1978 Mercury Grand Marquis - Catch Me If You Can

Back when I was a wee-little nipper living on the concrete and blacktop paradise known as Long Island, New York, dinosaurs like this 1978 Mercury Grand Marquis roamed the earth. I was all of 13- or 14-years old when this was new and to make myself feel even older, with this car now, gulp, 47-years-old...

I fired up the old wayback machine to take a look at what a 47-year-old Ford looked like in 1978. Wowza. Now, granted, automobiles don't evolve aesthetically at nearly the pace they did years ago but still, the difference between these two cars in "just" 47-years is remarkable. In fairness, by 1931, the auto industry was about to transition to all steel bodies and away from the spindly, old-timey designs from the 1910's and '20's, this 1931 Model A was in many ways, the last of its kind. 

Much like our big Merc here was the last if its kind. For 1979, Ford followed General Motors down the Great Downsizing Epoch rabbit hole shrink-raying their full-size Ford (division) and Mercury lineups. Big Lincoln's got the Sawzall for 1980. 

Gigantic, squishy and quiet, these cars evolved from the jarring, noisy, truck-like beasts my parent's generation grew up with. My father marveled at their smoothness even some of the cars he drove when I was a kid, to me at least, weren't that much more than Model A's. 

Its massiveness, though, our '78 here is roughly 19-feet long and nearly 7-feet wide, was part of the Big Three corn-feeding the buying public after World War II that the bigger the car, the bigger your wallet was. Or you wanted it perceived to be. My father's car-crazy son getting sucked into that bigger-is-better-vortex. At least for a little while. The plush ride and sheer bulk seemed to go hand-in-hand, but in reality, one has nothing to do with the other. 

Our '78 Grand Marquis here, looking splendid sans a vinyl top, was part of Lincoln-Mercury's full-size reboot for 1973. For 1974, all full-size became "Marquis'", the "Grand Marquis" the top-of-the-heap ahead of the Marquis Brougham and base Marquis. The Grand Marquis offering most if not every luxury accouterment the tonier and more expensive Lincoln Continental did. I think these better looking than the slab-sided Lincolns too. 

I don't care for this front end, though, I think it looks like a baroque headboard for a bed. The aftermarket rims are hideous too - Mercury had a handsome alloy rim for these cars but those are very rare. 

I have no idea what's going on here. With its 460 cranking out all of 202-horsepower, me thinks I can.  Looks like paint too making removing it a challenge.

This is for sale up near Detroit with an asking price of $4,900. Rims and wonky trunk lid paint job, this is a lot of car for the money. Literally and figuratively.