What were they Thinking? Mercury’s ‘Wrist-Twist’ from the 1960s

Styling trends come and go, but if there's one thing that has remained relatively unchanged in the past 105 years of personal motoring: the steering wheel.

Although plastics have replaced iron and wood and airbags (1970s) and radio controls (1990s) have been added, the basic design remains the same: a circular ring with spokes connected to a central hub.

Read more »

Mercury's 2003 Messenger Sports Coupe Concept also up for Sale

The five Lincoln concept models that we told you about on Friday will be joined by the 2003 Mercury Messenger concept at the RM's Sports & Classics of Monterey auction on August 12th.

The two-seater sports coupe prototype of the soon-to-be discontinued Mercury brand broke cover at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit back in 2003. It was supposed to herald a new and more stylish design language for the company while some had also suggested that it may inspire a production model - unfortunately for Mercury, that never happened.

Influenced by the Cougars of the late sixties with a rakish roofline that recalls Ford's GT supercar, the rear-wheel drive Messenger Coupe was designed to be powered by the Dearborn automaker's familiar 4.6 liter V8 engine (the study is not fitted with a powertrain). The folks over at RM Auctions estimate that the Messenger can fetch between US$75,000 and $100,000.

Read more »