help with 1969 Mercury Marquis Brougham

[Limey]

I've seen a really nice '69 Marquis Brougham 2-door hardtop coupe for sale and I'm very tempted. Help me make up my mind!

I know very little about these cars. It has a 390 2-bbl and no toys.
Are they rare? Are they any good?
All opinions are welcome!

 

[torquemonkey]

1969-72
These were known as the "Continental Styling" years, as Mercury was trying to market itself as an affordable Lincoln, rather than a more expensive Ford. A 1969 advertisement for the Colony Park wagon bills the car as "If Lincoln Continental made a station wagon, this would be it."

This generation introduced the hidden headlights that were a Lincoln-Mercury trademark in the 1970s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_Marquis

I didn't see any two doors listed here; http://www.mercuryarchive.com/1969to1972/

Looks like a decent production run according to this; 65C 2d ht. Formal....8,395 per http://www.stordahl.com/69-72hist.htm

the convertible looks pretty nice; http://www.autabuy.com/Vehicles/Details.cfm?VID=41528


390cid and a C6 tranny. what more could you ask for in a daily driver? Besides free fuel and the Swedish Bikini team waxing you car every saturday afternoon?

 

[Limey]

Thanks, I was quite pleased to find it didn't have a 4-barrell due to the price of fuel over here! The owner claims 17-20mpg (bear in mind Imperial gallons are bigger than US gallons).
Has a nice sounding dual exhaust and some Vane-type alloy wheels but don't know if they are original or not. They look like they could be.

 

[torquemonkey]

Cool, those wheels sound like "turbine" wheels. A two barrel is more than enough to get you down the road. The ride in that thing most be real nice.

This fellow may be the best to answer any further wheel questions;http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/member.php?u=40

 

[Frat-man-du]

I have 390s in both my 65 T-Birds the Convt has 89K and he coupe has over 300K no problems with the engines. The coupe had new oil pump, valve stem seals and a wrist-pin replaced at 250K The are real solid engines and parts are a plenty. C6 trans are great! I have the sux a$$ C-O-M in the 'birds.

I would say go for it.

 

[RB3]

The 1969 Marquis is a very attractive car. The front end styling was derived from a rejected proposal for the 1966 Lincoln. If the car has alloy wheels, they are not original. It came with three styles of wheel covers. However, I have seen a few fitted with the rally wheels that came on the 1969 Marauder X-100.

The weakness to look for in these cars is rust. Mercurys and Fords of this era are notorious rusters. They rust in the door bottoms, the rear quarters and wheel wells, and the trunk lids. Also check the frame both in front of and behind the rear wheels...it tended to hold moisture, and rust at these two points. The 390 will last forever, but sometimes needs new valve stem seals.

 

[Limey]

Hello,

I made a mistake. It has a 429ci 2-v motor. In fact, as far as I can tell, the 390 was not avialable on the '69 Marquis at all.

According to the 'Standard Catalogue' styled aluminum wheels could be bought for an extra $95.90 for the Marquis. However, the same section refers to the Marauder as having 'styled aluminum wheels' and I'm pretty sure they were in fact steel right? The ones pictured are the 5-spoke 'Magnum 500' style wheels.

The wheels on this Marquis are probably just Turbo-Vecs or something but they do look quite 'correct' on there.

Regarding rust, there almost isn't any that I can find. What I can find is very superficial. This is all the more suprising to learn that the car came from Canada. Someone obviously looked after it.

 

[RB3]

The 390 was available on the 1969 Monterey, and I thought it was in the base Marquis as well, but not the Marquis Brougham. The Marauder rims were made by Kelsey-Hayes, but I don't recall what metal they're made of. There is a Mercury Marauder club which would likely have that information. Here is the website: http://www.mercurymarauder.org/

 

[Fleet]

I happen to have a road test of a '69 (Car Life, May, 1969).
Here are some specs...
'69 Mercury Marquis Brougham
Wheelbase/length--------------- 124"/224"
Width--------------------------- 80"
List price------------------------ $3,973
Price as tested------------------ $5,731
Luggage space------------------ 20-cu-ft
Fuel tank capacity--------------- 25 gals
Engine-------------------------- 429-4 bbl
Compression ratio--------------- 10.0:1
Transmission-------------------- 3-speed auto
Curb weight--------------------- 5,035 lbs
Rear axle ratio------------------- 2.80:1
0-30 mph------------------------ 3.5 secs
0-60 mph------------------------ 8.2 secs
0-80 mph------------------------ 13.1 secs
0-100 mph----------------------- 23.6
1/4 mile-------------------------- 16.3 secs @ 88.4 mph
Passing: 30-70 mph--------------- 6.7 secs
Top speed, observed-------------- 114 mph @ 4,000 rpm
Fuel mileage, test conditions------- 10.1 mpg
--- normal conditions-------------- 11-13 mpg

That is very good acceleration considering it's very heavy weight and highway gears.