Chrome, Lead and the Mercury Blues

Illustration by Jeff Blackwell – Click for a large image

Long on the wane, the disappearance of Mercury from the solar system of American car brands will barely create a disturbance.

When the company jettisoned the swift-winged Messenger God from its logo and adopted the pastoral “waterfall” motif, it was clear that Mercury had wandered irretrievably out of its orbit.

For generations now, Mercury has been perceived as a transparent marketing ploy. Swapping a blue oval for a chrome waterfall doesn’t offer all that much cachet, no matter how elegant the spokesmodel. Targeting the not-quite-ready-to-spring-for-a-Lincoln demographic over the gearheads wasn’t the trajectory Edsel Ford had in mind when he specified 10 more horsepower for the Mercury than the Ford model in 1939.

It’s worth remembering that Mercury at one time owned a unique image, and one that was quintessentially American. In 1955, both James Dean in “Rebel Without a Cause” and Broderick Crawford in the “Highway Patrol” drove a Mercury. The Mercurys of the 40s and early 50s were cars that suggested substantially more weight and power than their Ford stablemates, and possessed a certain restraint in their styling that conveyed a degree of mysteriousness and the potential for impropriety.

Chrome, and the stripping off thereof, is vital to understanding the Mercury brand.

Chrome is a heavy metal and is heavy metal. Hanging a massive chrome facade on a car adds visible mass, which implies commensurate massive power to move it, and removing that chrome removes the weight – leaving the excess power.

This process of eliminating unnecessary weight to increase performance is elemental in racing, and the absence of chrome trim became a style among California hot rodders. Ironically, the evolution of the stripped down “lead sled” associated with American hot rodding became all about the style with performance being merely implied.

When actual chrome plated metal was replaced by lightweight chromed plastic “trim” at the factory, the difference between one front fascia and another became purely stylistic. The mass that demanded horsepower – the horsepower that had differentiated the Mercury – was lost in the pursuit of fuel efficiency.

The continuous process of ratcheting up size and mass – and torque and horsepower – culminated in the so-called “muscle cars” of the late 60s.
At that very point – when we realized that gasoline was no longer going to be available “full service” – the pendulum paused – and reversed. And the Mercury was already on a trajectory for the theoretical orbit between Ford and Lincoln.

It was only its momentum that kept it going this long.

Momentum being the product of mass and velocity.

Had my money
I tell you what I’d do
I would go downtown
Buy a Mercury or two
Cause I’m crazy ’bout a Mercury
Cruise up and down this road

“Mercury Boogie” (aka “Mercury Blues”) by K. C. Douglas and Robert Geddins

www.rubberattheroad.com

jeff.blackwell@gmail.com