Yet Another 1 of 248 – 2011 Mercury Grand Marquis With Ultra Low Mileage*

Still intrigued with these Panther-platform dinosaurs, especially the ultra rare ultra low mileage ones.  Only 248 2011 Mercury Grand Marquis models made in the final year.  This one has only 14,000 miles (*although sadly during one of those drives in 2018 the car was in an accident in Florida).  And the 4.6l V-8 only packs 224hp – just a few more than a four cylinder VW GTI of the same era.

But that big beautiful (heated) bench seat, column shifter, and four-dead body trunk (or suitcases and golf clubs) takes me back to another time. Here’s the last 2011 I posted about two years ago…lower price but higher miles.  If you can get over the accident, this one’s way nicer.  And just for fun, the great NY Times review “Heavyweight for a Requiem” from back in the day is to good not to reprint.  My favorite lines:

• It’s the kind of car dad bought because his buddy at the Kiwanis Club owned the
  dealership and he didn’t want something flashy like a Lincoln. A car you could wear
  a hat in.
• Wallowing anachronism that it is, the Grand Ma has its charms. It rides as if the tires aren’t just smothering out the road’s divots, but giving each of them a somber, dignified burial.
• The engine’s initial response is strong, but it quickly runs out of breath and by 5,500
  r.p.m. it’s exhausted. The transmission sort of slides at that point into the next gear
  and heaves a sigh of relief.
• InsideLine.com clocked it accelerating from a standstill to 60 m.p.h. in a leisurely 9.3 seconds; it also plowed through a quarter-mile run in 16.8 seconds while reaching 83.9 mph.
• Somewhere along its developmental journey the Grand Marquis
  picked up power rack-and-pinion steering that is shockingly sweet, with good oncenter feel, precise calibration and good feedback. 
• This is a car unconcerned with carving corners or blitzing across the
  autobahn. It’s built for people who have lived long enough to have already had all the drama they want in their lives.
• INSIDE TRACK: You may miss it, but you didn’t really want it.

Find this 2011 Mercury Grand Marquis LS here in Orlando.  Where else?!