Mercury is Kaput - Ford to Discontinue the Near-Lux Brand

Ford Motor Company will announce today that it intends to euthanize its Mercury Division, after weeks (and indeed years) of speculation, per a report from the AP and The Detroit News. Mercury will join Chrysler's Plymouth division and GM's Saturn, Hummer, Pontiac and Oldsmobile brands on the scrap-heap of automotive history.

A moment of silence, please, for the folks who brought us this little gem....

Here are a few more tasty morsels from Ford's near-luxury companion to the Lincoln brand.

The Mercury Monterey (this one a wagon) ....

And a lovely Monterey convertible....

Makes me a little misty-eyed thinking about my first two cars, both Mercuries: a '75 Comet (yellow with a white vinyl hard top) and a '78 Zephyr (tan, a.k.a. "Ford racing beige" per the folks at "Car and Driver" magazine).

RIP, Merc.

Overheard on the Blue Line...

I was returning from a Kentucky Derby party a couple weekends ago and am sure I heard the driver announce the following over the PA system:

"This is a Blue Line train to HUNTINGTON."

Hmmmm.... since the Blue Line doesn't GO to Huntington, I can only presume the driver meant to say "Franconia-Springfield" and was confused. OR has Metro begun an experiment, splitting the Blue line such that trains terminate in both places now?

Has anyone heard something similar?

UPDATE: Matt Johnson (of Greater Greater Washington and Track Twenty-Nine fame) provided the answer in reponse to my comment at the bottom of this post. Due to scheduled track work that weekend, all Blue and Yellow Line trains terminated at Huntington. Metro operated a shuttle train from King Street to Franconia-Springfield for those persons traveling to the Van Dorn Street or Franconia-Springfield stations. Thanks, Matt!

DC Streetcars on Display

If you're curious to see the hardware that will operate (one day) on the District's future streetcar network, there's no better time than the present. DDOT is sponsoring a show-and-tell event called "Streetcar Showcase" at 9th and H Streets NW downtown (site of the old convention center). On display is one of DC's three Czech-made streetcars, in full red "Circulator-like" livery, in addition to a couple of Circulator buses and bikes from the District's bike-share program. Also on display are display boards and posters with information on future routes, tram stop designs, and pictures from other modern streetcar networks around the world.

You can view the streetcar Thursday and Friday from 11am – 7pm, and Saturday from 11am – 5pm.

I went down there today and took a few pics - enjoy!

Latest Automaker Dance Card

Here is a revised version of my earlier graphic (posted originally here) which includes the latest updates in the seismic re-ordering of the global automotive industry. Updates to this version include:

• the cancellation of GM's sale of Hummer to China's Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company, and the General's decision to shutter the brand.
• Similarly, the sale of the Saturn brand to Penske fell through, so Saturn will also be closed down, with all its dealers.
• GM decided ultimately NOT to sell its European Opel division to parts supplier Magna International, opting to retain it instead, causing significant teeth-gnashing among the Germans, Russians and Canadians.
• Ford is completing the sale of Volvo to Geely, a Chinese automaker seeking an American presence.
• Saab was sold off ... but not to Koenigsegg, as earlier attempted, but instead to Spyker Cars, also of Sweden.
• And Mitsubishi and Peugeot-Citroen are rumored to be cozying up to a stock-swap deal that would cement a strategic alliance between the Japanese and French automakers.

So, never a dull moment. It's a soap opera these days. You literally cannot tell the players without a scorecard. Stay tuned as the automotive fallout from the financial meltdown is quite likely far from over.

Live Long and... Don't Walk!

Live Long and Prosper

Spotted in Crystal City (Rt. 1 and 23rd Street), this (malfunctioning) crossing sign seems to offer pedestrians a common Vulcan greeting. Mr. Spock says, "Don't Walk"!

This blog has been pretty inactive lately, but I hope to return to it more frequently going forward. Look for an update soon to my graphic showing the incestuous and ever-changing relationships among automakers in the U.S. auto market. As of tonight, it appears the sale of Saab to Spyker of Sweden may indeed be on again. That tidbit, plus Chinese Geeley's pending purchase of Volvo from Ford and the recent strategic alliances between 1) Volkswagen and Suzuki and 2) Mitsubishi and PSA (Peugeot-Citroen) will shake up a large portion of that family tree. Stay tuned!

Keep on Trekin',

Glenn