Cars named after (or same as) WW2 and 1950s aircraft?

SaparotRob said:

Sadly, Mercury never offered a "de Sade" option for the Marquis.

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It was implicit in driving a Mercury, after all. You had to be a masochist.

Thumpalumpacus said:

It was implicit in driving a Mercury, after all. You had to be a masochist.

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C'mon Thumper, you're digging yourself in deeper ... and all based on trying to be cute with a pulp magazine's bad joke!

Remember James Dean, David Pearson and Parnelli Jones all drove Mercurys to gain their fame, and if you want to label them with any name, you'd better hope they only heard macho ... and misunderstood the rest ... if you don't want to spend the rest of your days in dentures!

It's hard to think of any car company with more aviation related model names: Voyager, Mariner, Lynx, Tracer, Meteor, Panther, Zephyr, Bobcat, Cyclone, Marauder, Cougar, Comet, etc. The three latter ones were prepped with special (sometimes MONSTER!) engines plus trick body and suspension mods to dominate racing in their chosen venues ... even at aircraft altitudes like the Pikes Peak Hillclimb!

Once about a year ago, while put-puting along in the right lane at 65mph of a 70 mph interstate, I saw in the side mirror a fast approaching, recent full sized model Mercury. As it appeared to me maybe a Marauder , I watched as it flew by. I soon saw the word Marauder in the rear bumper, more interesting was the blue haired old lady piloting, and her white haired husband in the passenger seat, head on his shoulder, fast asleep. My thought with the fast disappearing Merc was, I hope her grandson knows what he has when he inherits.

special ed said:

Once about a year ago, while put-puting along in the right lane at 65mph of a 70 mph interstate, I saw in the side mirror a fast approaching, recent full sized model Mercury. As it appeared to me maybe a Marauder , I watched as it flew by. I soon saw the word Marauder in the rear bumper, more interesting was the blue haired old lady piloting, and her white haired husband in the passenger seat, head on his shoulder, fast asleep.
My thought with the fast disappearing Merc was, I hope her grandson knows what he has when he inherits.

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You're a man after my heart, Ed.
I was an auto journo when the Marauder arrived, in the day when big performance cars were passe'. If I ever wanted a big car, this would have been it ... IMHO the ONLY NASCAR stocker built for the general public, unlike those just build enough to get by sanctioners: Daytonas, Superbees, Grand Torino Sports, Laguna S3s and Charger 500s that had shovel noses and useless back seats or trunks.
It had the performance, ride and amenities to put any BMW or AMG to shame on the Autobahn or in the Alps.
They should have only been offered in black.