Canada got the jump on us here in the US, getting the Mercury Bobcat a year before we did, in 1974. This 1979 Mercury Bobcat would have been old news north of the border by 1975 when we got them, let alone in 1979. This one can be found on Craigslist with a $2,500 asking price. It’s located in Albany, Georgia.
The Mercury Bobcat is, of course, the slightly-fancy version of the Ford Pinto. Canada had a thing for Mercury vehicles since Ford also gave them the cool Mercury pickups that we never got in the US. Smaller Canadian cities often had either a Lincoln/Mercury/Meteor dealer or a Ford dealer but not both. In towns without a Ford dealership, Ford wanted them to have access to pickups, hence Mercury pickups being sold in Canada. Of course that’s an oversimplification, but that’s the general idea. NADA lists the average retail value of a 1979 Mercury Bobcat as being $1,200 and the high retail value as being $1,825.
This example looks good from the photos but there are exactly 5 photos and 2 of them are exactly the same, so there are really just 4 photos. And, in a turn of events not unlike the Miracle on Ice hockey game in 1980, this seller has included an engine photo but not one of the front interior! I know, strange. That immediately tells me that the front seats are in need of work but I could be wrong. I’m sure that they would send any interested parties a photo of the front seats and dash. At least the back seat looks great!
Here’s the famous engine photo, all 88 hp. I always like to see an original carburetor and the related hoses and plugs and doo-dads hooked up. This one obviously has an aftermarket carb on it which means hanging and disconnected hoses and related doo-dads. Maybe the original air cleaner is available so the next owner can rig it up to fit over the carb for when they trailer this car to Pebble Beach. Hey, a guy can dream. Here is the entire listing from the seller: “1979 Mercury Bobcat 58,000 original miles, 4cyl 2.3l automatic transmission, 25-30 mpg. Tires have 90% treed and a new battery. Beside the CD player and speakers, Interior is all original and in excellent condition.” It both sounds great and looks great to me, for $2,500 you’d have heads turning every time you took this one out, but at twice the NADA value I’m not so sure. Have any of you owned a Mercury Bobcat?
Good to know the tires have a new battery.
If they are treed tires, does that mean they are made of wood?
👍 typos are us lol neat little pinto though
The remainder of the original air cleaner assembly looks lonely.
Is this Canadian dollars ? At .78 to $1 that would change the price to $1938 US
From what I see of the front seat backs they don’t look bad, is that a seatbelt hanging out the door on to the ground or is it duct taped down to keep the car in place ? My eyes are not so good anymore.
My in-laws had a 74 Pinto with this engine and trans. It was the slowest accelerating car my wife ever drove!
approx 400 lb bumpers don’t help lol
How in the world could NADA get a value on this car? Since they go by data of vehicles sold, I doubt they have any data at all and just have a generic price for 39 year old economy cars.
I owned a 79 Pinto with the same rear glass hatch. Pretty reliable transportation till the timing belt broke at 94,000 miles. Car was my favorite color at the time, bright orange.
Stupid self imposed rules by auto manufacturers, can’t sell a Ford pickup at a Mercury dealer. Not to mention GM and the Chevy and GMC pickups.
Isn’t it amazing, you could actually buy a slightly fancier Pinto. GM did the same thing. Somehow, at that cocktail party, it had a little more zing when you said you drove a Mercury. If it was a wagon (and not 1500 miles away) I’d sure go for it. Then I could say, “hey, look at me, I drive a Mercury”,,,( younguns today would say, “A what?”)
One of those wonderfully forgettable cars from the 1970s.
The Lima engines were very tuneable (imagine putting one out of an ’80s T-Bird Turbo Coupe into the Bobcat), so it’s a shame that this one is connected to a C4.
While cars like this one leave me cold, I’m sure that someone out there would love it…
Fyi, I had a 79 Bobcat with a 4XTI engine and tranny. I had built the engine to 250hp. the car was a rally sport model. The police would do a double take and think the radar gun were broken. Cheers
Nothing says the 1970s like those orange and yellow stripes. I love them.
Not the world’s most advanced suspension, pretty basic. All of that stuff can be upgraded. Thankfully, the body looks decent. Might be a good place to start building a street sleeper with the aforementioned T-Bird or SVO turbo motor, and a stick shift. Thinking about it, a wrecked SVO would a great donor to make this into a fun car!
I had a 2.0L / Manual Pinto. While it would not be considered a quick car even by the standards of it’s production date, it was fun to drive.
I guess that falls into the category of…”More fun to drive a slow car fast, than a fast car slow.”
I remember my mother buying a new Bobcat in ’79… red with manual steering with a 4 speed manual tranny – sporty by her standards. Her luxury deprivation lasted lasted less than a year, and she traded it for a fully equipped ’79 Mercury Colony Park wagon.
This is why AMC Gremlins sold well. They didn’t have a four cylinder until 1977, then it was back to the same level of fun as a Pinto… and one reason they didn’t sell enough of the Audi 2.0L fours to start full production in the US (assembled with some US made parts, but large castings came from Germany, with intent to take that over later). Don’t know where this guy is getting 30 mpg for a 79 Bobcat with auto trans! In 75 the Gremlin with a 199 six was EPA rated 21 mpg, compared to 22 for Vega and 23 for Pinto. 2 mpg less fr a lot more power and fun. I never drove a 199 Gremlin, but with the bit larger 232 and a three on the floor it was quite a spunky and fun car to drive! Can’t say as much for a 2.3L Pinto/Bobcat. Some fun, but not drift when you want to fun!
I had a 1979 Bobcat and it was not a good car. The front end always rattled/ knocked. It gave terrible gas mielage, I had a 1981 Merc Marqiis 5.0 l and it gave better gas mielage than the Bobcat. My wife christened it “ I fall to pieces” . We despised that car.