1972 Mercury Marquis

With the passing of the Mercury brand and your coverage of the subject,you asked readers to submit other Mercury photos and stories—here is my contribution.

My dad bought this 1972 Mercury Marquis new; it was the first new car I ever remember him buying and definitely was the first car the family had with A/C.

This was his pride and joy and, therefore, it was always babied and always was garaged.

Its size and comfort always made it the car we used for trips and, with the 429 V-8, it moves very smartly for such a big car. I remember one such trip to the Michigan International Speedway where I drove partway coming back. When we got to my parents’ home I got into my 1973 Dodge, which I thought was a pretty nice car, to drive back to my house. You can imagine my surprise when I felt as if I was in an old Model T.

Dad still has this car and has had it sitting in the garage a good deal over the last 15 years, but he always starts the Marquis up monthly.

My young nephews are always amazed at the size of this car when they are over and Dad has it in the driveway. It is all original and in very good shape; he still even has the side skirts in storage.