{"id":2770,"date":"2007-12-12T04:06:00","date_gmt":"2007-12-12T09:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/2007\/12\/fords-oldsmobile\/"},"modified":"2010-12-30T12:00:59","modified_gmt":"2010-12-30T17:00:59","slug":"fords-oldsmobile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/2007\/12\/fords-oldsmobile\/","title":{"rendered":"Ford’s Oldsmobile"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"1959<\/a><\/p>\n

You’re probably thinking “Edsel<\/a>.” But while Ford’s “E-car” was an attempt to fill holes in FoMoCo’s product line, with models priced both above and below Mercury it was competing instead with Pontiac and Buick, a strategy that with hindsight seems incredibly foolhardy. Rather, it was Mercury itself that was Olds’s competition – the two cars had been priced opposite one another from Mercury’s birth in 1939<\/a>. But Mercury had outsold Olds only one year, 1953<\/a>, and then by fewer than 1,000 cars. For 1959, Ford decided to pull out all the stops and build a better Oldsmobile.<\/p>\n

We generally think of the 1959 Mercury<\/a> as an evolution of the 1957<\/a> and 1958<\/a> models. With ’57’s cove accents<\/a> bulked up to rocket ship proportions<\/a>, the ’59 appeared a bit bizarre. Actually, as the late Ford product planner Richard Stout explained in his book Make ‘Em Shout Hooray<\/i><\/a>, the ’59 Merc was all new, “From Road to Roof<\/a>” as the catalog put it. In four series, Monterey<\/a>, Montclair<\/a>, Park Lane<\/a>, and Station Wagons, Mercury sold from $2,832 to $4,206. Wagons were all of pillarless hardtop<\/a> design, both two- and four-door, a concept dating from ’57<\/a>. Engines<\/a> came in three sizes, 312, 383 and 430 cubic inches, and four stages of tune, 210, 280, 322 and 345 bhp.<\/p>\n

All GM cars were new for ’59, a welcome relief from the excesses of 1958<\/a>. Oldsmobile<\/a> had three series, Dynamic 88<\/a>, Super 88<\/a> and Ninety-Eight<\/a>. Wagons, only in four-door “post” configuration<\/a>, were offered in Dynamic and Super 88 trim. Prices ranged from $2,837 to $4,366. There were but two engines<\/a>, 371 and 394 cid, and three stages of tune, 270, 300 and 315 bhp. The 1959 GM cars were distinctive with Panoramic windshields<\/a> and wrap-around rear windows<\/a>, but Mercury had its own version of these, a windshield<\/a> reaching up into the roof and a rear light<\/a> wrapped around to the rear doors. Interestingly, Merc gave this treatment only to sedans<\/a>, while Olds reserved it for hardtops<\/a>. Mercury had no counterpart to Olds’s Trans-Portable radio<\/a> or Autronic Eye<\/a> automatic headlight dimmer, but Merc’s parallel wipers<\/a> cleared a much larger area than the Olds “clap-hands<\/a>” arrangement.<\/p>\n

Despite Oldsmobile’s X-braced “cow belly” frame<\/a>, Mercury had more passenger room, larger door openings and greater luggage capacity. Ford had built a better Mercury, but the public was unconvinced that it was a better Oldsmobile. Ford<\/a> outsold Chevy<\/a> in 1959, but that popularity didn’t extend to the medium-price segment. When the totals were tallied, it was your father’s Oldsmobile, outselling Mercury by better than two to one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You’re probably thinking “Edsel.” But while Ford’s “E-car” was an attempt to fill holes in FoMoCo’s product line, with models priced both above and below Mercury it was competing instead with Pontiac and Buick, a strategy that with hindsight seems incredibly foolhardy. Rather, it was Mercury itself that was Olds’s competition – the two cars….<\/span>
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