Lincoln–Mercury was a collective name for the
LincolnLincoln is an American luxury vehicle brand of the Ford Motor Company. Lincoln vehicles are sold mostly in North America.-History:The company was founded in August 1915 by Henry M. Leland, one of the founders of Cadillac . During World War I, he left Cadillac which was sold to General Motors...
and
MercuryMercury was an automobile marque of the Ford Motor Company launched in 1938 by Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford, to market entry-level luxury cars slotted between Ford-branded regular models and Lincoln-branded luxury vehicles, similar to General Motors' Buick brand, and Chrysler's namesake brand...
divisions of the
Ford Motor CompanyFord Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
, whose vehicles were typically sold side-by-side in a single
dealershipA car dealership or vehicle local distribution is a business that sells new or used cars at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. It employs automobile salespeople to do the selling...
.
Lincoln–Mercury was also well-known for having been a longtime sponsor of
The Ed Sullivan ShowThe Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
from the show's earliest days as
Toast of the Town in 1948 until 1962 when the classic TV program was already known as
The Ed Sullivan Show.
SullivanEdward Vincent "Ed" Sullivan was an American entertainment writer and television host, best known as the presenter of the TV variety show The Ed Sullivan Show. The show was broadcast from 1948 to 1971 , which made it one of the longest-running variety shows in U.S...
himself promoted Lincoln–Mercury by touring every major U.S. city. He met Lincoln–Mercury dealers and even sold cars in order to promote their dealerships, often inviting dealers to attend his television show in New York City where they observed the program from the client booth. The highly successful Sullivan program had a long run on CBS and was telecast live each Sunday evening from 1948 until 1971. Lincoln–Mercury played a major role in that success, especially while the show was struggling financially during those early days of television. Prior to the Lincoln–Mercury sponsorship, the talent budget was so low (CBS allowed only $375) that Sullivan and coproducer
Marlo LewisMarlo Lewis was an American executive producer for variety and comedy shows for CBS and is well known for co-producing the famous Ed Sullivan Show.Lewis was the son of a concert pianist and an opera singer...
had to put up their own money to keep the show going.
On June 2, 2010, Ford announced the closure of the Mercury line by the end of the year. Derrick Kuzak, Ford's head of product development, said seven new or updated Lincoln product lines would be developed over four years to make up for Mercury's loss. No dealers sold only the Mercury brand, but most of the 276 Lincoln–Mercury dealers would likely sell only Lincolns; others will be merged with other Ford dealers.
Further reading
Nachman, Gerald. "Right Here on Our Stage Tonight!: Ed Sullivan's America". University of California Press; Berkeley and Los Angeles, California (2009), pp 138–140. ISBN 9780520258679