There I was shooting an increasingly rare Sable of this vintage in front of Harbor Freight and what comes rolling along to photobomb it? An Olds Ciera of similar vintage, and blue too. Hey, I want some CC love too!
The sun was intense so the shadow contrast is great, but you know what these look like.
What? There’s no CC on one of these? Well, this isn’t exactly a good example. But I think I have a gen 1 in my photo files somewhere, and the gen1 deserves it more than this refresh gen2.
The roof and rear glass remind me of the first generation Dodge Intrepid. Who was first Chrysler or Ford? I put a lot of miles on those early intrepids when I drove a taxi for Desoto Cab in San Francisco from the middle of 1998 until October of 2001. I was so impressed with the roominess of the interior and the excellent visibility with the relatively flat roof, thin pillars and lots of glass. It was devoid of blindspots as far as I was concerned. I drove 10 hour days, 5 days a week in a congested city. I have a real appreciation of any car that allows me to see what is loitering in my blind spots. I was very disappointed with the changes made to the second generation. They changed up the c-pillars to look more like Flying Buttresses resulting in terrible rear visibility.
I have not ever driven a Mercury Sable sedan although I ridden in a Sable wagon. It looks like they might have good rear visibility, do they? What year is this one? Worth owning as a beater?
Forgot to add that the Olds Ciera has aged pretty well and seem to be good cars.
The 2nd photo highlights my favorite feature of the design: the glassy rear view. Was this the last gasp of “bubble top” design?
We know that futuristic car design used to take for granted that glass area would keep growing until roofs were replaced by transparent canopies. Today, concept cars (and real cars) aspire to be menacing bunkers. That point has been made a million times, but the surprising part is how it connects with the threats that we feel in our daily lives….
The glass canopies were inspired by fighter planes that defended us against the biggest threat that Americans felt. But as those Americans did their daily errands, they felt safe in their surroundings (well, the white ones did at least).
Today, fighter planes don’t really register as a source of security for us–a glassy cabin doesn’t project safety. But daily life has become militarized in a new way. I’m not saying that the real military is present in our daily lives–it isn’t–but there’s a perception that we’re not safe on our own streets. The number of guns in civilians hands has vastly grown, some police departments operate military-grade equipment and aspire to a “warrior mindset,” etc.
So it’s a cliche that even humble CUVs aspire to be Humvees or armored personnel carriers. What I find interesting is that this isn’t the first time that car design was militarized. Which raises a question about the *gaps* in this pattern. The Broughams of the 1970s and the sleek futurism of the 1980s-1990s (Taurus, Chrysler LH cars) did NOT project any sort of physical power.
Of course, I might be reading too much into car design. Our national mood isn’t the only influence. Worth considering though.
If that Toyota wasn’t there. That photo could have been set in the late 1980s-early 1990s.
Impressed that neither car is showing significant rust or peeling clear coat. Despite the cars being roughly the same age, the Sable looks much more modern.
It doesn’t look like a murderous alien or a gangbanger transformer, so not too modern…
I’m reminded of this weekend’s local temptation: a very clean ’93 Sable Wagon nearby that’s sorely tempting me….I know “low miles” can mean mechanical ails from sitting, but it’s otherwise a real time machine: https://milwaukee.craigslist.org/ctd/d/muskego-1993-mercury-sable-gs-wagon/7324978948.html
Not bad. An earlier version of the one in my garage sitting right now. Has a loud rhythmic tapping sound that I need to solve in the Vulcan engine. Maybe get into the short block only my wife is giving me grief (again) about that old car in the garage. Get rid of it and while doing that you have too many cars and need to get rid of some more like the Polara, Parklane, F100, and 626. Not Going To Happen! At least for the cars.
I see the one listed has the 3.8 V6 which I always try to avoid.
I haven’t seen a Sable of that vintage in quite a long time, but it’s not unusual to see the occasional Ciera here in Toronto.
Mercury was way ahead of its time with the lightbar first used on the Sables, the Electric F150(I refuse to call a crew cab 4WD F150 a “Lightning”, pun be damned) even uses one now, early 90s Mercury would have relished in the LED era. Shame Mercury just never could hold onto a real identity, as the 3rd Gen Sable regressed to using Lincoln cues and gone was any of the light bar or the futurist/quirky styling of the first and second gen.
I agree the first gen is more remarkable as there was no shared sheetmetal with the Taurus, and the interiors seemed to be better differentiated as well, but I do like the slimmer headlights/lightbar of the second gen a little more from an easier to swallow aesthetic standpoint, where first gen, especially the earlier ones, are a little clunky in the bumper area. Either way, if it weren’t for the SHO(which shared fenders in these years!) I’d pick the Sable over the Taurus hands down. The Taurus was an American car that wanted to look European, the Sable was an American car that wanted to look Martian.
The humble setting at a Harbor Freight store was a sign from above…
I owned a 1989 Sable LS sedan. It was a beautiful car with blue leather upholstery and plenty of options. It was the first vehicle I ever owned where I felt in full control and that my butt was planted in the seat. It had a great ride, really good acceleration, and superior handling compared to the GM offerings. My mother had a 88 Chevy Celebrity with the 2.8. Night and day difference between that car and my Mercury. I still miss that Sable.
My Dad had a “Sable” period starting in 1989 after his ’86 Dodge 600 was totalled by my sister in an accident, he owned 3 of them in a row….well, he leased the middle one, but had an ’89, a 94, and a 96. I liked the ’94 the best, though the ’89 was most unique with the lighting and instrument panel, and different exterior than the Taurus. Didn’t like the looks of the ’96, but he had it the longest, finally trading it for a 2001 Impala (first of 2 in a row, my sister now owns the ’06 which ended up being his last car as he passed away 5 years ago). He bought all of them from the same Mercury Dealer, of course long gone, now an Alfa-Romeo dealership of all things.