Forgotten Idea: Mercury XM | The Each day Drive | Client Information® The Each day Drive

That is an installment in a sequence of posts wanting again on present automobiles that we really feel deserved slightly extra consideration than they received. In case you have a suggestion for a Forgotten Idea matter, please shoot us a line or depart a remark under.

Mercury XM

First Proven: 1979 Chicago Auto Present

Description: Two-seat sports activities automotive with rumble seats

Gross sales Pitch: “Whereas most idea automobiles stay up for the longer term, Mercury went backward in time.”

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Particulars:

First seen on the 1979 Chicago Auto Present, the Mercury XM Idea was purely a styling train. Penned by Italian design home Ghia, the XM was a 2-door, 2-seat sporty automotive that includes a pair of second-row “rumble” seats which had been accessible—and usable—solely when the hatch was open.

Actually no further details about the idea was made out there. That stated, the XM arguably helped established Ford/Mercury design shifting into the Eighties. The XM’s rear pillar may be seen in such future designs because the 1980 Ford Thunderbird and Mercury Cougar, and the 1982-1988 Ford EXP and Mercury LN7 sports activities automobiles.

A 1954 Mercury idea, the XM-800, marked the primary time Mercury had used the XM moniker. The XM-800 didn’t make use of rumble seats. Observe that the 1939 Ford was among the many final U.S.-market automobiles out there with rumble seats. Established in 1916, coachbuilder and design agency Ghia was acquired by Ford in 1970.

Forgotten Idea: Briggs & Stratton Hybrid

CG Says:

Probably the most attention-grabbing factor in regards to the largely forgotten XM idea won’t be the design, however the wheels. Seen right here on an idea automotive, these similar wheels made the rounds at Ford and Mercury, showing on the Ford Thunderbird and Grenada, and the Mercury Cougar coupe, sedan, and XR-7, and plenty of different company fashions, right here within the U.S. and overseas. The questions is, which do you keep in mind higher, the XM Idea, or these as soon as ubiquitous wheels?

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