a general car show, a Mercury X-100. Not sure how many of these are left out there. Giant car, fender skirts, and a performance marketing campaign. What was Mercury thinking this with beast? [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/dunno.gif[/img]

[bashton]

I also spied that car at a recent Chicago area show. What a neat (and huge) car.

Gotta love those big bodies!

Bashton
MCACN Managing Member

[442w30]

Mike, I'm not sure what you mean by &quot;What was Mercury thinkinging?&quot; because there's plenty of the Ford version running around . . .



Also, you should check this site out:

http://www.mikesclassiccars.net/galaxie-collection.php

[StealthBird]

The Galaxie and Marquis may have used the same chassis, but the Mercury was an entirely different body (from nose to tail) over the Galaxie.

These giant 2-door MuscleBoats are fascinating. The only other car I can think of where a manufacturer tried to take a huge full-sized two-door car, and then stripe/paint it to give it a Musclecar look, was the 1970 Chrysler 300-H.

[442w30]

I have to disagree - they have the same body, but different styling. Perhaps the Mercury looks heavier due to its Lincoln-esque styling, but they're pretty much the same car.

[StealthBird]

Same body? I don't think so. The Mercury's 1/4 panels, doors, fenders, hood, bumpers, trim, grille, tail assembly, and interior, were all different. When the basic roof, sail panels, and chassis are used, but every other panel was different, does this constitute &quot;the same car&quot;?

Was the 1970 Chevelle SS the same as a 1970 Buick GS? They shared the same chassis, roof, windshield, and windows, but every other panel was different. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/hmmm.gif[/img]

The Merc XL-100 was marketed as a &quot;sporty&quot; two-door, with a two-tone (darker hue) on the tunnel back, and they promoted it as a luxury performance car. The overall look, with the squared off fenders, skirts, etc., makes it very unusual, similar to the 1970 Chrysler 300-H. I think that was my original comment as to &quot;what was Mercury thinking?&quot;, because even in original reviews of the XL-100, the road testers were baffled as to what Mercury was trying to accomplish.

[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

[bobbarry]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: StealthBird</div><div class="ubbcode-body">First time I've seen one of these at a general car show, a Mercury X-100. Not sure how many of these are left out there. Giant car, fender skirts, and a performance marketing campaign. What was Mercury thinking this with beast? [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/dunno.gif[/img]



</div></div>

Kind of overlooked by most today, but the development of the musclecar didn't eliminate the full-size performance market. Not only Impala/Caprices with 427's, but W-34 Toronados, W-33 Delta 88's, GS Rivieras, SJ Grand Prix's (with 4-spds), 300-H's and thus the X-100's. Granted, only the Riv's would come with fender-skirts, but hey, maybe it was just a better way to contain the tire-smoke...

[442w30]

I forgot there also was a Canadian version of this car:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48428304@N04/