Laurence Jones 1960's, Ford Motor Division, Mercury

(Found In) Lower Haight (San Francisco, California): 1964 Mercury Montclair Breezeway 4 Door Sedan

9319740544_48560d26f0_zFor the life of the brand, the Mercury division of Ford Motor Company struggled to figure out its image within the American Automotive marketplace.

Initially perched as the up-market solution to the vast gap between Ford and Lincoln, Mercury found that pound remarkably deep and wide, full of competition not only from General Motors and Chrysler, but some well-regarded independents as well. Matters weren’t helped much by which season the Mercurial brand was aligned with being a “Fancy Ford” or a “Cut-Rate Lincoln.”
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Laurence Jones 1960s, General Motors, Opel

(Found In) Lower Haight (San Francisco, CA): 1968 (Buick) Opel Kadett Station Wagon

9319809292_59693dfe72_z As omnipresent as the original Volkswagen Beetles continue to be some 35+ years after the last one was sold in the United States, one forgets that it wasn’t always the only import popular with American audiences before Civic/Corolla domination. In fact, the quite often second most popular import in America could be found in your Buick dealer, via Germany.

General Motors had from time to time given its American brands something different to sell. Their were the price gap cars that came at the end of the Roaring Twenties. In fact, Pontiac cannibalized parent brand Oakland during that period. When foreign car popularity took off in the Mid 50’s and more buyers craved more sensible cars, General Motors took to importing their overseas offerings. Pontiac offered Vaxhalls from the UK. Buick offered Opels from Germany.

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