Triple Black: 1972 Mercury Marquis Brougham
If you like big American cars, and many of us do, the early-to-mid seventies Mercury Marquis, particularly in Brougham form, is a pretty nice looking representative from that era’s FoMoCo styling. While it perhaps handles a bit more like a boat than a car, there is a lot to be said for these Mercuries. They have most of the luxury features you will need or want, and their values are still not out of sight. As a result, they make excellent low-cost collector cars for those many of us who simply cannot afford the cars of our dreams. And maybe for some of us, this is the car of our dreams.
The 1972 triple black Mercury Marquis Brougham two door hardtop shown here is for sale on craigslist in Phoenix, Arizona, with an asking price of only $3,999, and appears to be a pretty good deal.
The seller says he is the second owner of the car, and that it is a “true barn find,” having spent 30 years in a garage before he acquired it.
The seller states that this luxury car has only 47,000 miles on the clock, and the photographs provided seem to support this claim. With the egg crate grill and hidden headlights, it looks alot like a Cadillac, doesn’t it?
As a top of the line car for its year, this car is well equipped, with power windows, locks, an eight way power driver’s seat, rear defrost, tilt steering, air conditioning, power brakes and power steering. The car might be equipped with disk brakes in front, as this was a popular Marquis option in 1972, but the seller does not mention them.
The engine is factory stock with a 429 cubic inch V-8, including the Motorcraft four barrel carburetor, which put out 208 horsepower, and could get this beast from zero to sixty in under 11 seconds. That was quite good performance in 1972 for a car weighing 4460 pounds (dry).
I think this car is really good looking, and wears its bulk well. The design is particularly nice in this two door hardtop configuration, though it does look better coming than going, at least to me.
Kudos to the seller for showing the flaws of the car in pictures and in the ad description. There is some road rash visible here that really should be arrested before it leads to real rust.
As he points out, the car could use a paint job. And there are a few other flaws showing. Black tends to show body issues, and this car seems very clean, overall. A purist might wish to keep the car as original as possible, and just fix the few problems with the body and trim.
The interior really does look fine. The seller says the car looks new inside, with perfect carpet.
According to the seller, the car has been well sorted out mechanically, with a considerable amount of maintenance work having been done recently. The gas tank was replaced, as well as the radiator, master cylinder, alternator and battery. The carburetor was rebuilt, and all plugs and wires were replaced. The tires are brand new and amazingly, the original spare is still in the trunk.
The only mechanical issue is with the air conditioning electronics, which could be problematical, but might also be bypassed by using the mechanical AC controller parts from a lesser model.
Even at this relatively reasonable asking price, the seller is entertaining offers, which makes this a very compelling proposition, and I believe this car will sell quickly. While behemoths like this are not the most desirable collector cars, this smooth looking Mercury will easily keep up with modern traffic, provides a huge amount of interior space, has been mechanically sorted, and appears to be almost rust free. Gas mileage ought to be around 11 mpg, which is really not that terrible for a part time driver.
With that big 429 cid engine, you can cruise all day, and this will just be a fun old car for its next owner. I know cars like this are not for everyone, but for the right person, this might be a really great car to buy and own for a long time to come.
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Comments
Those AC electronics could also be problematic.
Book ’em Dano!
I was thinking the same thing…..
That’s what I was thinking.
Poor pimps car.
Unfortunately, there was never a “de Sade” option for this Marquis! :-)
Moparmann, beer just came out of my nose!
OK guys, what were the options on the “de Sade” version?
No idea. However. I think that no A.C. in a black over black car covers “de Masochism” version.
The “de Sade” option was a running joke with Car and Driver magazine. Each year, they would lament that no such option was AGAIN not offered!! LOL!! :-)
I don’t care who you are, that’s darned funny!
I love it! Fix the problems and GO!
As for the de Safe option, black vinyl seats and no air in Arizona is punishment enough!
This is one of the better buys on BF in awhile IMHO
Seems like a steal! But no AC in that car here in Phoenix would be a killer!
Based on the zip code boundaries of the zip listed in the ad, this can’t be more than 2-3 miles from me.
It would be the same way here in Florida too. Today, it was 87 degrees.
All that aside, damn that car looks good!
This is the car your wealthy aunt and uncle would visit in.
I will be Captain obvious….Holy S that thing is big….It wouldn’t come close to fitting in my driveway..But I like it, neighbor when I was a kid had one. My idea of being rich back then I guess.
High dollar car when new.
I bought a 71 for $400. Back in early ninties almost mint. Drove it like I stole it and never had anything brake. These tanks are so great in snow, not that I would do that nowadays.It eventually became a field car. When my wife, newborn and I moved to the city I pulled the drivetrain to keep for later. Well, divorce happened so you know the rest.
OK, here we go again……………….Wow what a good story!! The car never gave you any bad brakes, eh? What Luck
Lol.
I was a line mechanic at Don Kramer Lincoln & Mercury in Dayton Ohio when this car was new. These were basically good cars. I like the looks of this one. You just don’t see them around these days and that alone makes it interesting.
Mercury’s ( or most Ford’s, for that matter) of this era were top notch. Before planes, highway travel was king, and this was the car to do it with. Obviously, gas mileage wasn’t an issue, as I remember, in ’72, I worked at a gas station, and gas was still under 50 cents a gallon. If I was to get a “big” Merc like this, I’d go for the ’69 Marauder, but this is a very nice car too.
Howard – The 1969-70 Marauder X-100 is the king of Mercury cars from those glory muscle car years. 360 horsepower from 429 cubes, and beautiful styling. Check out the story about this special and now rarely seen model here: http://hooniverse.com/2013/08/09/hooniverse-obscure-muscle-car-garage-the-1969-70-mercury-marauder-x-100/
Excellent!
Dagnabbit! Where’s the doggone “thumbs-up” so I can co-sign this post?
A Quinn Martin Production
Charlie, I’d love this car even more than David Vincent’s earlier Ford. And, of Quinn Martin, did they ever know how to open a TV show!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOLGrXOtuwQ
Nice, honest old cruiser, but I think a”de Sade” may have been obscene.
Yes
Frank Cannon…
I like the photo where the car looks as big as the house.
It is!
I was just thinking yesterday that I had not seen one of these in a while. A 1972 Mercury Marquis was the first new car that I remember my parents buying. Ours wasn’t a Brougham, it was blue with a white hard vinyl top and blue vinyl interior.
It was the first car that I remember working on with my Dad although I was usually regulated to “holding the light”. I learned how to charge an A/C system on my own with what I now know as a suicide gauge (can tap) on that car. How to use starting fluid to overcome a faulty choke on cold mornings so Mom could get us to school and several other driveway fixes along the way.
The best memory is getting to ride with my Dad after we would do the annual ignition tune up and timing set to go “Blow it Out” on Highway 30 outside of town. If it would hit 100 mph without missing we were good to go, otherwise it was back to driveway.
Hi ags, that’s what I love about this site, is the phrases of the past. “Blow it out”. Unleaded fuel has done away with the need to “Blow it out” or the “Italian tune-up”, as we called it, which my old man swore by, ( so much cheaper than a real tune-up) only in neutral in the garage, with clouds of lead deposits in the air. By rights, the old man’s cars should have blown up several times. The cars I remember him “Blowing out” were his mid-60’s Oldsmobiles and Chevy Suburban’s with small blocks.
Hmm…I like it too. Don’t see these prowling the streets anymore. What a boat! (In a pleasing way).
For that money you could damn near make a profit selling it by the pound. ps- wouldn’t the rear defroster be forced air on this car?
Now we know why Howard gets all the thumbs downs, lead poisoning! Just kidding Howard, I love your comments! This car is gorgeous, and very few flaws for a car that is 45 years old. Can’t get better than triple black. Wish this were about 1000 miles closer.
I love this car .
My grandparent’s bought a brand new light green with green cloth interior ’71 Mercury Marquis Brougham. I remember riding with them to the dealership that was an hour from home to pick it up. I was 6 years old at the time. I remember the car rode like it was floating in the clouds.
Remember when these were a quintessential beater with a probable derby future. I guess like used Grand Marquis and Vic’s are today.
It’d look even better with that set of wheels off of that Maurader!
I’ve driven a couple of these. First let me say I love the design and in all black they do look mean. However, it’s literally like driving a boat on the streets. If you like that feeling, then this is the ride for you, especially at that price.
Now a plate with DE SADE would be perfect
The car does indeed have air conditioning. It has the Automatic Temperature Control unit. You can tell because the top row has numbers