’85-’87 Mercury Grand Marquis images from the Cohort by SlantSix.
The year was 2000 and we had bought a new home. However, as we came into the 2001 tax season, we found out that the property tax had tripled. It was something the builder knew about but did not disclose the information. Between that and the mortgage, we found ourselves way behind the eight ball. Money was tight.
I called an attorney who told us that we were going to have to declare Chapter 7. At that time, the law stated that we could each have one car since we both worked, but the value of each car was to be $850 or less.
So off I went to search for our prized cars!
The first one was easy. A family friend told me they had their parent’s 86 Grand Marquis LS with about 100,000 miles. They gave me a deal; $750. The second one took a little longer. But eventually, I found a 1977 Ford LTD Landau (LandCow?) with only 89,000 miles. While the Mercury was loaded up and very nice driving, the LTD was very strangely optioned. It had one mirror, tilt wheel, stereo, and cornering lamps! Oh and a digital clock that sounded constipated when it got too cool.
So the Mercury became Cindy’s car and I won the Land Cow. The idea was that we were to drive these until after the bankruptcy was discharged.
The Mercury got driven quite a bit. We were living in Delaware Ohio and used it to drive over to Fort Wayne a few times, down to Cincinnati once, but never any long trips. Meanwhile, the LTD was used only for city duty. The Y pipe broke and I took it in for a look-see. The muffler dude told me $240 to order and replace the Y or for $170 he could just dual it out. (Remember I paid $850 for this beauty.)
The ending of these two is where it became especially interesting.
First, Cindy’s boss saw the Mercury one day and asked her all about it. She didn’t take him real seriously but called me to let me talk to him.
- What is this about? – I thought.
He got on the phone and started to ask about the car, engine, fuel economy, etc. Before answering I just said:
- Warren, what’s up? Why this interest in an old car?”
He said:
- My wife had one exactly like that and lost it during her divorce. And every time she sees one she mentions buying another. So, I want to buy your car.
He wasn’t kidding… he offered me $450 plus an ’84 Honda Accord that drove! The best part; we were to deliver it on Christmas Eve and he gave me half the money before so we could have a Christmas that year.
Everything worked out well for us. And they drove that car until just about 6 years ago.
“…the LTD only lasted three months.” LTD image from the Cohort by canadiancatgreen.
The LTD also went away. I worked with a very nice guy at Lowes, called Ryan. We were discussing Christmas plans and he told me that he wanted to go see his parents, who lived maybe 2-3 hours away but that his car would no longer make the trip.
Half-jokingly, I told him I’d sell him my LTD which by then we could legally do, for $500. He didn’t even look at it but rode home with me (In the Honda), he handed over the cash, we signed the title, he put a tag on it, and drove away to see his parents.
So there’s the story of two cars; not that we necessarily wanted, but needed. And they filled the bill. Oh, btw, the LTD only lasted 3 months. Ryan hit a big spot of black ice, and slid into a rock that he said was taller than the hood! I guess he hit hard because it quit running. Oh well…
Related CC reading:
Car Show Classic: 1977 Ford LTD – Fall From Grace
In-Motion Classic: c. 1986 Mercury Grand Marquis – Lost & Found
That seemed to be the sweet spot with those 80’s Panther cars – once they got to about 100k miles, the original owners knew down into their bones that no matter how nice the car or how well maintained, it was on borrowed time after 100k and so they would sell or trade them. And you could buy them cheaply and have a good, reliable car to drive.
I feel bad for someone who would be in a similar spot today – most of what you can buy cheaply now seems like it would be a game of roulette that might last you a year, and might last you a week. American cars of the 70s and 80s had their faults, but the basic components were pretty stout and they made pretty decent beaters for those who couldn’t afford better.
Russian roulette is right lol. I bought a ’95 CV with 114k after hearing all the praise for them mostly here and elsewhere. It was a little loosey goosey on the test drive but nothing too concerning for a car that age… until it REALLY started loosening up during the two hour drive home entirely on farm roads. $1700 later and it feels a lot better. Probably shouldn’t have spent the money, but I really do like the car. I have to agree with your past comments JP, this “Fat Ford” era of Panther is such a nice car to drive. The ride/handling balance is really good and the interior feels much better than the later cars. I bought it as a beater but I’m getting very attached to it.
Dad was a Buick man for 30+ years but come 1987 a V8, rwd sedan was not an option there. Enter the Grand Marquis. It worked out very nicely for him as it did for many of his generation, reluctant to take on the new-fangled fwd offerings.
The last car pictured is not an LTD but the “intermediate” LTD II. Yep, it’s huge.
True. The image is updated now.
A GRAND MARQUIS for a. HONDA? Even with extra cash, NO way! I had an 83 GRAND MARQUIS Coupe and later an 89 Crown Victoria LX. Both beautiful, luxurious and went well over 150,000. My last (93) RWD Cadillac Brougham was such a disappointment, I returned to GRAND MARQUIS and TOWN CARS. My current low mileage Town Car Signature Limited is the last gasp of traditional American Luxury sedans. And, per my request, will carry my cremains to my grave. Even Hearses are glorified TRUCKS 🚚.
Grandpa had been a Pontiac Man™ for years, but was talked into a Grand Marquis by a brother-in-law who headed up the service department at a Mercury dealer in Alabama. I couldn’t quickly find a photo of the car, but it was light green with a vinyl roof and ended up making several trips back to BIL’s service department due to ongoing issues with the early throttle-body FI system (late ’70s or early ’80s? don’t remember).
BIL traded pretty much every year, so he offered Grandpa the newer GM he had been driving, and it soon graced their driveway (visible behind my GS550 ES in the photo). This would end up being the car my wife and I used for our wedding getaway vehicle. It was comfortable, but I never liked the high seating position Ford favored in those years (being a Person of Altitude).
Grandpa had passed by then, and Granny eventually moved to a retirement community and asked me to sell the car. It probably hadn’t cracked 100K and I remember selling it to a young man who wanted a family car that seated six.
A nice story, I love the mostly happy ending .
Indeed these were stout cars, L.A.P.D. used them and they didn’t give us much trouble, most were salvaged with under 100,000 miles and so went on to happy lives as taxis or low dollar family cars .
Never forget : you cannot spell Grand Marquis without GRANDMA =8-) .
-Nate
I’m a bit more interested in your financial travails than the cars. So did you lose the house (and your down payment) in bankruptcy, or could you keep it? I find these kinds of stories fascinating, as they’re just so outside my financially conservative (Austrian?) perspective. It has a decidedly American boom-bust quality to it.
Sometimes bankruptcy is caused by situations beyond your control. In our case, medical conditions were the culprits; my heart problem and my wife’s appendicitis occurred two months apart … on the road. We were running an incorporated trucking business at the time. We sold the truck, a 2004 International 9400 on eBay, three days after it listed, sold the assorted flatbed equipment at our local truck stop the following week, and got out of the business; it was a second career for us anyway; we were in it for about ten years. I filed early retirement, and my wife went to the vo-tec college on a state grant. We managed to save our house with C-13. Things were tight … as the saying goes … if we couldn’t eat it, or could get by without it, then we didn’t buy it.
Our daily drivers at the time were my ’93 Mercury Grand Marquis, my wife’s ’96 Mercury Grand Marquis, and her ’86 Mercury Grand Marquis. My ’93 F-150 was inoperable with a blown head gasket. For obvious reasons, I took my time about fixing it.
We still own our cars, and I got around to fixing my truck. The fuel tank for the ’86 is all cleaned and currently in my Mercury’s trunk, awaiting its reinstallation with a new fuel pump and its refurbished original sending unit. We will have nice weather next week, so it’s “back to work” to put everything back where it belongs. Eventually, Cheryl’s “Big Blue Mercury” will be used to tow our ’63 Airstream Bambi that was listed as a “storage shed” in our C-13 papers, as per our attorney’s “suggestion.” It became one for 5 years as we faithfully made our monthly payments. Now it’s made the transition to an RV once again as bankruptcy is now in our rear view mirror.
Bankruptcy is a life changer … sometimes (I’ll say this in a nice way) “life throws you a curve.”
By the way, I like that ’86 Mercury, ours is deep blue. My wife has owned it since March of ’99. It had 96,000 on the odometer and belonged to an older guy who “went by the book;” he followed the recommended requirements by the letter. Those are the type of used cars you want to buy.
To Paul:
Yes we lost everything. Basically what happened was my self and my wife were dumb. We bought much more home then we ever should have, and it bit is in a big way.
The two cars we lost were actually pretty nice. She drove a 98 LeSabre Limited and I drove a 96 Park Avenue.
Many years later, we did learn that the builder was brought up on charges for having more homes go into foreclosure that any builder in our Columbus Ohio area.
But we learned. We’ve learned to live below our means.
Sorry to hear that. Must have been painful.
I had to learn some painful financial lessons too, but not on that level.