Mercury Montego

First generation (1968–1971)

For 1968, Mercury introduced the Montego nameplate as part of its intermediate Mercury Comet product line. Much as its Ford Torino counterpart was a sportier version of the Ford Fairlane, the Mercury Montego was a higher-content version of the Comet. As part of a 1970 redesign, the Mercury intermediate adopted the Montego nameplate entirely.

For 1968, the Mercury Montego was available as a four-door sedan, two-door hardtop, four-door station wagon, and two-door convertible. Replacing the Comet Capri and Comet Caliente were the base-trim and MX-trim versions of the Montego. Also based upon the Comet/Montego, the high-performance Mercury Cyclone remained in production through 1971. In 1970, the convertible was discontinued while a four-door hardtop was added to the model line. A MX Brougham trim level was added for sedans alongside a woodgrained MX Villager station wagon. A mid-cycle facelife added a forward-thrusting hood and grille and concealed headlamps for Brougham and Villager trims.

Second generation (1972-1976)

For 1972, the Mercury Montego was fully redesigned alongside the Ford Torino (and all-new Ford Gran Torino). In the redesign, the intermediate Ford/Mercury lines were shifted from unibody to body-on-frame construction and a split-wheelbase chassis (114-inch for two-doors, 118-inch for four-doors and wagons). In a sign of what would happen to the Mercury full-size line for 1973, true four-door hardtops were replaced by "pillared hardtops"; frameless door glass remained, supported by a thin B-pillar. Two-door Montegos retained hardtop rooflines, though with much wider C-pillars.

As a standard engine, the Montego was equipped with a 250 cubic-inch inline-six, with five different V8 engines available as options. Starting in 1974, the Mercury Montego was available with a 460 V8, shared with the Mercury Marquis/Colony Park.

For 1972 and 1973, as a counterpart to the Ford Gran Torino SportsRoof, Mercury offered the Montego GT, essentially replacing the Cyclone. The latter had reverted to an option package for 1972; only 30 were produced, making it one of the rarest Mercury vehicles ever produced.

The redesign was initially met with success, as 1972 Montego sales increased 136% over 1971; the MX Brougham saw the largest increases in sales, as the two-door increased its sales by 897% while the four-door increased by 1,021%. Following the 1973 gas crisis, sales were depressed by industry-wide fuelseconomy concerns. Mercury would also produce internal competition for the Montego with the 1974 redesign of the Mercury Cougar (a twin of the Ford Elite, itself based on the Torino/Montego chassis). In 1975, the high-content Mercury Monarch shifted buyers away from large cars towards fuel-efficient compact sedans.

For 1977, in a mid-cycle redesign of the Ford intermediate lines, several nameplates were shifted. The Mercury Montego was discontinued in favor of the Mercury Cougar (the 1974-1976 Cougar becoming the Cougar XR7); the Torino/Gran Torino were discontinued in favor of the Ford LTD II, with the Ford Elite replaced by a downsized Ford Thunderbird.

Third generation (2005–2007)

For the 2005 model year, Mercury revived the Montego nameplate after a 29-year hiatus, entering production on July 12, 2004. As the larger of the two sedans intended to replace the Mercury Sable (the other being the 2006 Mercury Milan), the Montego was introduced as the Mercury version of the Ford Five Hundred. The first all-new full-size Mercury since the 1992 redesign of the Grand Marquis, the introduction of the Montego marked the first time since the 1974 discontinuation of the Monterey that Mercury offered two separate model lines. In place of the three trims of the Five Hundred, the Montego was offered in two: Luxury and Premier.

The Montego was manufactured at the Chicago Assembly facility in Chicago, Illinois, alongside the Ford Five Hundred and the Ford Freestyle, a crossover SUV intended to be the replacement for the Taurus/Sable station wagon.

Chassis

The 2005 Montego was built on the all-new D3 platform developed along with Volvo. In a major shift from the Panther-platform Grand Marquis, the Montego was configured with front-wheel drive as standard (all-wheel drive was an option).

Front-wheel drive versions were equipped with a 6-speed Aisin AW F21++ automatic while AWD versions were equipped with a ZF CVT. Shared with its Sable predecessor, the Montego was powered exclusively by a 3.0L DOHC Duratec V6 producing 203 hp.

The Montego, Five Hundred and Ford Freestyle were manufactured using a Volvo-derived system called Total Vehicle Geometry (TVG) to ensure fit, finish and craftsmanship — by requiring comprehensive participation by all engineers as well as suppliers and vendors. Heavily using computer-aided design, TVG tracks all design modifications, translating them into the central CAD database which in turn allows each engineer access to current project data. The system improves part tolerance at the body-in-white stage as well as early cabin integrity testing, via air leakage testing. TVG improved fit and finish at the first prototype stage and decreases pilot manufacturing times. For side impact protection the bodywork is braced at the B-pillar via an energy-channeling structural cross-car roof tube and a corresponding undercar energy channelling cross-tube — with the front seats mounted above the lower tube, locating them above a side impact energy path. The system derives from a side-impact safety design marketed by Volvo as its Side Impact Protection System (SIPS).

Exterior

While sharing much of its body styling with the Ford Five Hundred (except for its large waterfall grille), the Montego was distinguished by several features unavailable on its Ford counterpart, including standard-equipment HID headlamps and LED taillamps. At the time, the Montego utilized the largest array of LED taillights in any Ford Motor Company vehicle worldwide.

Ford chief designer, George Bucher, said "it was a challenge to sculpt a Ford-styled body around a Volvo chassis, and added that designers used what he calls plainer surfaces with taut lines to give the car a modern look without losing its passenger-car proportions."

Interior

In contrast to both the Grand Marquis and the Sable, the Montego was available solely in a five-passenger configuration; as with the discontinued Marauder, bucket seats with a console-mounted shifter were the exclusive design for the front seats. Slotted in between the Five Hundred SE and SEL, the Montego Luxury featured cloth seats as standard, with leather seats as optional. The Mercury equivalent of a Five Hundred Limited, the Montego Premier featured leather seats as standard, with only all-wheel drive and a sunroof as the primary options.

Featuring 21 cubic feet of trunk space (larger than the Grand Marquis or Lincoln Town Car), the Montego allowed for expansion of cargo space with a 60/40 fold-down rear seat and an optional folding front passenger seat. With the decklid closed, objects up to 10 feet in length could be transported within the car.

A design feature of the Montego includes its overall height to add interior space to the vehicle. To appeal to buyers of both sedans and sport-utility vehicles, Ford raised the viewpoint of the driver. Marketed as Command Seating, the Montego features high H-point seating (the location of the occupants hip-point relative to the road or the vehicle floor); its H-point is closer to the ground than that of a sport utility vehicle, but higher than a typical sedan, easing entry and exit. Also, the distance from the H-point to the floor of the vehicle is reflective of more upright seating. At its press launch, Ford said the Five Hundred's H-point is up to four and a half inches higher than its competitors. The Montego also features theater seating, where second row seats are higher: in the front row, the distance between the H-point and the heel point, where the occupant's foot touches the floor, is 12.7 inches — in the second row the distance between the H-point and the heel point is 15.7 inches.

Discontinuation

Due to a poor critical reception and lower than expected sales, the Five Hundred and Montego nameplates were discontinued for the 2008 model year. Although Ford Motor Company had unveiled pre-production 2008 models at auto shows using the Five Hundred/Montego nameplates, Ford CEO Alan Mullaly ordered the two nameplates retired; the Montego was rechristened the Sable for 2008 productiont.[2] [3]

Featuring a more extensive styling update than the reintroduced Taurus, the 2008 Mercury Sable featured a 263 hp 3.5L V6 shared with the Lincoln MKZ.

Use in competition

In the 1968 NASCAR Grand National stock car season, the fastback Fairlane body style proved much slicker than other makes, but the nose of the Mercury Cyclone Fastback was the main reason pointed to it being even slightly faster than its Ford counterpart. Cale Yarborough drove a Wood Brothers Cyclone to victory in the Daytona 500, and the Mercury bodies would remain a major force in NASCAR through 2 generations of bodies. The battle over aerodynamics would prompt Chrysler to respond with specialized "winged wonder" Daytona and Superbird bodies after its own fastback bodies proved disappointing.