Disclosure: This site may receive compensation when you click on some links and make purchases.

Ride Engineered: 1978 Mercury Marquis

marquis

As one of the last pre-Panther examples of the big FoMoCo line, this 1978 Marquis was sold as “…the ultimate in Mercury luxury in a medium-price car, with ride-engineered suspension.” This vintage example of opulence is located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is for sale here on eBay.  The opening bid is $4,000 and there is a reserve. The odometer is showing 21,000 km (just over 13k miles) although the seller does say it may have been around once. The ad states that the car needs a tune up, muffler, carburetor kit, and a power window motor since being removed from storage. I’m happy to report for us southerners that the air conditioner is blowing cold air, and the best thing of all is that it’s equipped with a 460 big block V8, a 4-barrel carburetor and factory dual exhausts. Of course, that’s also good news for any nearby gas stations! The grey leather interior looks terrific, the dash isn’t cracked and the carpet even looks nice. Do you have room in your fuel budget for this Marquis?

Comments

  1. Avatar Charles

    Nice old Merc!

    Like 0
  2. Avatar Chris A.

    There is something about this car that is just right and makes me smile. Maybe it is the ghost of the early 1960’s Lincoln in the top and clean flat side but it sure looks good. Like most of us though, I don’t own an oil well to feed the 460 cubes.

    Like 0
  3. Avatar Chris

    Amusing they actually include a photo of the car AT the gas station.

    Like 0
  4. Avatar Doug

    What a great ride !! Always thought they were great cars. Now have one of the last ones built and can’t seem to get rid of it. But it was never the car this one pictured was/is.. Probably not the right mileage, the numbers don’t line up.

    Like 0
  5. Avatar pursang

    A 460 V8 so powerful, it can pass anything but a gas station.

    Seriously, nice car. It would be great to have the room to buy it and cruise around once in a while.

    Like 0
  6. Avatar Doug

    Oh I don’t think the mpg is that bad, Back in the day, all these types got from 15 to 17 mpg, which is no worse than some of the Cadillac’s and Lincoln’s of today. Buy it, drive it, enjoy it, you won’t find comfort and style like this ever again.

    Like 0
  7. Avatar Mark E

    My father had a 1976 which was visually similar to this one. It was white with a black roof, and all the padded outside panels on the headlight covers and the thing between the tail lights was black also. With his 6′ trunk mounted CB antenna it was mistaken more than once for a police car!

    Oh and winter or summer, in town or on the highway, everything on or off, his 460 got a consistent 12 – 12.5 mpg. He always joked that proved it was the perfect sized engine for the car.

    Like 0
  8. Avatar JW

    My Dad had a 84 or 85 Gran Marquis and I loved borrowing that car. Dark Brown with Tan interior. Every bit a luxurious as a Town Car. Yes I would love to have this just to cruise up to the grocery store or Hardware store to pick up a couple things, not drive it constantly but occasionally, nice find.

    Like 0
  9. Avatar jim s

    another land yacht. big motor and body on frame. put a trailer hitch on this and use it as daily driver/workhorse. i hope the underside is all there. great find

    Like 0
  10. Avatar John H

    Great looking car and they were very comfortable, great highway cruisers.
    Big blocks anything never got great gas mileage but did great burn outs!!!!!

    Like 0
  11. Avatar Wayne Thomas

    I understand the engine tuning problems of the era, but why was the rest of the engineering of the time such shyte? Everything about this car reeks of Conestoga Wagon but at the latter part of the 20th Century. So, why was everything terrible?

    Like 0
    • Avatar Chris N

      This was the mid-nose-dive era for American cars for quality, things didn’t really improve until the mid-90’s. Cars these days are homologous and for the most part boring, but everything works for the most part. That is the price we pay for reliability and technology that actually works.

      Like 0
  12. Avatar ICEMAN from Winnipeg

    Vancouver, BC, eh? Downtown itself has no gas stations. City Hall prides itself with being “Green”, notwithstanding the fact the downtown streets are infested with high end SUVs.
    As for the Grand Marquis, here is a few photo of my Dad’s pride and joy, a 1977 Grand Marquis, in Winnipeg.

    Like 0

Leave a Reply to John H Cancel reply

RULES: No profanity, politics, or personal attacks.

Become a member to add images to your comments.

*

Get new comment updates via email. Or subscribe without commenting.