The exceptional quality of content combined with the quality of your vast car collection deserves a million subscribers. This channel is an internet treasure.
Really enjoy your reviews of vintage cars from the 1970's as well as other decades. Very dignified and detailed presentation without the annoying music that some others seem to think is necessary. Your personal point of view adds to the details of each vehicle you review. Thanks for all your efforts in bringing these interesting cars back to life.
A friend of mine's Mom had a 76 Mercury Marquis Brougham that he learned to drive on (in Boston...scary) back in the early 1980's. Was always fun when he showed up in "The Boat". The thing was almost 3 feet longer than my Dad's 1976 Buick Skylark 2 door and maybe 7-8 inches wider. Comfy car for sure!
Only us Bostonians can truly appreciate what a feat learning to drive, in Boston, in a land yacht is. Driving in this beautiful clusterfuck of a city is a nightmare with a normal-sized car, let alone a behemoth like the marquis
My mother owned numerous Oldsmobiles. She really loved the 1962 Dynamic 88, it was so pretty. I, myself, had several a '68 Delta 88, '71 Cutlass Supreme and '88 Cutlass Cierra. Loved those cars, so dependable!
I love ‘em, I’ve got a ‘71 LTD 2 door with a hot 429 although it has airbags in the rear and a coil over conversion in front so ride and handling are a lot better. It runs 12.6 second quarters. I’ve also got a ‘71 convertible on magnum 500’s and a modified 351 Windsor with only 35,000 miles on the odo.
In the late 1980’s I had a 1974 Mercury Gran Marquis for several years. I called it battleship grey with grey interior. Very comfortable car and drove more nimbly that you might expect considering you could play tennis on the hood. It was over 100k miles but it needed very little work during my ownership. I sold it to a Soldier on an Army Post and apparently it got passed along from one to the next as I saw it many times for several years on the road and in the barracks parking lot after selling it.
The Marquis was the boulevard vehicle with the smooth ride. In 1972 Mercury did a commercial cutting a diamond in the back seat of the Marquis and in 1974 Jennifer O’Neal (model) was filmed applying her makeup and eyeliner in the back seat of the Marquis…. Always great info and demonstration Adam, thanks!
Saturday night live did a sketch where they did a circumcision on the baby back there it was funny I remember that I remember them cutting a diamond in the back to
My father bought one, came with a cracked engine block. The dealership refused to fix it, my parents were so angry they bought a Toyota after that and haven't bought an American vehicle since.
You have a real discerning eye when it comes to the factory imperfections, particularly on the mid - '70's GM's. You would have had a field day on my '75 Century... I never would have suspected!
As a kid, "A car is a car to me" was my motto: honestly, I couldn't tell a Monterey from a Marquis! 46 yrs ago, The Harper family had 1 of each: Aunt Mary and Uncle Albert had a '71 or 2 green 4dr. Monterey w/Police package, and Janie? had the same model Marquis 4dr. brown! The Monterey (& Ford Galaxie) died after '74, the same year Mothers Johnson and DePreist was buying a 4dr. Monterey Csm., 2tone yellow and tan!!
My girlfriend in high school’s dad had a M Brougham in a custom green with a white vinyl roof and white interior. Great car to take to the prom. Seemed like a very quick car but very cushy.
I like your reviews a lot. I send them to my 87 year old dad and we reminisce about the 60+ cars he has owned and I grew up with, many of which you have. Keep up the great work. Hope your channel grows, it is well deserved.
I love your descriptions of handling and interior ride quality. A few of these cars I did have a chance to ride and drive some of these cars (even some of them were even not past their prime) and you are spot on with your views. In 1975 I had a job where I drove about 200 miles about twice a day in rental cars (boss got a good deal on them). I remember that the problem with the big fords on the interstates was staying awake. They were big enough that the wind didn't bother them (I lived in Kansas) and that was a joy. Of course as soon as you pulled into cities you were reminded that these were boats. The Oldsmobile were much more stable and responsive, the smaller ones were even sorta sporty.
My late uncle Irving was a VP with FoMoCo during the 1960s- 1980s. He was a Vice President-Assembly plant quality control. He was truly a company man, he worked for Ford in many different plants for his 30 years. I remember in 1978 my Dad bought a Thunderbird Town Landau....my Mom's brother bought an Olds Cutlass Supreme Brougham...uncle Irv did a side-by-side comparison of the two cars....the quality in the details, fit and finish were clearly superior in the T-bird, even to my ten-year-old eyes. The one place where the Olds was "supreme" was in the quality and appearance and feel of the beautiful loose-pillow multi-tone gold velour interior fabrics....it was so much richer feeling than the Ford.
In the early 1980’s all of GM’s cars had MUCH nicer interiors. Ford pretty much removed all the padding in their car’s surfaces as well as replaced most parts of their interiors with cheap plastic parts. Ford abandoned all the decent interior designs they had when they introduced the Fairmont. That car was total garbage. Built on the Fox body, its incredibly cheap looking interiors ended up in the Mustang as well. Those first Fox body Mustangs are the worst Mustangs ever built. Stay away from the 80-82. The 83 was okay as long as it was the new GT 5.0 that had finally been released. The Mustang II, which came right before the FOX body, were much better cars, especially in the interior. Ford made the really bad mistake of removing much of the content in their cars (things like door padding, etc…) to decrease their weight so they would get better gas mileage. That’s because in 1980, gas was around $1.40 a gallon, which, when adjusted for inflation, is considerably higher than it is now). It didn’t improve the gas mileage nearly enough to justify the cheap feeling that those cars gave their owners. It felt like Ford had just given up. Made me plenty of money though, because it was my job to inspect each new car arriving off the truck for body damage. And every single car had plenty that had to be fixed before they were a sellable product. Back then, car carrying rail cars were wide open where kids would throw rocks at the new cars as the trains went by. And none of the cars had the plastic covers that are used to protect new cars during shipment today. You can blame me for starting the process of preventing cars from getting damaged so much during shipment. Because I had laser straight eyesight and could see a scratch 20 yards away. I could tell if there was suspension damage simply by the stance each car had sitting on the ground. (Truck drivers dropped cars off their ramps going onto their trucks multiple times and would then try to hide the damage by parking the car at a weird angle. So I would always start it back up and park it on level ground so I could see its stance. A car with damage underneath would always sit crooked. I was paid a bonus of 5% of all the labor required to get the cars back to being right before they were parked on the sales portion of our lot. That was usually a very good bonus check, as I averaged around $1000 to $2000 per truck load. Mind you, that’s in 1980 dollars, so that gave me a decent paycheck. I made more than $15,000 in 1980, which was good money then. It took Ford about 3 years to take notice that more and more dealerships were getting really tired of receiving damaged cars that required being reworked before they could be put up for sale. The dealership I worked at was the very first to tighten up on the standards of what we were willing to accept from the delivery process. I was hired specifically for that purpose…to start holding the delivery companies accountable for all the damage we kept having to fix on our own dime. Between the exit from the assembly line to the entrance to our dealership lot, nobody seemed to care the least bit about protecting all these new cars from getting damaged or having parts stolen off them during transit. The dealership nicknamed me “RADAR” because I could see damage on the cars before the truck drivers even got them off their trucks.
Sadly, one day during my second year on the job, a truck driver came and dropped off just one car. He still had a full load on his truck. About 3-4 minutes after he had left, there was this huge black cloud of smoke going high up into the sky. Unfortunately, it was the driver’s truck that had just been at the dealership. As he was driving over an overpass, the suspension in the front of his truck collapsed, dropping all the weight of the truck’s cab, including the new car that was parked on the top of it, down onto his front tires. The truck veered to the left and went over the side of the overpass, plowing head on into the embankment below. The loaded truck’s cars smashed into each other on the lower level, while the cars up on the top flew off the truck and smashed into the ground around it. The truck’s fuel tank exploded, killing the driver. I had just talked to him a few moments beforehand. The car carrier company then tried to get me to tell them that their driver was driving drunk so they could get out of being sued by his family for failing to properly maintain their trucks. Despite numerous attempts by them, I absolutely REFUSED to say that their driver was drunk, as there was no such evidence and I didn’t smell alcohol on his breath. There wasn’t much left of him for an autopsy after the accident, so it became the trucking company’s word against mine. And I wasn’t about to accuse someone of being drunk when I knew better. They ultimately ended up having to pay a considerable sum out to that driver’s family. I was never called to testify because the company didn’t dare bring it into a court room because they knew I wasn’t going to back up their phony claim.
This Mercury is an absolutely gorgeous car Adam. My mom's friend had a 1973 Mercury Marquis Brougham in the 1970s, very much like this. It was a slightly different color, sort of a reddish orange, but it had a white vinyl top and white leather interior in it just like this car has. It made quite an impression on me as a young kid riding around in it. I believe she drove that car for 10 years, then traded it on something smaller and more fuel efficient.
I had a 88 and took it up the logging roads. Drifting was fantastic but the giant deer I got caused the muffler to fall off. Then it sounded fast real fast. So much fun. One of the best trucks I've ever had
Man... You Bring back some memories with "Your Father's Oldsmobile" and that Michigan scenery... When I first started driving that vintage was all we could afford but in a lesser shape... spent a lot time working on those beast for myself and others. Heaviest being a 67 Chry Town & Country wagon must of weighted 4 tons... What those Drive Ins... The Belle Aire and the one across from Macomb Mall... Wow the Memories. Thanks Brother keep them comming.
Another great video from Adam. Always very detailed, thorough, and interesting. You capture all the nuances of the mechanics of these vehicles. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and interest in these cars so eloquently.
I normally don’t like red on any car, but it looks ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS on this one! The white interior is spectacular. My uncle had an LTD Brougham in all blue, but I didn’t care much for it. Sometimes the right color makes all the difference.
Adam, this is an especially good post because you're accurately representing what would have been an actual household debate between models competing for an upper-middle class family's budget for a second car.
I grew up with GM's, but I have to admit that I'm in love with that Mercury Marquis Brougham, I especially love the interior, it looks so plush and I also love the styling of the front end with that Grill and Hideaway headlights
Love this channel. Informative, honest and beautiful cars. Im about 4 days from buying my 1st 1978 Merc Marquis brougham . Jade green and great green interior. 400 4bbl , 127k miles and yes one owner whom is literally just 2 months exactly from his 100th birthday!!! Great guy and car always garage kept , all original paperwork. Just. excited beyond words and watching this channel really helps thank you.
@@melrose9252 Thank you, I understand , owner told me he had a 4bbl put on it 10yrs ago. Im just repeating what he told me. But thank you Sir it is appreciated. But in the long run he was not a motivated seller.
Interesting how the hardtop and non hardtop versions of the Mercury are almost identical looking while GM full-size hardtops had very different roof line styling between hardtops and post cars.
That Mercury is simply gorgeous in that color combo. I love both but I'd have to go with the Mercury too, today or as a lightly used car in the 70s or early 80s. Thanks for another great comparison Adam, and I cannot wait to see that cutlass! Really curious how that compares with the full size models of the era.
Its a shame you get more views than subscribers as your videos are some of the best. Great knowledge and just a pure love of the automobile. Yes we have all seen the muscle cars but these regular and luxury cars are now kept alive in your collection and online. Thank you as your tone and video quality is excellent.
Your evaluation is spot on, 100% accurate. I have never followed anyone who is anywhere near as knowledgeable as you. I owned a 1976 Ford LTD Brougham. Solid. Quiet. RELIABLE. Comfortable. I remember you needed to start planning a turn about 45 minutes in advance! 🤓😀😜. I'm in my seventies and grew up when brand loyalty was everything. My dad was a Ford man. My grand parents had Olds. Friends of the family considered MOPAR the only choice in transportation. You are fair and unbiased. Scotty Kilmer could learn from you!
I had a 74 Marquis and it was probably the best car I ever owned. Burnt orange color with a brown vinyl top. Tan interior with a combination of leather and valor seating. Same engine, wheel covers, factory am/fm with power antenna. Many long range trips with it. It was everything a Continental would be. Thanks for the memory.
I drove a ‘77 Olds Cutlass with the standard 6 back in the early 80s and it was a tank. It was used for a 50 mile 1 way commute several days a week + driving on NYC streets. It ate up pot holes and was even decent in the snow. It was plain Jane brown with a dealer installed (I think) beige vinyl roof & dog bowl hub caps. That split water fell grill was iconic. Interior quality was decent but the engine initially would stall on turns. That was repaired. I didn’t have an eye like I do now for exterior fit & finish. (Thanks Adam). Otherwise, it was a fine ride…sorry it’s long gone.
Another great video Adam! Who would have ordered an Olds Delta without air conditioning in 1974? A Chevy Impala....possibly, The difference in quality and fit and finish between the GM and Ford is shocking, While overall quality was low in the mid-seventies That olds is a shock to me, We owned a 1972 Country Squire and then a 1976 Gran Torino wagon. never saw imperfections like GM was rocking back then
My grandparents had 70's era Marquis and an LTD. The latter was a '78, but I don't remember the Mercury... but I think this video tells me it was a '74. Everything matches my memories of it. I put many of my teenage miles behind the wheels of both those cars; driving my grandparents around the county. You could sleep comfortably in motion! Floating suspension, super spacious cabin; pure isolation.
I had a 72 marquis 4dr. Great car. Never any problems. I bought it with 80.000 miles and drove it for 5 yrs. I think it had 120.000 miles when I sold it. The thing just ran great
Hey Adam, it's Bill Maceri again. As promised, I just finished watching your reviews of the '74 Marquis, and the Delta 88. Before I go further, after watching this video, once you took the Marquis on the freeway, I could sew the I 75 signs, and the 11 Mile Road exit so I knew exactly where you were. I have family that lives off of 8 Mile Road, and before my parents moved to California, we lived in Saint Claire Shores. It's been a while since I last visited Detroit, but I felt at home in that area. Now for the Olds. After watching your review, the things you pointed out about it tended to be more negative than than positive features and overall build quality of GM products from that era versus the Marquis and even the Chrysler products you reviewed, confirmed my opinion of all three. I'll select a Ford Motor Company and Chrysler Corporation car over a GM every time. Today, I only drive Ford products. I currently have a 2008 Explorer Xlt that I love. It's my second Explorer, my first was a '97 Eddie Bauer that I also loved, unfortunately it was stolen, or I'm sure I would still have it. In my opinion the best thing about the Oldsmobile is that it's black. The one thing that GM always had going for it was it's size and it's 5 brands. Now it doesn't even have that anymore. Admittedly there were a few Chevrolets and Pontiacs back it the day that were very good looking, but there was never a GM car I would ever own. I understand the quality of GM products has improved in recent years, but I don't think there's any excuse for some of the lack of overall quality and design that GM cars are known for, not with the financial capabilities they have behind them. As I mentioned in one of my other comments, I owned a 1975 Mercury Colony Park wagon for many years. I loved everything about that car, and wish I still had it. It was a 9 passenger, 460 with a 4 barrel Motorcraft 4300 carburetor. It was loaded with every option available. Many of it's features were powered by vacuum, so I learned all about how those systems worked. There were vacuum storage canisters and check valves everywhere on that car. You mentioned a relay that controls the temperature of the '72 Chrysler's air conditioning you could hear operate, well on the Fords it was all controlled by vacuum motors under the dash you could hear hissing and whizzing as it controlled the temperature and 8 speed fan on the ATC. The Ford system would pre heat all the air that the ATC used to reduce humidity. Sometimes when driving the car in high elevations with the air conditioning on it would lose engine vacuum climbing steep grades in the Sierra mountains and since the system requires high vacuum for colder temperature setting, the system would only put out very hot air until the engine vacuum increased. So I added more vacuum storage and used a hand vacuum pump to keep the system operating. It was kinda funny but it worked. In any event your '74 Marquis is just beautiful. You pointed out something I never noticed before regarding the hood ornament. I was aware of the ones on that on the '74s being different than the '75s, but never really noticed the '75s were the same just turned vertically. Thanks for that. Again thanks for all your reviews, I really appreciate them.
I noticed the heater core was bypassed, something we always did in Az unless it was deep winter. Hard to imagine a car like that was even available w/o air conditioning, but a buyer was able to actually able to "order" a car however you wanted. I remember non airconditioned cars back then had much better ventilation. I had a 68 SS Camaro that had "Asto Ventilation" and it worked really well.
Hi Adam, I so enjoyed your posts I saw today, Imperial, Mark III and Mark IV, 66 Catalina! I do so enjoy your narratives as well and find you very entertaining. Thank you so much. My best regards, James
Hi Adam, I really enjoy your videos, you are a terrestrial sailor. Would love to see a comparison between a 70s Mercedes Benz S class and the American Luxoboats.
My father purchased a 1970 that my mother drove. In the summer of 1972 I was eight years old and we took that car for a two week vacation to the state of Washington to meet some relatives in my mother's family. That Marquis Brougham rode my parents and I plus my maternal grandmother, a sister of my grandmother, and my mother's teenage sister. No car issues to the ocean and back. We took that Mercury on many vacations. My parents owned that car longer than anything else they owned before I was 16. I remember that the car was loaded including a four speaker AM/FM radio. I believe it has the Sure Track. To me that was a car that in its day I would call a smart man's luxury car in that a Lincoln does offer a little more, but for less money the Mercury Marquis Brougham offered a lot.
Loved your reviews. I was entertained the whole time. You hit all the right items in your review. I loved both of these cars. It would be worth building another garage to keep them in. So cool. Even with the poor panel/door/hood gaps, I would take either over the junk filled to the brim with electronic crap you don't even need in the cars both GM and Ford make now.
My first car was a 74 Olds Delta 88 Royale 2 door hardtop. We called it Z Boat. Great car and handling was superb and would get up and go on Montana highways. Loved that car!
Adam: I always enjoy your videos. Thank you. As a baby boomer, many of the cars you review are cars we used in our family over the years. Eventually ones I worked on and also Eventually owned. Note: does the clock in the 74 marquis work? Lol. Out of the zillions of cars we have owned over the decades, I cannot remember a single one that had a working clock until they started putting them on the radio display!
Thank you for the comparison, Adam! As you might imagine, I'd take the Marquis. The comparison video was very fair, extolling the appropriate virtues of each. But at the end of the day, I'm like you -- I'd take the Marquis. I'm reminded of my grandparents. My grandmother had ridden in a friend's '72 Marquis Brougham, and had to have a Mercury after that. She enjoyed the quiet power, the comfort and quality of the car, and most especially the ride. They chose a '76 Grand Marquis pillared hardtop and were very happy with it -- as was 15-year old me!
Love the Mercury ! Also the Olds and Buick's ! Licoln's ! Cadillac's and Chevy Impala's from early through mid 70's ! Give me any of them ! Awesome highway cruiser's ! My brother had a 72 Impala . Good time's !
Adam, I love your videos. It’s so awesome to see such beautifully kept and maintained cars. Your in-depth analysis and knowledge is so interesting and much appreciated even though I am a Cadillac guy. I love these cars as i remember them growing up in the late 70’s- 80’s Thanks for sharing! I
Great cars. I noted the dust buster Trans Sport pull across you when you were in the Mercury. As mentioned, I have three of these incl the wagon. I agree with your comments although I find the brakes fine on mine. Handsome is the word re the Mercury Marquis. I also have bought the deluxe wheel covers for all of my Marquis. They look superb and weigh a ton.
I'm sure I mentioned in your previous reviews, the UAW quality was always questionable, especially pre-contract periods and Midwest assembly. Bolts, paper cups, moldings, plastic trim pieces, name it; could be found in interior door, quarter and trunk panels. We would find all types of bad body shop paint work. Meaning it was repaired/repainted post assembly, shipped, and delivered to the dealer, to be repainted again at dealer's body shop, billing GM. That was my first after school job, 'Get Ready' department. Those Colonade rear openings originally came in 6pc stainless, but GM cheapen them up with non-straight one pc plastic , like on your Olds, to a point of elimination on the G/AG Bodies. Cadillac Colonade coupe retained the 6 pc design longer. Spot on as always Adam! 👍🏾🇺🇸🏁
as a teenager I worked at my uncle's gas station, he would send me out to pick up lunch in his canary yellow Lincoln, think 72, and he actually trusted me to drive it, this car reminds me of that Lincoln, what a beast to park! the diner was downtown but my Dad taught me to parallel park, pull up to the car to your right until the steering wheels are lined up and stop, turn the wheel completely to the right, back up until the back of the right rear fender is at the curb and the front right fender clears the back bumper of the car in the space in front of you and stop, turn the wheel completely to the left, continue backing up until she just slips into the space, never fails. oh and the lunch? always the same, fried pork roll and cheese on a hard roll with fries and gravy, love NJ in the 70s
Tony's a great guy. I've owned a 76 98 Regency, a 76 Fleetwood Talisman, and a 79 Lincoln Continental. At 6'2 I will say the Lincoln/Mercury/Ford sedans had so much more front seat legroom, even though on paper the measurements look the same as the GMs. Due to the sharp upward angle of the floorboards meeting the firewall, my GM sedans were downright uncomfortable after a few hours of driving. But, in my Lincoln, I could put the driver's seat in its rearmost position and not be able to touch my feet to the firewall.
Great review! You are correct that the Mercury Marquis "feels" more powerful. The reason is not the horsepower, but the axle ratios. Oldsmobile used both a 2.41 and 2.56 to try to boost fuel economy vs. the 2.73 used in the Mercury.
A word about handling: Most retrospectives assume asphalt roads. And that was probably most common. But in my home town, at the time, at least half of our roads were still gravel. The surfaces would terrace with age between gradings, making them very difficult for average vehicles to track comfortably. Add to that, mudholes from rains; driving was about as hands-on as it could get. The 70's "boat" cars handled exceptionally well on gravel. You almost could not wreck them on even the worst surfaces. While other cars could not drive faster than "maybe" 40 mph without fishtailing off the road, a Marquis or LTD could cruise effortlessly at 55 or faster. Gravel roads are why the boat cars were so popular among our elderly drivers with bad backs and hips.
And this is with a 455, can you imagine how it feels with its standard 350! Here's a depressing statistic: by 1974, the Delta 88 cost more than a 1968 Olds 98 with its 370 horsepower high compression 455 and is also heavier in the bargain. It's so odd seeing one of these without AC, too, especially a black one!
The Merc would be my pick. But, I'd need to firm up that suspension. Motion sickness is something I've had to deal with all my life, so a soft ride is not a fun time.
Adam, thanks again for a great channel and thoughtful analysis. When comparing the front end styling of Ford/Mercury/Lincoln of that era, starting with the Lincoln Mark III Ford was emulating the Rolls Royce look, with a narrow free standing vertical grille and the headlights in the painted part.
lovely car,my neighbors father had one in the rootbeer color and it was a beautiful car,i think i preferred it to my dads ltd 4 door,i think the mercury was more elegant,love the color combo inside outside on this car and yes, the wheelcovers are gorgeous.,thanks adam for a great vid
Growing up,, our next door neighbor had a Mercury Marquis Brougham. It was quite the land yacht. My 1st car was a 75 Gran Torino. That car was a tank compared to cars made now.
A "I've got a few tricks" video would be interesting like the water pump replacement you mention. I've always wondered if the power window motor knows to cuts power when fully lifted If it isn't a auto-up/down. Love the Marquis, nice vid.
Enjoyed this video comparison very much. A few comments: we owned a '74 Ford Maverick 4-door with the Luxury Decor Option and it had a few of the same interior pieces as your Marquis, such as a very similar steering wheel design (which I think Ford used in every car line back then), and incredibly, the same shag carpet, the plushness of which belied the other utilitarian aspects of the Maverick. I notice that the Merc also had the same problem with the driver's side shoulder belt fraying on the edges as our Maverick did. We actually had the dealer replace that under warranty but the new one had the same problem in short order so I presume it was an issue with the B-pillar loop bracket. It also had the same slow, numb power steering that required a lot of wheel twirling. I remember reading at the time that the notorious marshmallow ride on the big Ford and Merc was a result of HFII's preference for such things, though obviously I don't know if that is true. The Olds seats were I believe different from the Ford/Mercury design, which still used serpentine springs topped with layers of foam and batting. Olds (perhaps all of GM by this time) used a "pan" seat design, with a steel pan on the bottom holding a very thick foam cushion or cushions of varying firmness, which might explain the difference in feel. Over time the foam can degrade but it appears yours has held up well. The GM variable-ratio steering boxes (no racks yet!) were certainly an improvement over Ford's design, and the TH-400 is the best transmission Detroit ever built IMO. However they did soak up some engine horsepower so maybe that explains some of the performance difference between the 460 and the 455. I suspect the catalyst also chokes down the breathing on the Olds to some extent. The quality differences are noteworthy. You could well be correct in speculating that the low production numbers for the Merc allowed more careful assembly. That certainly wasn't true of our Maverick, built in Kansas City IIRC, which was a terribly-built car, though obviously a much cheaper one which may have had something to do with that. The quality issues on the Olds are disappointing. It must have been a bad day at Olds Main in Lansing when that was built, especially on the body line. Those flaws you note where the quarter panel meets other panels are issues with the lead filler they still used back then to cover seams, and which required some skill to do correctly. See this 1978 GM commercial showing it being done: th-cam.com/video/Mgbscwm2IuE/w-d-xo.html
Have you ever tried retro brighting one of those yellowed hard plastic door panel pieces to see if you could bring it back to the its original whiteness?
@@RareClassicCars It'd be interesting to try if you had a sacrificial part to test with. One day I need to type out the story of my uncle's 74' and 78' Bonnevilles verses my grandma's 77' LTD and which one became the official road trip car well into the 80's and why.
The exceptional quality of content combined with the quality of your vast car collection deserves a million subscribers. This channel is an internet treasure.
Well thank you. Doubtful I'll get that far, but I'm happy with where I am!
@@RareClassicCars can we get a video showing your whole collection (like Hoovies Garage)?
Really enjoy your reviews of vintage cars from the 1970's as well as other decades. Very dignified and detailed presentation without the annoying music that some others seem to think is necessary. Your personal point of view adds to the details of each vehicle you review. Thanks for all your efforts in bringing these interesting cars back to life.
Very nice reviews. I enjoyed them. I grew up with a 1972 Marquis Brougham from second grade to high school graduation. ❤️
A friend of mine's Mom had a 76 Mercury Marquis Brougham that he learned to drive on (in Boston...scary) back in the early 1980's. Was always fun when he showed up in "The Boat". The thing was almost 3 feet longer than my Dad's 1976 Buick Skylark 2 door and maybe 7-8 inches wider. Comfy car for sure!
Only us Bostonians can truly appreciate what a feat learning to drive, in Boston, in a land yacht is. Driving in this beautiful clusterfuck of a city is a nightmare with a normal-sized car, let alone a behemoth like the marquis
My mother owned numerous Oldsmobiles. She really loved the 1962 Dynamic 88, it was so pretty. I, myself, had several a '68 Delta 88, '71 Cutlass Supreme and '88 Cutlass Cierra. Loved those cars, so dependable!
My dad drove these Ford LTD, Mercury Marquis land yachts when I was a little boy. They did ride remarkably smooth.
Same here, we had a 72’ Galaxy 500, what a tank but boy did it float, that 400 moved her pretty good too. 👍🇺🇸
I got a 72 Galaxy 500 two-door but it's only got the 351 Windsor still a f****** beast
I love ‘em, I’ve got a ‘71 LTD 2 door with a hot 429 although it has airbags in the rear and a coil over conversion in front so ride and handling are a lot better. It runs 12.6 second quarters. I’ve also got a ‘71 convertible on magnum 500’s and a modified 351 Windsor with only 35,000 miles on the odo.
@@craigjones2878 impressive
It’s like driving your living room couch around town!
In the late 1980’s I had a 1974 Mercury Gran Marquis for several years. I called it battleship grey with grey interior. Very comfortable car and drove more nimbly that you might expect considering you could play tennis on the hood. It was over 100k miles but it needed very little work during my ownership. I sold it to a Soldier on an Army Post and apparently it got passed along from one to the next as I saw it many times for several years on the road and in the barracks parking lot after selling it.
The Marquis was the boulevard vehicle with the smooth ride. In 1972 Mercury did a commercial cutting a diamond in the back seat of the Marquis and in 1974 Jennifer O’Neal (model) was filmed applying her makeup and eyeliner in the back seat of the Marquis…. Always great info and demonstration Adam, thanks!
Reminds me of the 70's SNL parody with tbe circumcision performed in a Mercury while driving. 😁
@@manthony225 lol i had forgotten that one!
"Ride Engineered" !
Saturday night live did a sketch where they did a circumcision on the baby back there it was funny I remember that I remember them cutting a diamond in the back to
My father bought one, came with a cracked engine block. The dealership refused to fix it, my parents were so angry they bought a Toyota after that and haven't bought an American vehicle since.
You have a real discerning eye when it comes to the factory imperfections, particularly on the mid - '70's GM's. You would have had a field day on my '75 Century... I never would have suspected!
Miss my 74
I have a 75 delta convertible after the first gas shortage they did everything to try to get some fuel economy
Yes, they have their share of imperfections for sure.
Hollywood must covet your car collection - I can imagine an amazing 70's flick being done with all these beautiful vehicles. Always fun to watch.
Can hold some bodies in the trunks !!
Hey, Vera! We've got another stiff in the john
I love the Marquis Brougham, it's a great color combination & it's got those great wheel covers!! 👍👍
As a kid, "A car is a car to me" was my motto: honestly, I couldn't tell a Monterey from a Marquis! 46 yrs ago, The Harper family had 1 of each: Aunt Mary and Uncle Albert had a '71 or 2 green 4dr. Monterey w/Police package, and Janie? had the same model Marquis 4dr. brown! The Monterey (& Ford Galaxie) died after '74, the same year Mothers Johnson and DePreist was buying a 4dr. Monterey Csm., 2tone yellow and tan!!
My girlfriend in high school’s dad had a M Brougham in a custom green with a white vinyl roof and white interior. Great car to take to the prom. Seemed like a very quick car but very cushy.
I like your reviews a lot. I send them to my 87 year old dad and we reminisce about the 60+ cars he has owned and I grew up with, many of which you have. Keep up the great work. Hope your channel grows, it is well deserved.
Thx!
Frank Cannon would approve.😃
So would Steve McGarrett!
ohhhhh yes both drove lincoln and mercury on tv.
Thanks for doing these reviews. They take me down memory lane and I watch them all. So well done.
I love your descriptions of handling and interior ride quality. A few of these cars I did have a chance to ride and drive some of these cars (even some of them were even not past their prime) and you are spot on with your views. In 1975 I had a job where I drove about 200 miles about twice a day in rental cars (boss got a good deal on them). I remember that the problem with the big fords on the interstates was staying awake. They were big enough that the wind didn't bother them (I lived in Kansas) and that was a joy. Of course as soon as you pulled into cities you were reminded that these were boats. The Oldsmobile were much more stable and responsive, the smaller ones were even sorta sporty.
My late uncle Irving was a VP with FoMoCo during the 1960s- 1980s. He was a Vice President-Assembly plant quality control. He was truly a company man, he worked for Ford in many different plants for his 30 years. I remember in 1978 my Dad bought a Thunderbird Town Landau....my Mom's brother bought an Olds Cutlass Supreme Brougham...uncle Irv did a side-by-side comparison of the two cars....the quality in the details, fit and finish were clearly superior in the T-bird, even to my ten-year-old eyes. The one place where the Olds was "supreme" was in the quality and appearance and feel of the beautiful loose-pillow multi-tone gold velour interior fabrics....it was so much richer feeling than the Ford.
In the early 1980’s all of GM’s cars had MUCH nicer interiors. Ford pretty much removed all the padding in their car’s surfaces as well as replaced most parts of their interiors with cheap plastic parts. Ford abandoned all the decent interior designs they had when they introduced the Fairmont. That car was total garbage. Built on the Fox body, its incredibly cheap looking interiors ended up in the Mustang as well. Those first Fox body Mustangs are the worst Mustangs ever built. Stay away from the 80-82. The 83 was okay as long as it was the new GT 5.0 that had finally been released. The Mustang II, which came right before the FOX body, were much better cars, especially in the interior. Ford made the really bad mistake of removing much of the content in their cars (things like door padding, etc…) to decrease their weight so they would get better gas mileage. That’s because in 1980, gas was around $1.40 a gallon, which, when adjusted for inflation, is considerably higher than it is now). It didn’t improve the gas mileage nearly enough to justify the cheap feeling that those cars gave their owners. It felt like Ford had just given up. Made me plenty of money though, because it was my job to inspect each new car arriving off the truck for body damage. And every single car had plenty that had to be fixed before they were a sellable product. Back then, car carrying rail cars were wide open where kids would throw rocks at the new cars as the trains went by. And none of the cars had the plastic covers that are used to protect new cars during shipment today. You can blame me for starting the process of preventing cars from getting damaged so much during shipment. Because I had laser straight eyesight and could see a scratch 20 yards away. I could tell if there was suspension damage simply by the stance each car had sitting on the ground. (Truck drivers dropped cars off their ramps going onto their trucks multiple times and would then try to hide the damage by parking the car at a weird angle. So I would always start it back up and park it on level ground so I could see its stance. A car with damage underneath would always sit crooked. I was paid a bonus of 5% of all the labor required to get the cars back to being right before they were parked on the sales portion of our lot. That was usually a very good bonus check, as I averaged around $1000 to $2000 per truck load. Mind you, that’s in 1980 dollars, so that gave me a decent paycheck. I made more than $15,000 in 1980, which was good money then. It took Ford about 3 years to take notice that more and more dealerships were getting really tired of receiving damaged cars that required being reworked before they could be put up for sale. The dealership I worked at was the very first to tighten up on the standards of what we were willing to accept from the delivery process. I was hired specifically for that purpose…to start holding the delivery companies accountable for all the damage we kept having to fix on our own dime. Between the exit from the assembly line to the entrance to our dealership lot, nobody seemed to care the least bit about protecting all these new cars from getting damaged or having parts stolen off them during transit. The dealership nicknamed me “RADAR” because I could see damage on the cars before the truck drivers even got them off their trucks.
Sadly, one day during my second year on the job, a truck driver came and dropped off just one car. He still had a full load on his truck. About 3-4 minutes after he had left, there was this huge black cloud of smoke going high up into the sky. Unfortunately, it was the driver’s truck that had just been at the dealership. As he was driving over an overpass, the suspension in the front of his truck collapsed, dropping all the weight of the truck’s cab, including the new car that was parked on the top of it, down onto his front tires. The truck veered to the left and went over the side of the overpass, plowing head on into the embankment below. The loaded truck’s cars smashed into each other on the lower level, while the cars up on the top flew off the truck and smashed into the ground around it. The truck’s fuel tank exploded, killing the driver. I had just talked to him a few moments beforehand. The car carrier company then tried to get me to tell them that their driver was driving drunk so they could get out of being sued by his family for failing to properly maintain their trucks. Despite numerous attempts by them, I absolutely REFUSED to say that their driver was drunk, as there was no such evidence and I didn’t smell alcohol on his breath. There wasn’t much left of him for an autopsy after the accident, so it became the trucking company’s word against mine. And I wasn’t about to accuse someone of being drunk when I knew better. They ultimately ended up having to pay a considerable sum out to that driver’s family. I was never called to testify because the company didn’t dare bring it into a court room because they knew I wasn’t going to back up their phony claim.
This Mercury is an absolutely gorgeous car Adam. My mom's friend had a 1973 Mercury Marquis Brougham in the 1970s, very much like this. It was a slightly different color, sort of a reddish orange, but it had a white vinyl top and white leather interior in it just like this car has. It made quite an impression on me as a young kid riding around in it. I believe she drove that car for 10 years, then traded it on something smaller and more fuel efficient.
I had a 88 and took it up the logging roads. Drifting was fantastic but the giant deer I got caused the muffler to fall off. Then it sounded fast real fast. So much fun. One of the best trucks I've ever had
Man... You Bring back some memories with "Your Father's Oldsmobile" and that Michigan scenery... When I first started driving that vintage was all we could afford but in a lesser shape... spent a lot time working on those beast for myself and others. Heaviest being a 67 Chry Town & Country wagon must of weighted 4 tons... What those Drive Ins... The Belle Aire and the one across from Macomb Mall... Wow the Memories. Thanks Brother keep them comming.
Another great video from Adam. Always very detailed, thorough, and interesting. You capture all the nuances of the mechanics of these vehicles. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and interest in these cars so eloquently.
Thank you!
I normally don’t like red on any car, but it looks ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS on this one! The white interior is spectacular.
My uncle had an LTD Brougham in all blue, but I didn’t care much for it.
Sometimes the right color makes all the difference.
I fully agree, especially about the red color.
Adam, this is an especially good post because you're accurately representing what would have been an actual household debate between models competing for an upper-middle class family's budget for a second car.
I grew up with GM's, but I have to admit that I'm in love with that Mercury Marquis Brougham, I especially love the interior, it looks so plush and I also love the styling of the front end with that Grill and Hideaway headlights
Shocking paint and bodywork on the Oldsmobile. It's educational and a historic document, truly. Great naming of your channel.
Love this channel. Informative, honest and beautiful cars. Im about 4 days from buying my 1st 1978 Merc Marquis brougham . Jade green and great green interior. 400 4bbl , 127k miles and yes one owner whom is literally just 2 months exactly from his 100th birthday!!! Great guy and car always garage kept , all original paperwork. Just. excited beyond words and watching this channel really helps thank you.
The 400 didn’t come with 4bbl.
@@melrose9252 Thank you, I understand , owner told me he had a 4bbl put on it 10yrs ago. Im just repeating what he told me. But thank you Sir it is appreciated. But in the long run he was not a motivated seller.
Love all the detailed knowledge.
I'd be interested in seeing you do a midsize/personal luxury car comparison video if you by any chance own these vehicles.
My grandmother had one in the opposite color combination, white with a red interior.
Interesting how the hardtop and non hardtop versions of the Mercury are almost identical looking while GM full-size hardtops had very different roof line styling between hardtops and post cars.
That Mercury is simply gorgeous in that color combo. I love both but I'd have to go with the Mercury too, today or as a lightly used car in the 70s or early 80s. Thanks for another great comparison Adam, and I cannot wait to see that cutlass! Really curious how that compares with the full size models of the era.
Your car's are ALWAYS a blast to see! Don't stop.
Its a shame you get more views than subscribers as your videos are some of the best. Great knowledge and just a pure love of the automobile. Yes we have all seen the muscle cars but these regular and luxury cars are now kept alive in your collection and online. Thank you as your tone and video quality is excellent.
Oh well. Such is life.
Your evaluation is spot on, 100% accurate. I have never followed anyone who is anywhere near as knowledgeable as you. I owned a 1976 Ford LTD Brougham. Solid. Quiet. RELIABLE. Comfortable. I remember you needed to start planning a turn about 45 minutes in advance! 🤓😀😜. I'm in my seventies and grew up when brand loyalty was everything. My dad was a Ford man. My grand parents had Olds. Friends of the family considered MOPAR the only choice in transportation. You are fair and unbiased. Scotty Kilmer could learn from you!
Ha! Thx Al.
Great channel!
Wealth of knowledge.
I love how you focus on the car the whole time.
Not like some youtubers that focus more on their face.
Great car, I drove one in the 70's during my high school days.
I had a 74 Marquis and it was probably the best car I ever owned. Burnt orange color with a brown vinyl top. Tan interior with a combination of leather and valor seating. Same engine, wheel covers, factory am/fm with power antenna. Many long range trips with it. It was everything a Continental would be. Thanks for the memory.
My Dad drove a 73 Marquis Brougham. Loved the dash lit up at night.
That 74 is my dream car!!!
Your description of the ride and handling characteristics reminds me of my dad’s 1976 Ford LTD Brougham
I drove a ‘77 Olds Cutlass with the standard 6 back in the early 80s and it was a tank. It was used for a 50 mile 1 way commute several days a week + driving on NYC streets. It ate up pot holes and was even decent in the snow. It was plain Jane brown with a dealer installed (I think) beige vinyl roof & dog bowl hub caps. That split water fell grill was iconic. Interior quality was decent but the engine initially would stall on turns. That was repaired. I didn’t have an eye like I do now for exterior fit & finish. (Thanks Adam). Otherwise, it was a fine ride…sorry it’s long gone.
Another great video Adam! Who would have ordered an Olds Delta without air conditioning in 1974? A Chevy Impala....possibly, The difference in quality and fit and finish between the GM and Ford is shocking, While overall quality was low in the mid-seventies That olds is a shock to me, We owned a 1972 Country Squire and then a 1976 Gran Torino wagon. never saw imperfections like GM was rocking back then
My grandparents had 70's era Marquis and an LTD. The latter was a '78, but I don't remember the Mercury... but I think this video tells me it was a '74. Everything matches my memories of it.
I put many of my teenage miles behind the wheels of both those cars; driving my grandparents around the county. You could sleep comfortably in motion! Floating suspension, super spacious cabin; pure isolation.
Thank you for the ride! Wonderful 🫶
Man I love these! What a pair of classic heavy metal highway cruisers! Beautiful!
Thanks, Adam. I’m sure you were thinking of doing this anyway, but it feels like a fulfillment of a special request! 👍👍
I had a 72 marquis 4dr. Great car. Never any problems. I bought it with 80.000 miles and drove it for 5 yrs. I think it had 120.000 miles when I sold it. The thing just ran great
Hey Adam, it's Bill Maceri again. As promised, I just finished watching your reviews of the '74 Marquis, and the Delta 88. Before I go further, after watching this video, once you took the Marquis on the freeway, I could sew the I 75 signs, and the 11 Mile Road exit so I knew exactly where you were. I have family that lives off of 8 Mile Road, and before my parents moved to California, we lived in Saint Claire Shores. It's been a while since I last visited Detroit, but I felt at home in that area. Now for the Olds. After watching your review, the things you pointed out about it tended to be more negative than than positive features and overall build quality of GM products from that era versus the Marquis and even the Chrysler products you reviewed, confirmed my opinion of all three. I'll select a Ford Motor Company and Chrysler Corporation car over a GM every time. Today, I only drive Ford products. I currently have a 2008 Explorer Xlt that I love. It's my second Explorer, my first was a '97 Eddie Bauer that I also loved, unfortunately it was stolen, or I'm sure I would still have it. In my opinion the best thing about the Oldsmobile is that it's black. The one thing that GM always had going for it was it's size and it's 5 brands. Now it doesn't even have that anymore. Admittedly there were a few Chevrolets and Pontiacs back it the day that were very good looking, but there was never a GM car I would ever own. I understand the quality of GM products has improved in recent years, but I don't think there's any excuse for some of the lack of overall quality and design that GM cars are known for, not with the financial capabilities they have behind them. As I mentioned in one of my other comments, I owned a 1975 Mercury Colony Park wagon for many years. I loved everything about that car, and wish I still had it. It was a 9 passenger, 460 with a 4 barrel Motorcraft 4300 carburetor. It was loaded with every option available. Many of it's features were powered by vacuum, so I learned all about how those systems worked. There were vacuum storage canisters and check valves everywhere on that car. You mentioned a relay that controls the temperature of the '72 Chrysler's air conditioning you could hear operate, well on the Fords it was all controlled by vacuum motors under the dash you could hear hissing and whizzing as it controlled the temperature and 8 speed fan on the ATC. The Ford system would pre heat all the air that the ATC used to reduce humidity. Sometimes when driving the car in high elevations with the air conditioning on it would lose engine vacuum climbing steep grades in the Sierra mountains and since the system requires high vacuum for colder temperature setting, the system would only put out very hot air until the engine vacuum increased. So I added more vacuum storage and used a hand vacuum pump to keep the system operating. It was kinda funny but it worked. In any event your '74 Marquis is just beautiful. You pointed out something I never noticed before regarding the hood ornament. I was aware of the ones on that on the '74s being different than the '75s, but never really noticed the '75s were the same just turned vertically. Thanks for that. Again thanks for all your reviews, I really appreciate them.
I noticed the heater core was bypassed, something we always did in Az unless it was deep winter. Hard to imagine a car like that was even available w/o air conditioning, but a buyer was able to actually able to "order" a car however you wanted. I remember non airconditioned cars back then had much better ventilation. I had a 68 SS Camaro that had "Asto Ventilation" and it worked really well.
Hi Adam, I so enjoyed your posts I saw today, Imperial, Mark III and Mark IV, 66 Catalina! I do so enjoy your narratives as well and find you very entertaining. Thank you so much. My best regards, James
Thx James!
Hi Adam, I really enjoy your videos, you are a terrestrial sailor. Would love to see a comparison between a 70s Mercedes Benz S class and the American Luxoboats.
My father purchased a 1970 that my mother drove. In the summer of 1972 I was eight years old and we took that car for a two week vacation to the state of Washington to meet some relatives in my mother's family. That Marquis Brougham rode my parents and I plus my maternal grandmother, a sister of my grandmother, and my mother's teenage sister. No car issues to the ocean and back. We took that Mercury on many vacations. My parents owned that car longer than anything else they owned before I was 16. I remember that the car was loaded including a four speaker AM/FM radio. I believe it has the Sure Track. To me that was a car that in its day I would call a smart man's luxury car in that a Lincoln does offer a little more, but for less money the Mercury Marquis Brougham offered a lot.
Loved your reviews. I was entertained the whole time. You hit all the right items in your review. I loved both of these cars. It would be worth building another garage to keep them in. So cool. Even with the poor panel/door/hood gaps, I would take either over the junk filled to the brim with electronic crap you don't even need in the cars both GM and Ford make now.
My first car was a 74 Olds Delta 88 Royale 2 door hardtop. We called it Z Boat. Great car and handling was superb and would get up and go on Montana highways. Loved that car!
Hidden headlights are the bomb!
And coffee cans are for coffee, 😁
It’s not a coffee can. It’s a tank of nothing ;)
Those taillights _SCREAM_ Oldsmobile !!
I agree that this one, without the vinyl roof is a much more attractive car than one with.
Beautiful Car I love the red color nice comparison video
Great video ! I do like the Grand Marquis from the 70s especially the station wagons .
You are a great car scholar...very relaxed video. Thanks Adam.
Adam: I always enjoy your videos. Thank you. As a baby boomer, many of the cars you review are cars we used in our family over the years. Eventually ones I worked on and also Eventually owned. Note: does the clock in the 74 marquis work? Lol. Out of the zillions of cars we have owned over the decades, I cannot remember a single one that had a working clock until they started putting them on the radio display!
Beautiful natural noises coming from that engine. Now its manufactured and piped- in through the radio.
thing i miss the most was working part time in dealerships back in the 71 thur 79 years got to drive all these cars/trocks what a time i had
Absolutely Beautiful example Mercury !
I Love the older “square” bodied vehicles of the 70s
Thank you for the comparison, Adam! As you might imagine, I'd take the Marquis. The comparison video was very fair, extolling the appropriate virtues of each. But at the end of the day, I'm like you -- I'd take the Marquis. I'm reminded of my grandparents. My grandmother had ridden in a friend's '72 Marquis Brougham, and had to have a Mercury after that. She enjoyed the quiet power, the comfort and quality of the car, and most especially the ride. They chose a '76 Grand Marquis pillared hardtop and were very happy with it -- as was 15-year old me!
Love the Mercury ! Also the Olds and Buick's ! Licoln's ! Cadillac's and Chevy Impala's from early through mid 70's ! Give me any of them ! Awesome highway cruiser's ! My brother had a 72 Impala . Good time's !
Another fun and interesting video...Thank you so much!
Heck yeh I remember how these ol girls float down the road, I wish I was 8 again in 74’, it was a different world
Much better back then.
@ whole different world brother
Adam, I love your videos. It’s so awesome to see such beautifully kept and maintained cars. Your in-depth analysis and knowledge is so interesting and much appreciated even though I am a Cadillac guy. I love these cars as i remember them growing up in the late 70’s- 80’s Thanks for sharing! I
Great cars. I noted the dust buster Trans Sport pull across you when you were in the Mercury. As mentioned, I have three of these incl the wagon. I agree with your comments although I find the brakes fine on mine. Handsome is the word re the Mercury Marquis. I also have bought the deluxe wheel covers for all of my Marquis. They look superb and weigh a ton.
Man, I love these old cars. I want one.
I'm sure I mentioned in your previous reviews, the UAW quality was always questionable, especially pre-contract periods and Midwest assembly. Bolts, paper cups, moldings, plastic trim pieces, name it; could be found in interior door, quarter and trunk panels. We would find all types of bad body shop paint work. Meaning it was repaired/repainted post assembly, shipped, and delivered to the dealer, to be repainted again at dealer's body shop, billing GM. That was my first after school job, 'Get Ready' department. Those Colonade rear openings originally came in 6pc stainless, but GM cheapen them up with non-straight one pc plastic , like on your Olds, to a point of elimination on the G/AG Bodies. Cadillac Colonade coupe retained the 6 pc design longer. Spot on as always Adam! 👍🏾🇺🇸🏁
as a teenager I worked at my uncle's gas station, he would send me out to pick up lunch in his canary yellow Lincoln, think 72, and he actually trusted me to drive it, this car reminds me of that Lincoln, what a beast to park! the diner was downtown but my Dad taught me to parallel park, pull up to the car to your right until the steering wheels are lined up and stop, turn the wheel completely to the right, back up until the back of the right rear fender is at the curb and the front right fender clears the back bumper of the car in the space in front of you and stop, turn the wheel completely to the left, continue backing up until she just slips into the space, never fails. oh and the lunch? always the same, fried pork roll and cheese on a hard roll with fries and gravy, love NJ in the 70s
Mercury for me, Oldsmobile, I'd also love! Long live the 460; tons of tourge!
Tony's a great guy. I've owned a 76 98 Regency, a 76 Fleetwood Talisman, and a 79 Lincoln Continental. At 6'2 I will say the Lincoln/Mercury/Ford sedans had so much more front seat legroom, even though on paper the measurements look the same as the GMs. Due to the sharp upward angle of the floorboards meeting the firewall, my GM sedans were downright uncomfortable after a few hours of driving. But, in my Lincoln, I could put the driver's seat in its rearmost position and not be able to touch my feet to the firewall.
I have a 1982 Delta 88, it's my daily driver. Great car
Diggin the calculator watch my guy 💯 had one as a young lad growing up in chicago in the good old 80’s
Superb camera quality, good voice of a narrator, nice content = subscribed.
Thx!
The door buzzers always sounds like a Cat Squalling lol 🤣, people had longer arms back then Lol 😆
I really enjoy your videos. I am in the market for either a continental, grand marquis, and I just discovered this olds. Thanks.
That Mercury is gorgeous,.
Great review! You are correct that the Mercury Marquis "feels" more powerful. The reason is not the horsepower, but the axle ratios. Oldsmobile used both a 2.41 and 2.56 to try to boost fuel economy vs. the 2.73 used in the Mercury.
His red marquis has duals and no converter also
A word about handling: Most retrospectives assume asphalt roads. And that was probably most common. But in my home town, at the time, at least half of our roads were still gravel. The surfaces would terrace with age between gradings, making them very difficult for average vehicles to track comfortably. Add to that, mudholes from rains; driving was about as hands-on as it could get.
The 70's "boat" cars handled exceptionally well on gravel. You almost could not wreck them on even the worst surfaces. While other cars could not drive faster than "maybe" 40 mph without fishtailing off the road, a Marquis or LTD could cruise effortlessly at 55 or faster.
Gravel roads are why the boat cars were so popular among our elderly drivers with bad backs and hips.
Adam must have a huge warehouse to store all of his beautiful cars . 👍
And this is with a 455, can you imagine how it feels with its standard 350! Here's a depressing statistic: by 1974, the Delta 88 cost more than a 1968 Olds 98 with its 370 horsepower high compression 455 and is also heavier in the bargain. It's so odd seeing one of these without AC, too, especially a black one!
Ohhh mannn...by this time the entire U.S. automotive industry had really started downhill.
The Merc would be my pick. But, I'd need to firm up that suspension. Motion sickness is something I've had to deal with all my life, so a soft ride is not a fun time.
I do love this channel, very informative.
Adam, thanks again for a great channel and thoughtful analysis. When comparing the front end styling of Ford/Mercury/Lincoln of that era, starting with the Lincoln Mark III Ford was emulating the Rolls Royce look, with a narrow free standing vertical grille and the headlights in the painted part.
lovely car,my neighbors father had one in the rootbeer color and it was a beautiful car,i think i preferred it to my dads ltd 4 door,i think the mercury was more elegant,love the color combo inside outside on this car and yes, the wheelcovers are gorgeous.,thanks adam for a great vid
Love the Mercury. Smilar body styling to the 74 4 door Continental that I had. Best riding car I ever owned or road in.
Great video, Intellitronix just released a direct fit LED gauge cluster for that ride!
Growing up,, our next door neighbor had a Mercury Marquis Brougham. It was quite the land yacht. My 1st car was a 75 Gran Torino. That car was a tank compared to cars made now.
Someone I knew had the Delta 88, brand new , in 1975. Lots of power and felt like one was riding in a big boat - smooth as silk and a quiet. engine
I just sold a 1976 it was a wonderful car insurance love those big boats red is my color so I love that one
A "I've got a few tricks" video would be interesting like the water pump replacement you mention. I've always wondered if the power window motor knows to cuts power when fully lifted If it isn't a auto-up/down. Love the Marquis, nice vid.
Grandpa had the delta 88 Royale . Fully loaded a gift from the co. He worked for.
I think it had the front swivel seats ? Huge engine fast.
Enjoyed this video comparison very much. A few comments: we owned a '74 Ford Maverick 4-door with the Luxury Decor Option and it had a few of the same interior pieces as your Marquis, such as a very similar steering wheel design (which I think Ford used in every car line back then), and incredibly, the same shag carpet, the plushness of which belied the other utilitarian aspects of the Maverick. I notice that the Merc also had the same problem with the driver's side shoulder belt fraying on the edges as our Maverick did. We actually had the dealer replace that under warranty but the new one had the same problem in short order so I presume it was an issue with the B-pillar loop bracket. It also had the same slow, numb power steering that required a lot of wheel twirling. I remember reading at the time that the notorious marshmallow ride on the big Ford and Merc was a result of HFII's preference for such things, though obviously I don't know if that is true.
The Olds seats were I believe different from the Ford/Mercury design, which still used serpentine springs topped with layers of foam and batting. Olds (perhaps all of GM by this time) used a "pan" seat design, with a steel pan on the bottom holding a very thick foam cushion or cushions of varying firmness, which might explain the difference in feel. Over time the foam can degrade but it appears yours has held up well. The GM variable-ratio steering boxes (no racks yet!) were certainly an improvement over Ford's design, and the TH-400 is the best transmission Detroit ever built IMO. However they did soak up some engine horsepower so maybe that explains some of the performance difference between the 460 and the 455. I suspect the catalyst also chokes down the breathing on the Olds to some extent.
The quality differences are noteworthy. You could well be correct in speculating that the low production numbers for the Merc allowed more careful assembly. That certainly wasn't true of our Maverick, built in Kansas City IIRC, which was a terribly-built car, though obviously a much cheaper one which may have had something to do with that. The quality issues on the Olds are disappointing. It must have been a bad day at Olds Main in Lansing when that was built, especially on the body line. Those flaws you note where the quarter panel meets other panels are issues with the lead filler they still used back then to cover seams, and which required some skill to do correctly. See this 1978 GM commercial showing it being done: th-cam.com/video/Mgbscwm2IuE/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for the great comments. I actually think the C6 robbed a bit more power than the THM400. Something like 46hp for the C6 vs 42hp for the THM.
Have you ever tried retro brighting one of those yellowed hard plastic door panel pieces to see if you could bring it back to the its original whiteness?
I haven’t yet tried, but have seen it done. You can also use trim paint.
@@RareClassicCars It'd be interesting to try if you had a sacrificial part to test with.
One day I need to type out the story of my uncle's 74' and 78' Bonnevilles verses my grandma's 77' LTD and which one became the official road trip car well into the 80's and why.
Hello my friend, me i like all videos, thank you for old cars. Very nice.
That is some serious piece of real estate