Over the years automakers the world over have used animal names to describe their newest cars. These names are supposed to immortalize the true essence of these cars and portray to their owners the automobiles inner spirit. More often than not however these names are ill-seated at best and unfortunately at the end of the day, don’t do the poor animal any justice at all. Below is a listing of 20 cars that have taken their names from members of the wild kingdom. Some are appropriate, others, well… not so much. Either way though you can’t blame the manufacturers from trying to put a little personality into their rides.

• Pinto

Pinto’s, the four legged ones are considered to be light, fast and beautiful to look at. The one Ford gave us however gained its reputation because it blew up if a feather so much as landed on its rear bumper. Great name, but bad execution.

• Shelby Cobra

Probably one of the few cars that is actually deserving of its name. The Shelby Cobra packed a 427 cu in big block that would bite you back if you weren’t careful. In fact these cars were so good at killing their owners that they were dubbed the “Widow Maker”.

• Ford Mustang

A great looking horse and a great looking car. The Ford Mustang is one of those rare marketing success stories that has stood the test of time by living up to its name in the fullest sense.

• Ford Raptor

It goes off-road just like its prehistoric cousin. It’s fast, agile and can also take abuse. But where this sucker drinks fossil fuel, its namesake IS fossil fuel… crazy right.

• Mercury Cougar

Oh she’s a Cougar all right, and she’ll rip you apart if she gets the chance. I remember in high school my math teacher had a cloud blue one and dammit it she didn’t live up to its name!

• Chevrolet Cheetah

The Cheetah was Chevy’s attempt at combating Shelby’s Cobra. It was fast, but unlike the Cobra the Cheetah simply didn’t have the visceral pop needed to take the kill-all crown.

• Jaguar

Another car fitting of its name. Like the big cats, these cars are elegant, graceful and when pushed, can be made vicious. Another marketing success story.

• Dodge Ram

Like the big horn sheep these guys are named after, Ram trucks have always been tough as nails. The four legged kind however usually do better in head-on collisions.

• Plymouth Barracuda

The first generation Barracuda’s did not live up to their flashy namesake. In fact it wasn’t really until 1970 that these really got some style infused into them. Generation 1′s looked more like a fishbowl, than a fast fish.

• VW Beetle

The name fit perfectly, nuff said.

• Ford Falcon

A cute little car no doubt, but unfortunately the Falcon did not possess the flying pedigree that its winged counterpart did. In short, they were pretty damn slow in stock form.

• Chevrolet Impala

At 18-feet long these suckers didn’t handle like an Impala, but over the years Chevy dropped in some big-block mills that sure as hell made them move like them in a straight line. These were all beautiful cars, right up until 1999, when Chevy started making them look like jelly beans. Damn shame really…

• Studebaker Lark

It’s short, pudgy and is in no way graceful. The little Lark was a experiment that just fell out of the nest and unfortunately hit the ground hard!

• Volkswagen Fox

Small, nimble and quick, the VW Fox was a great little economy car that had good looks and great road manners.

• Volkswagen Rabbit

The VW Rabbit was basically a VW Fox without the trunk, and was a total chick car if you got it in the cabriolet variant. It was also cute and cuddly, just like the furry real thing.

• Road Runner

It had a horn just like the cartoon Road Runner, but unlike its cartoon counterpart this one was not cute by any means. It was big, brash and in your face and with its wicked air-grabber hood could probably swallow its feathered friend whole if it came upon it quick enough.

• Corvette Stingray

It’s beautiful from every angle, graceful and exudes power out of every seam. The Corvette Stingray is yet another instance of an automobile being named perfectly.

• Mercury Sable

Where people make fur coats out of the furry cuddly kind, these Sables were more fitting of elderly people with white hair. There was nothing sexy about it and unfortunately that held true for the people that drove them.

• AMC Marlin

Another fishbowl in a sea of misappropriated names. The Marlin was not powerful, handsome or fast. It just simply “was”…

• Hudson Hornet

How the hell do you name a 5000 lbs. super canoe a “Hornet”? I mean really, naming it the Armadillo would have been a better move, jeesh…

File this under foul and nasty! A homeless person was found dead in a 1997 Mercury Grand Marquis in Costa Mesa, CA after riding shotgun in the passenger seat for 10 months. Apparently the vehicles owner said the homeless person could use the big Mercury as a shelter. The owner however failed to report the death to the authorities and continued driving the vehicle for almost a year! Only detected because the vehicle was illegally parked, police were greeted to a 30 lb. mummified body and stench that smelled like road kill. What’s creepier though is that the cars owner simply threw a sheet over the body as they continued to use the car. They did however throw down a box of baking soda… you know, so as to absorb some of that stink. It’s stories like this that make one wonder what the hell is wrong with society. I mean ten months with a dead body? Ugh…

Source: OCR.com

I love a good car story don’t you? I mean in the sea of automotive BS that we deal with everyday it’s just nice to see someone who really does love their car. Meet Mrs. Rachel Veitch, the 91 year old great grandmother and mother of 4 (well 5 if you count the car) who is in love with her 1964 Mercury Comet Caliente. Bought new in 1964 this wonderful Comet has transported her more than 562,000 miles and to say that it is her pride and joy would be an understatement. Mrs. Veitch simply gushes with joy in talking about her prized Comet. The 289 cu inch V8 is original to the car as are all the memories it’s provided to her over its 46 year life span.

I’m envisioning Mrs. Veitch as some hot little number from back in the day, cruising in the 90 mph range in her little Comet. In fact she states that she needed to install cruise control after she got nicked for speeding at 92 mph. It’s a wonderful and rare thing when you develop a lasting relationship with a car, as these amazing machines can be one of the few things in life that don’t let you down. In fact Mrs. Veitch takes such good care of her car and enjoys it so much, that she has yearly birthday parties for it and documents every time she has the car serviced. At the end of the day Rachel says it best when she states: “She’s never lied to me, she’s never cheated on me, and I can always depend on her”.

God bless you Rachel Veitch, God bless you…

Source: http://www.wisn.com

1970 Cougar Convertible. Gone, but not forgotten.

Mercury may be no more, but the marque will always live on in the hearts and minds of the Mercury faithful. The brand hasn’t produced anything of interest to enthusiasts in years, at least since the Marauder was canned in 2004 after its two-year run.

That hasn’t always been the case, and Mercury built a loyal following through the years by offering fast cars with a bit more luxury and style than their Ford cousins. Below are seven examples of very lustworthy Mercs, cars we’d be proud to have in our own garages if space and bank accounts allowed. There’s something for everyone here, whether you like going slow and terrorizing the neighborhood, kicking ass in the quarter mile or collecting cars that will appreciate in value in the coming years.

2003 – 04 Mercury Marauder

Built in response to the 1994 to 1996 Chevrolet Impala SS, the Mercury Marauder was a full size, V8 powered, rear wheel drive “muscle sedan”. Equipped with Ford’s 4.6 liter V8, the Marauder borrowed enough go-fast parts from the Mustang Mach 1 to generate a respectable (for the day) 305 horsepower. The Marauder featured a retuned sport suspension with shocks mounted outside the frame rails for the first time on a Ford Panther platform, and came only with a four-speed automatic transmission. The aluminum driveshaft and limited slip differential with a 3.55 rear axle ratio were borrowed from the Ford Police Interceptor package, and the Marauder featured body colored trim and tinted lights. Inside, the upscale sedan featured front bucket seats, a unique instrument panel complete with tachometer, and a floor mounted shifter.

The Marauder was a disappointment to Mercury, selling just 7,839 units in its first model year. Things went from bad to worse in year two, when just 3,213 units were sold by Mercury dealers. We didn’t know it then, but the 2004 Mercury Marauder was the last attempt at a high performance vehicle from the once legendary brand.

1970 – 77 Mercury Capri

The first car I lusted after was my brother-in-law’s 1971 Capri. Sure, it only had the 64 horsepower, 1.6 liter inline four, but it was German, it handled well and it didn’t look like anything else on the road. My love for the first generation Capris only got deeper when I was an exchange student in Germany; Capris were everywhere, and you could buy them for next to nothing. I actually looked at importing a German Capri as my first car, but soon realized that a bargain on the other side of the pond would turn into an expensive, logistical nightmare on these shores once I tried to license it. Sadly, I’ve never owned a first generation Capri, but still keep my eyes open for the right project car.

Were they fast? Not particularly. Did they handle well? Yes, for their price point. Their light weight and rear drive layout helped, but the live axle and leaf spring rear suspension kept them from greatness. The 2.0 liter inline four, introduced in 1971 and later used in the Pinto, was a much better engine choice. Stock, it put out 101 horsepower but offered almost unlimited tuning options and was about as durable a motor as Ford ever built. In 1972, a V6 option was added to the lineup, but this just made the car nose heavy. If you want a first generation Capri for vintage racing or autocross, you want to stick with the 2.0 liter versions.

A victim of slowing sales, the first generation Mercury Capri was discontinued in 1977. The name was revived a few years later, but this time it was stuck on the back of a rebodied Mustang. Sadly, things would only get worse for the Capri, as the third and final revision was a dismal 1.6 liter ragtop built in Australia. Underpowered, ill handling and saddled with a poor safety rating, the final version of the Mercury Capri was killed off in 1993.

1967 – 70 Mercury Cougar

Designed to give Mercury dealers a response to Ford’s wildly successful Mustang, the first generation Mercury Cougar was a slightly stretched (3” or so), rebodied and restyled Ford Mustang. Hidden headlights gave the Cougar a unique, aggressive look, and sequential rear turn signals added to the cool factor. Interiors were a bit more plush that those in the Mustang, as the Cougar was aimed more at the white collar buyer.

In 1968, Mercury got serious about using the Cougar to highlight the brand’s performance image. Engine options were expanded to include the 302 cubic inch V8, the 428 cubic inch V8 and the most lustworthy of all: the 427 cubic inch, Cobrajet V8.

Old Cougars used to be a dime a dozen, but they’re rapidly disappearing from America’s roads. Clean, unmolested examples are getting harder to find every year, which continues to drive up the pricing for survivors. If you’re goint to add a Cougar to your collection, the one to have is the 1968 Cougar GT-E, which came with the 335 horsepower (snicker) Cobrajet V8. Only 358 examples were built, so you may be looking for a long time. If you find one in good condition, buy it, since the price isn’t likely to come down any time soon.

Another Cougar of interest is the 1968 Cougar XR-7G, built to commemorate the Cougars raced by Dan Gurney’s Trans Am team. Buyers could opt for the 302, the 390 or the 428, and all XR-7G models came with fog lamps, a hood scoop, hood pins, bullet shaped rearview mirrors and special badging. A total of 619 examples were built, which makes the Dan Gurney Cougars a little bit easier to find than the Cougar GT-Es.

Like the modern namesake, Cougars were prone to putting on weight as they aged. By the late 1970s, Cougars had become bloated luxo-barge coupes, symbolizing everything that was wrong with American automotive design. Later attempts to revive the marque were a step in the right direction, but proved to be too little, too late. In 1999, Mercury confused the hell out of the car buying public by introducing a new “sport compact” with the Cougar name and available four or six cylinder engines. Buyers avoided the compact Cougar, which proved to be neither sporty not compact enough to attract a following. In 2002, the Cougar name faded into automotive history.

1970 Mercury Cyclone Spoiler

If you wanted a big, fast Ford in 1970, your options boiled down to a Ford Torino or a Mercury Cyclone Spoiler. The Mercury, though slightly larger than Ford’s Torino, came equipped with everything a gear head buyer could want. The standard motor, a 429 V8, put out 370 horsepower and breathed through a functional hood scoop. The transmission was a four speed with a Hurst shifter, and a Traction-Lok differential made sure the power got to the ground. The Mercury came with a “competition” handling package, though that term may have been optimistic, considering the Cyclone Spoiler’s 4,100 pound curb weight. On the inside, buyers got a full set of gauges (instead of the idiot lights found in the Torino, a round tach instead of Ford’s horizontal tach, vinyl bucket seats and real simulated woodgrain trim.

The Mercury Cyclone Spoiler was good for a 0 to 60 time of about 6.3 seconds, and could turn the quarter mile in the low 14s, just north of 100 miles per hour. It’s fastback body shape was stunning, even though the rear quarter panels and deck lid were a bit long for my tastes.

1951 Mercury Eight

Whenever I think of the term “lead sled”, it’s a slammed Mercury Eight that comes to mind. Are they fast? As fast as anything that weighs as much as Luxembourg can be. Do they handle well? No, not really. Lead sleds aren’t about going fast or hitting up a track day. Lead sleds are plush; they’re about the ride. They’re about scaring women and children and making jaws drop. They’re about being seen, and sometimes, being obscene.

The Eight was the first Mercury to bear a model name, as earlier cars were only identified by the brand. The Eight was the first post-war Mercury, and its distinctive styling made it a huge sales success. The standard motor was a flathead, side valve V8, but tuners soon realized that overhead valve motors from Oldsmobile or Cadillac would bolt in and offer up more horsepower. The Mercury Eight lived on from 1945 until 1951, when it was replaced in the Mercury lineup by the Montclair.

How cool is the Mercury Eight? The 1990 Hot Wheels release “Purple Passion”, a slammed ’49 Merc, is one of the models most sought after by collectors.

1966 Mercury Comet Cyclone GT

Photo: Bring A Trailer

Sister car to the Ford Fairlane, the Mercury Comet Cyclone GT definitely got the best looks in the family. The exterior styling is not nearly as conservative as the white-oxford-shirt-with-the-starched-collar Fairlane, even though the family resemblance is obvious. From the rear, the Cyclone GT looks bland and harmless, making it an ideal Q-ship.

Power came from Ford’s 390 cubic inch V8, good for 335 horsepower and a 0 to sixty time in the low sixes. A Comet Cyclone GT could turn the 1/4 mile in just under 14 seconds at nearly 104 miles per hour; respectable, but no match for Pontiac’s GTO or Chevy’s Chevelle SS 396. Still, the car got good press and was chosen as the pace car of the 1966 Indianapolis 500.

As with other Mercs of the day, the interior was better appointed that what was available at your local Ford dealer. Round gauges were well laid out and the front bucket seats were split by a large console. A three speed manual trans was standard, but buyers could opt for a four speed manual or the three speed Merc-O-Matic slushbox, which allowed drivers to shift manually. Buyers could choose axle ratios ranging from 3.00:1 to 4.11:1, depending on their need to lay rubber off of stoplights. In keeping with Mercury’s emphasis on luxury, power steering, power front disc brakes and air conditioning were all available options.

1967 Mercury Monterey S-55

Full size car buyers wanted to go fast, too, so Mercury offered up the S-55 Sports Package Option for buyers of their 1967 Monterey coupes or convertibles. The S-55 package included the 428 cubic inch motor with a four barrel carb (good for 345 horsepower), dual exhaust, front disc brakes, deluxe wheel covers (complete with fake knock-off caps), a four speed manual or Select Shift Automatic and an engine dress up kit. The S55 received special interior and exterior badging, and body side paint stripes.

The Monterey S-55 is a rare bird, since Mercury brass pulled the plug on the car shortly after it was released. Full size performance cars were seen as a contradiction to Mercury’s luxury manufacturer image, so only 570 coupes and 145 convertibles were built. It goes without saying that clean survivors command a high price, and that’s not going to change with the brand’s demise.

We told you this was going to happen last week, but now it’s official: Ford will drop the Mercury brand in the fourth quarter of this year. The action should come as a surprise to no one, since Mercury brand sales have been on the decline for the past decade. According to Autoblog, Mercury sales currently account for less than one percent of Ford’s overall market share, making them more of an annoyance than a viable brand.

Unlike the death of Pontiac, the demise of Mercury will be mourned by very few enthusiasts, since Mercury hasn’t had a distinctive offering since the Marauder was dropped from the product line in 2004. The brand that brought us the Capri and the Cougar had settled for mediocrity over the past ten years, and appeared to be the darling of elderly shoppers who didn’t want to buy a Buick.

Lincoln C Concept: will this be a 2012 Lincoln?

There’s some good news in all this: with corporate albatross Mercury gone, Ford can focus efforts on revitalizing the Lincoln brand. Ford plans to expand Lincoln’s product offerings by seven new or redesigned models in the coming year. Ford will introduce EcoBoost powertrains across the Lincoln product line, and will market Lincoln as a high tech, environmentally friendly upscale brand.

Is it me or does anyone else out there in automobile land feel like Ford’s Mercury division should have died off years ago? Well it may just happen as Bloomberg News is reporting that the top brass at Ford is preparing documentation that may in fact propose eliminating the 71 year old brand. Since 2000 sales at Mercury have dropped a heart stopping 74%. Just stop and think about that for a moment. Right now Mercury has only four vehicles in its line-up, the Ford based Mountaineer, the Grand Marquis, the Milan and the Mariner. I mean really, what’s the point in keeping this division around if they’re only going to produce re-badged mainstream Fords? Last time I checked these things weren’t flying out of showrooms and I’ll be damned if I even know anyone that’s bought a Mercury in the last 10 years. Hopefully the suits at Ford will see fit to kill off this boat anchor of a brand, save themselves some money and in the process reallocate some funds to new vehicle development.

Source: Jalopnik.com

The San Francisco Chronicle just published a study on the amount of time it would take to offset the difference in cost between hybrid cars and their gasoline powered counterparts. The study looked at the cost of fuel saved per year and did not factor in other variables, such as the cost of replacement batteries for hybrid vehicles. On the other hand, the study also didn’t factor in the environmental benefits of driving a greener vehicle, which are difficult to quantify with cold, hard cash alone.

Below are their findings by vehicle, ranked in order of longest payback to shortest payback. All vehicle prices are MSRP, and gasoline cost is set at $2.86 per gallon.

Nissan Altima Hybrid

Compared to: Nissan Altima
Price premium for hybrid: $6,800.00
Annual fuel savings: $326
Years to break even: 21

Toyota Prius

Compared to: Totota Yaris
Price premium for hybrid: $10,000
Annual fuel savings: $500
Years to break even: 20

Honda Civic Hybrid

Compared to: Honda Civic
Price premium for hybrid: $7,800
Annual fuel savings: $460
Years to break even: 17

Honda Insight

Compared to: Honda Fit
Price premium for hybrid: $5,600
Annual fuel savings: $340
Years to break even: 16.5

Toyota Camry Hybrid

Compared to: Toyota Camry
Price premium for hybrid: $4,500
Annual fuel savings: $300
Years to break even: 15

Mercury Milan Hybrid

Compared to: Mercury Milan
Price premium for hybrid: $6,300
Annual fuel savings: $500
Years to break even: 13

Ford Fusion Hybrid

Compared to: Ford Fusion
Price premium for hybrid: $3,200
Annual fuel savings: $570
Years to break even: 5.6

Ford Motor Company has announced a recall on some 33,000 2010 vehicles to replace front seats equipped with faulty recline mechanisms. Models effected are:

- 2010 Ford Fusion
- 2010 Ford Explorer
- 2010 Ford Explorer SportTrac
- 2010 Mercury Mountaineer
- 2010 Mercury Milan

The existing seat mechanisms may fail in the event of a rear-impact crash, causing injury to front and rear seat occupants. Rather than replacing the seat recline mechanism, Ford dealers will replace the entire seat assembly. Ford will begin contacting owners in the near future, but you can always contact their customer service hotline at (866) 436-7332 with any questions.

This morning, Green Car Journal confirmed the five finalists up for nomination as the 2010 Green Car of the Year®, including the Audi A3 TDI, Honda Insight, Mercury Milan Hybrid, Toyota Prius and Volkswagen Golf TDI. The winner will be announced on December 3rd at a press conference during the media preview days at the LA Auto Show which, unlike last year, we’ll actually be attending. Also unlike last year, we find the majority of the nominees surprisingly fun to drive and genuinely deserving of the accolades (“majority” being the operative word, the jury’s still out on the Insight).

Unfortunately, our humble opinion will have very little bearing as the winner of this year’s prestigious award will be chosen by a star-studded panel of judges that in years past have included the likes of Jean-Michel Cousteau, Carroll Shelby, and the Crimson Chin himself, Jay Leno. We will, however, have the exclusive privilege of sitting somewhere in the back of the convention hall and straining to hear the ceremonial address as we try to get our new camera to focus, so check back later for official updates.

Source: LA Auto Show/PR Newswire

Future Looks Good For Taurus

Ford continues to pull the Taurus back from its dark “Five Hundred” depths and towards the favorable glowing light of positive reviews that the Fusion garners.  As another example, the 2010 Taurus adopts some very basic elements and even more technological innovations from favorite Ford child: the Fusion.

Ford Fusion Sport

Not that Ford is completely out of the woods yet; either with the Taurus or just economically in general. But in an effort to fend off further economic problems, indications are that the Taurus will shift to the mid-size Fusion sedan platform, and as a consequent, free Ford up to build up to nine sedans and crossovers on a single platform to save money. The Detroit News is reporting that Ford may move the large Ford Taurus sedan from its current D3 platform to the new architecture that will underpin the next-gen Ford Fusion. Ford’s mid-size sedans were already slated to move to a common platform in their successive iterations, but moving the Taurus to that same platform is a new development.

If this happens, Ford’s full-size crossovers, the Ford Flex and Lincoln MKT, which currently ride on a modified version Volvo-designed architecture, will likely be shifted over to the new platform with the Taurus. FINALLY, the Lincoln MKX and MKZ, Mercury Milan and Ford Edge, which share the same Mazda-sourced architecture with the Fusion, could also be moved to the same platform. You can see that the huge numbers of cars that this amounts to would presumably save alot of green by riding on the same setup.

2010 Taurus Interior

In the meantime, the Taurus marches back to the forefront of the Ford front lines by displaying the auto-maker’s commitment to cutting-edge technology (10 of them exclusive to this class), spirited driving dynamics, a return to quality, all with an inherently higher level of value.

Available this summer, the 2010 Taurus will start at $25,995, the same as the 2009 model and with a SHO version that produces 365 horsepower via a much-praised (and possibly Mustang-bound) Twin Turbo EcoBoost V-6 with a paddle-shift six-speed SelectShift Automatic gearbox and AWD. Exclusive technologies in the Taurus not available elsewhere in this class include: Adaptive Cruise Control and Collision Warning with Brake Support, BLIS (Blind Spot Information System) with Cross Traffic Alert, SecuriCode Keyless Entry Keypad, Voice-Activated Navigation with SIRIUS Travel Link, Ford SYNC with Traffic, Directions and Information, Multi-Contour Seats with Active Motion, Easy Fuel Capless Fuel-Filler and Sony Surround Sound System.

Helping the car’s move into a more upscale segment is helped, no doubt, by the emergence of other vehicles in ways that the previous Taurus never had. The Mustang doesn’t suck anymore. The Ford Fusion is a HELL of alot better than the Tempo and let’s be honest, the new Taurus looks a million times better than the Five Hundred which it replaced. No longer does the Taurus have to strain to compete against the Accord, Camry or even Malibu. (The Fusion can hold its own against them). Combine all that with a level of refinement and quality that hasn’t been achieved in quite some time and the recipe for the new Taurus to be successful would appear to be complete.