Mercury End Game

We here in Canada have not seen a new Mercury sold here in three years. The brand itself packed up and left us back in 1999, leaving only a few models to be sold at Ford dealerships. However, down in Dearborn, parent company Ford have extinguished the long flickering flame that is Mercury for good. It comes as no surprise that Ford chose to end the 70-year old company, as Mercury was only a shell of its former self.

In a day in age when corporate profits are king, Mercury was one of several victims of modern cost cutting tactics – badge engineering. This is the laziest of cost-saving tactics used to build a larger range of vehicles. The act of taking a cheaply built car, adding nice headlights, grille, and a bit of fake brushed aluminum trim, then charging a premium for it, has been Mercury's business model since 2002. Back then, the little FWD Cougar was the only model unique to Mercury. Since that time, every Mercury has been a glitzed up Ford, with very little in the way of distinction. As of late, Ford have been upping their game, offering vehicles with trim levels on par with Mercury, for a more competitive price.

This was not what Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford, had in mind when he started Mercury back in 1939.

Back in the 30's, Edsel and the old man didn't see eye to eye on several aspects of the car building industry. Henry cared little about the aesthetics of his automobiles, only that they were built in great numbers. Edsel, however, saw the worth of a beautifully designed car, and developed a styling studio to create cars that were pleasing to the eye. In 1939, he founded the Mercury Division that would emphasize European design elements and luxury comforts.

The first car offered was the 8, a car that stood apart from its Ford brothers. With a 95 hp V-8 (10 hp more then the standard Ford V-8) and a sleek new look, Mercury sold nearly 66,000 units in that first year, selling for $916. After the war, the 8 returned with a fresh new look that distanced itself even further from the parent company. 1949 was a particularly good year as Mercury broke all-time sales records with the 8. It was also this year that a young Sam Barris built the first chopped and stretched lead sled. From this point on, the 49 Merc, as it was affectionately called, would go on to become one of the most popular vehicles for hot rodding.

But its was in 1945 that Edsel succumbed to cancer. Mercury's founder was no longer at the helm, and the company’s direction started to stray. It wasn't long before badge engineering found its way to Mercury. The M-100 was a pickup truck produced just for the Canadian market, which started production in 1946. Like Mercury's of today, the M-100 was little more than an F-100, identical in every way except for the use of a Mercury-specific grille, trim and nameplates.

However, there were many great cars that came from the brand in the years to come, even if they all suffered from an identity crisis. The Comet started it's life as a compact in 1960, turning into a mid-size sedan in the early 70's before going back to a compact when the car was discontinued in 1977. Likewise the Cougar had a similar misdirection, as it started it's life as a plush pony car in 1967, based on the Mustang, then later became a large tourer in 74 based on the Ford Elite and Torino. In 1980, the Cougar became much more sedated, in the body of the Ford Zephyr before taking on it's popular form of the 1983 Thunderbird. Then in 2000, Mercury saw the Cougar as a sports compact, where it was the last of the Mercury branded cars to have it's own platform, and finally it's own identity, if somewhat misinterpreted along the way.

The first generation Capri, a European Ford Capri built in Germany, would become the second highest sold import in North America, bested only by the Beetle. It's European design made the little sports coupe stand out from the domestic crowd during its reign from 1970 to 1977. However, in '79, the Capri also fell to badge engineering, as it used a thinly disguised Ford Mustang platform until it was finally killed off in 1986.

The Marauder nameplate began to surface in Mercury vehicles in 1963, being V-8 powered, fastback versions of the Monterey, Montclair and Park Lanes. The Marauder name would come back in '69, as it's own designated model, a large cruiser that was the epitome of that age. The base Marauder had a 390 cu-in engine, while the Marauder X-100 normally came with a larger 360 hp 429 cu-in engine. Then in 2003, the Marauder surfaced once again, providing power hungry enthusiasts with a mean example of the Grand Marquis. With a 4.6L 302 hp V8 making use of several parts from the Mach 1 Mustang. It also made use of several Police Interceptor parts, in particular the 3.55 limited slip rear end.

The last twelve months have been particularly hard on the American automakers, with four different brands getting the axe. And while the execution of Mercury was a foregone conclusion, it is a brand that will leave us with a several endurable models that will hold a special place in automotive history.

Feature: The Swiss Army Knife of Transportation

A Swiss army knife is an important piece of kit to own. It’s a single tool that is capable of serving its owner in so many ways. Anything from hunting, preparing and eating food, self-defense, hygiene, cracking a beer at a party and everything in between. However, for much larger task’s like road maintenance and repair, agricultural duties and getting much need supplies to a battlefront in rough terrain, the jack-of-all-trades has always been, and will be the Unimog.

 

Built by Daimler-Benz, the Unimog is one of the world’s most capable off-road vehicles. They are still pretty rare here in North America, as the vehicle was never sold here, however, the Unimog’s icon status in Europe has meant several private importers have been slowly trickling the specialty vehicles into the country for over a decade now. Very quickly the Unimog, both older and newer versions are becoming the darling of the off-road community, allowing four-wheelers to go deeper into the unknown.

 

The Unimog has an interesting beginning, as it’s creation mimics that of the Land Rover in several ways. After the fall of World War II, the British where looking for a vehicle that would serve both as rural transportation and take on many tasks of a tractor. With the successful Willies Jeep 4WD vehicle making a name for itself in their military, the British wanted a similarly useful vehicle of their own, creating a truck that could navigate through the rain soak rural fields, and had power take-offs to power saws, winches, mowers and just about anything that could be jimmied up to take rotational force to do a job.

 

It was around this same time that Albert Friedrich, previously the Head of Aeroengine Design at Daimler-Benz, was thinking along the same lines. He put forward a concept for a vehicle with a basic design that would be versatile for tasks of all kinds, possess superior off-road mobility with a four-wheel-drive drivetrain featuring portal gear axles and differential locks front and rear. It would also have a compact cab, outstanding robustness and power take-offs front and rear for attaching a multitude of working implements. This was the concept being thrown around as early as 1945, and was a hit at the 1948 German Agricultural Show, with 150 orders made. With that the project was streamlined for production with the Massrs. Erhard & Sons coming on as development partners.

 

The truck was given the name Unimog, which is an acronym for "UNIversal-MOtor-Gerät," or universally applicable motorized implement. An unusual name even for the Germans, but described its abilities well. The first versions were simplistic to

 say the least with a small open cab, flat bed and equal size wheels in order to be driven on roads at higher speeds than standard farm tractors. They were powered by Daimler-Benz’s 25-hp OM636 diesel engine became standard equipment in the first production, while the track width of 1,270 millimeters was equivalent to two potato rows. This was a truck aimed at the agricultural community and they embraced it, as its power take-offs allowed farmers to attach a myriad of useful machines to work in the fields and forests.

 

Production began in 1948 at the mechanical engineering factory of Boehringer in Schwäbisch Gmünd. Erhard and Sons did not have the production capacity needed, and due to wartime concessions, Daimler-Benz was not permitted to build 4WD vehicles. These laws changed with the creation of the West German Republic and the success of the Unimog prompted Daimler-Benz to take over the project completely, moving production to their Gaggenau plant in 1951.

 

1955 saw the first complete redesign of the Unimog, introducing the infamous 404. This truck would become a legend as its abilities and usefulness meant it wasn’t discontinued until 1980, with 64,242 units produced. However, this truck was geared more toward cross-country trucking rather than an agricultural implement. It featured a massive upgrade in power with a 2.2L 82 hp straight-six petrol engine mated to a synchromesh gearbox. This much larger 

 could climb a 70% grade, while capable of a 90% decent. It had a ground clearance of 40 cm, could ford nearly a meter of water, had a side slope angle rating of 46 degrees, with 46 degree approach and departure angles. Off-road abilities were coupled with a weight of 2,900 kg and a 1,500 kg payload. These numbers were impressive in 1955, and when the cold war started to pick up, West Germany began to re-arm the military, and the Unimog faired heavily in their plans. Over half of all 404’s built went to the German military while countries all over the world saw the potential of such a vehicle, snapping up nearly all the rest.

 

Over time, the simplicity, durability and down right unbeatable versatility of the Unimog continued to be a success. Exploited by both the agricultural and military industries, the commercial industry was now starting to take notice, and Daimler-Benz listened. Soon specialty vehicles could be ordered with fire fighting or ambulance kit, be configured to be a mobile workshop or weather forecasting station, or kitted for municipal and rail maintenance. The possibilities were endless, while the added go-anywhere abilities only made the choice for businesses to go mobile all the more attractive. Because of this Daimler-Benz also started to increase the production range, now building lightweight, mid-sized and heavy versions. The OM 352 diesel's now used for power introduced direct injection for the first time, raising power quickly from 70 to 80 hp to 100 hp used by a new 416 series launched at the 1969.

In 1976, the face of the Unimog changed once again with a new angular design. The new 424 was complimented by the renaming of all Unimog versions. The traditional rounded style Unimogs were designated U 600/L, U 800/L, U 900 and U 1100/L. New angular shapes were the hallmark of the Unimog U 1000, U 1300/L, U 1500 and the flagship, the U 1700/L with a 168 hp engine. The letter "L" indicated the long-wheelbase version. These new trucks feature many improvements including disc brakes for the first time.

 

Today, you can’t go anywhere in Europe without seeing a Unimog doing some kind of labour, whether it be hauling goods, cleaning tunnels and sign posts along the Autobahn or carrying troops and equipment. It is the workhorse of Europe. The latest design has been so popular that special editions such as the Funmog and the Unimog Black edition be created for wealthy eccentrics to play on their acreages. Travelers outfit all years and ranges with living quarters to explore the world over. They are used for absolutely everything, and have created a cult following.

 

Unfortunately, the Unimog is still not commercially available here in Canada, a country that would have a great use for such rugged and versatile machinery. However, it’s becoming more and more common to spot them on the roads, as importers are bringing fifteen year old vehicle into the country as they are so popular with off-roaders and small businesses that need to get equipment out into the bush or mines. Like the influx of Japanese JDM vehicles into the country, the abilities of the Unimog will be exploited.

Road Trip: San Bernardino Pass

About The Route

Best time to Go: Weekdays during May, June, September and October

Places To Stop: Old hotel and restaurant at the passes peak, a view of the Zapporthorn as well as a high alpine lake. Excellent exploring opportunities, here and throughout the alpine area region.

Total Distance:  48 km

Altitude: 260m-2,066m

Starting Point: Beginning in Castione, Switzerland, head north on highway #13 Blue. The highway follows the Mesolcina valley over the mountain, and on to Hinterrhein, Switzerland.

Road Type: Flowing smooth road surface with a variety of changing topography.

Warnings: Watch for cyclists and Hikers as this area has many trails. Pass closed in the winter due to the amount of snowfall.

 

Review: Our next great road was suggested to us by the Head of Testing for the new Mercedes S-Class, Uwe Hörnig. Mr. Hörnigs favourite strip of tarmac is the San Bernardino Pass in southern Switzerland that links the Hinterrhein and the Mesolcina valleys, offering great challenges to both driver and car while driving through some of the most beautiful scenery and spectacular countryside in the Southern Alps. The San Bernardino is part of an extensive route that Uwe and his colleagues test the new S-Class; a course that features a wide variety of road conditions to ensure the car meets Mercedes high standards. When asked what he would drive the San B. with access to the Mercedes fleet, Hörnig replied that the S-400 Hybrid would be his choice. He noted, ”The S-400 Hybrid makes driving easier, more comfortable and, above all, safer without a shortage of driving pleasure. New technology and lithium-ion batteries means the car is as close to standard weight as possible while at the same time being both powerful and fuel efficient.”

With Mr. Hörnigs advice in hand I made my way to southern Switzerland to experience for myself what the San Bernardino had in store. Now, when he mentioned that he would have chosen the big S-Class to drive a narrow alpine pass, I had the distinct feeling that he must have been getting the evil eye from a Public Relations person to plug Mercedes latest offering. However, his choice started to make sense as I lumbered into the alpine of the pass. The San Bernardino really does offer a great amount of variety in terrain, and its smooth and fairly wide lanes (for a Alp pass) changed my way of thinking. Having driven the Grossglockner and other technically challenging passes with my hair on fire, the engine bouncing off the rev limiter, tires screaming in pain at the loss of adhesion and eyes dried out from the concentration required to safely navigate such roads open to oncoming traffic is a magnificent experience. But it’s also extremely taxing on you both physically and mentally. A great Alpine pass can also be enjoyed by simply cruising through at a sane speed and the San Bernardino definitely calls for an easy cruise to soak up not only this great road, but the spectacular scenery as well.

The beauty of the San Bernardino is that it’s a two-headed beast. There is the new autoroute, (A13 Red) which is a faster direct route through the valley, and slips into a 6.6 km tunnel that bypasses the summit. Unlike many pass upgrades, this route is still only a two-lane highway, still fairly windy and offers great views of the towering Alps above. However, it will be the old route (13B Blue) that I will be talking about here. The pass has been used since the Roman era, with several sections of an ancient path visible to the curious and energetic hiker. But it wasn’t until 1823 that a proper road was built, with a painstaking rebuild in the 1990’s.

Starting at the south point of highway 13B in Castione, the road is quite tame, and slow for that matter as it meanders up the valley through farmland and several small villages. Once you get past the sleepy villages, the road begins to breath some life as it rises into the forested highlands. It all starts with a couple of hairpins, then the road begins to climb into the hills, cutting a path through the thick forest while adhering to natures law of following the terrain. It is here that you get great views of the A13 as it does its best to break those rules, crashing through mountainside and using bridges to keep every thing on the level. After quite a while of this very pleasurable driving, I came across the village of San Bernardino itself. It’s a deserted ski village rammed full of ski lodges, hotels and restaurants, all but shutdown here in the summer.

 

After San Bernardino the pass starts to climb into the alpine. Here tree’s become extinct, the terrain becomes tundra, and the road blossoms into a winding mess of gloriousness. Above the tree line, you can see well down the road, allowing speeds to become interesting without fear of the unknown around a blind corner. Also the lack of stupidly steep drop-offs means one can start to use the entire road, even dipping a wheel off if one so inclines. It  ‘s a fluid road that winds around a glaciated landscape with glaciated knobs, mires and small lakes. The San Bernardino’s Alpine section is a driver’s dream, like a racecourse that has been placed atop a mountain. It really gives back in ways a Canadian driver could never imagine. Of course there are still a good number of hairpins thrown in to keep everything interesting, but perfectly placed sporadically along the route. The summit represents both a cultural and drainage basin border with locals speaking Italian in the south and German in the north.

 Like most passes, falling down the other side reveals a much different environment. In the case of the San Bernardino, the terrain became much steeper, and the road slows with tighter turns and narrower passages. From the wide open alpine, 13 blue falls down a steep rocky gulley. The hairpin lovers will love this section as the road slowly steps itself down the mountain, hugging the side of the cliff. At the base of the steep cliffs is rich farmland, full of the stereotypical Swiss cows. Take a rest break at the bottom, and listen to the echo of hundreds of cow bells bounce off the valley walls for an equally impressive scene as the road above.

Feature: G-Wagon turns 30

You’ll find them in communities known as Yaletown, the Westside, Shaunessy and the British Properties. Chances are they will be driven by women who look as though they spend a year’s blue-collar salary on beauty products alone. They are probably driving it, only because it has a Mercedes tri-star on the grille and is the most expensive production SUV money can buy. However, you must admit, there is something seductive about the G-Class. It has all the classy looks that make it popular in the posh crowd, but it also has a sense of adventure about it as well.

 

What modern owners of G-Classes may not know is that the G-Class is also known as the Geländewagen, and was never meant to be a luxury product. Quite the opposite actually, as the G was built for the battlefield.

 

To understand the double life this unique vehicle lives, we must go back to the beginning. In the early 70’s, Iran was looking for a durable, rugged 4x4 to be the military’s primary means of transportation. It just so happened that the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was a major shareholder in the Daimler Corporation. Not wanting to let down the King of Kings, and with tensions in Iran rising, Daimler-Benz began a joint project with Austrian carmaker, Steyr-Daimler-Puch, to build a rugged little army vehicle. It would be called the Geländewagen in Europe, which translates to “tough terrain vehicle.” The Geländewagen was compliant with all NATO specs, featuring three locking differentials that helped it climb grades up to 36 degrees and straddle lateral inclines up to 24 degrees.

 

In 1979, Mercedes saw that the Geländewagen could be a successful civilian soft roader as well, as the Toyota Landcruiser and Land Rover Defender enjoyed the mass popularity of this segment. So a civilian version was offered to the public straight away, and quickly became a popular contender to the Japanese and British competition. Customers could choose between three body styles, a 2-door SWB convertible, a 2-door SWB wagon and a LWB 4-door wagon. In military guise, the options added a windowless version of the 2-door wagon as well as a pickup, and a chassis-cab with a wheelbase of 2850, 3120 or 3400 mm, being the base vehicle for army-ambulances, communication vehicles or any other custom fabrication wanted.

 

The early vehicles came with several choices of power. Petrol engines included a 2.0 and 2.3L inline-four, as well as a 2.8L V-6. Diesel power plants included a 2.4L inline-four, as well as a 2.5 and 3.0L inline-five cylinder. In 1980, Mercedes built a custom-built version of the G for Pope John Paul II to protect him from wind and rain when he visited Germany. After an assassination attempt in 1981, the bodywork was finished with bulletproof glazing. In all, over 50,000 G-wagens were built in the first decade.

 

In 1990, the first generation G-wagen (W460) was replaced with the second generation W461. The second-generation vehicle was all but identical to the first, however would now offer a more luxury minded interior and a 5.0L V-8, as well as a 5.4L supercharged V-8. This new luxury line taken by Mercedes opened up an all-new market for the G-Class now being imported into all of North America. The G500, offered the wealthy civilian a 32-valve 382 horsepower 5.5L V-8 engine, while the G55 AMG kicks out an impressive 500 horsepower 5.4L V-8 engine, and can get from 0 to 100 kph in a mere 5.5 seconds. Not bad for a vehicle that weigh’s 2,555 kg but comes at the cost of being Canada’s worst polluting vehicle for those vehicles with published environmental numbers.

 

 

In 2004, the Canadian Department of National Defense signed a contract to purchase 357 G-wagens for the army, more importantly for combat operations in Afghanistan. The outdated Volkswagen Iltis had long been the workhorse for the Canadian Forces, but offered soldiers little in the way of protection. The new G-wagens came with an Armour Protection System, which can be installed in the vehicles in less than eight hours, and offered protection from small arms and small explosive munitions.  However, Taliban fighters simply made the IED’s bigger, making the G-wagens armour out-dated with in the year. Other problems the Forces have met with the G-wagen has been its center of balance. With military versions equipped with a massive armoured machine gun turret on the roof, the G-wagen becomes very unstable when cornering. In fact a good many CF G-wagens sport damaged sides as they tip over so easily, now causing the CF to rethink how they arm the vehicles.

 

So we come to the present day and the G-wagen is still living the double life of luxury SUV and military support vehicle. Today there are 28 nations that use the G-wagen for all sorts of different military operations, while the civilian version is just as popular as ever. The updated G550 now sports a 5.5L 382 hp V-8 while the manic G55 AMG pumps 500 hp from the supercharged 5.4L. With such a passionate following, both wealthy and off-road enthusiast based, Mercedes has scheduled the G to continue production into 2012. The Geländewagen really does represent a unique show of versatility for a vehicle to straddle two very opposite ends of the spectrum so successfully for thirty years now.