Mercury Sable: История Модели и Производство

The Mercury Sable is a range of automobiles manufactured and marketed by the Mercury brand of Ford Motor Company. Introduced on December 26, 1985, as the replacement for the Mercury Marquis, the Sable marked the transition of the mid size Mercury product range to front wheel drive. Over its production span, the Sable was Mercury's badge engineered counterpart to the Ford Taurus, below the Grand Marquis in the Mercury range. From the 1986 to 2005 model years, it was produced as a mid size four door sedan and five door station wagon. For 2006, the Sable was replaced by the full size Montego and mid size Milan. It was reintroduced for 2008 as a full size car, offered as a four door sedan. Because of declining sales, the Sable was discontinued after the 2009 model year, leaving no Mercury counterpart for the sixth generation Taurus. The final Sable was produced on May 21, 2009; in total, 2,112,374 Sables were produced during its 1985–2005 production.

The first generation Sable used the front wheel drive Ford DN5 platform, sharing its wheelbase with the Ford Taurus. As with its Marquis predecessor, the Sable used unibody construction. The Sable was equipped with a four wheel independent suspension. The front axle was fitted with MacPherson struts and a stabilizer bar; the rear axle on sedans was a coil spring 4 link layout (also with MacPherson struts), while the rear suspension on station wagons was a coil spring double wishbone design (short/long arm), along with a stabilizer bar. In place of the body color grille insert used by Ford, the Sable was fitted with a low wattage lightbar between the headlamps; the lightbar became a design feature later adapted by the Mercury Topaz and Tracer (and other automakers in the early 1990s). The lightbar design element largely emphasized the lack of a conventional grille (while primarily a "bottom breather" design, a vestigial air intake slot was also designed into the bumper below the lightbar); a design pioneered by the 1950s Citroën DS, within Ford, the configuration was also used by the Ford Mustang SVO and Ford Sierra. During its production, the first generation Sable underwent few changes. For 1989, the exterior underwent a mid cycle revision; the amber parking lamp lenses were replaced by clear units and sedans saw revisions to taillamp lenses. For 1990, the Sable underwent a redesign of the dashboard to accommodate the addition of a driver side airbag; a CD player was added as an option. On the station wagon (shared with both the Sable and Taurus), the front fascia was redesigned, along with the interior. The interior of the Sable underwent a redesign of the door panels, dashboard, and interior controls. They featured a 2 way liftgate (raise the entire liftgate or just the window), a roof rack with crossbar and tie downs, an optional rear facing third seat, a lockable under floor compartment, and an optional fold out picnic table. With both rear split seats in the upright position, standard cargo capacity was 45.7 cubic feet. The platform used for the previous two generations underwent an extensive revision, redesignated as the DN101 platform; the wheelbase was extended from 106 to 108.5 inches. As before, the Sable returned as a four door sedan and five door station wagon. While mechanically identical to its Ford Taurus counterpart, the sedans of the two model lines shared less sheetmetal than before, with only the front doors, hood, and front fenders common between the Taurus and Sable (as before, the Sable served as the basis for Ford and Mercury station wagons). In contrast to the oval influenced roofline of the Ford Taurus, the Sable was styled with a sloped roofline with a rectangular rear window; the model received its own front and rear fascias. optional in the Sable GS, the Duratec engine was an enlarged version of the engine from the Mercury Mystique. For 1997, the Sable underwent several cost cutting revisions; several features of the LS became available on the GS as options.

ModelYearEnginePowerTorqueTransmissionG1996–19973.0 L SFI Vulcan V64 speed AX4S automatic4 speed AX4N automatic3.0 L DOHC Duratec 30 V6LS1996–1999GS1996–19993.0 L SFI Vulcan V63.0 L DOHC Duratec 30 V6200 hp (149 kW)

The Sable received another redesign in 1999 for MY 2000, which minimized some of the oval design elements from the 1996 model, replacing them with more conventional styling. on the sedan; station wagons retained four wheel disc brakes. The 2002 Sable included extra equipment on every trim level, including a CD player and power driver's seat on the GS, and a power moonroof or leather interior on the LS.

ModelYearEnginePowerTorqueTransmissionGS2000–20053.0 L SFI Vulcan V64 speed AX4N automatic3.0 L DOHC Duratec 30 V6LS

The fifth generation Mercury Sable was launched for the 2008 model year. Developed as a mid cycle update of the Mercury Montego, the production vehicle revived the more widely recognized Sable nameplate at the 2007 Chicago Auto Show. While the 2008 revival of the Ford Taurus (renaming the Five Hundred) largely ended retail sale of the Crown Victoria, the Sable remained below the Grand Marquis in the Mercury range. While approximately 10 inches shorter and 500 pounds lighter than the Grand Marquis, the fifth generation Sable was the first produced as a full size car. For the first time, the model line was offered exclusively as a four door sedan (no Mercury counterpart of the Taurus X wagon was developed). Front wheel drive remained standard, with all wheel drive becoming an option for the first time. In the transition from the Montego to the Sable, a number of changes were made to the body and chassis. Alongside the addition of the 263 hp 3.5L V6 and 6 speed 6F automatic, the exterior underwent several revisions, including a revised front bumper and grille, redesigned headlamps; the LED taillamps were retained, but given white lenses. The fifth generation Sable adopted the trim lines of the Montego and Milan, with an unnamed standard trim level and a top Premier trim.

Water pumps on the 2008 and 2009 Mercury Sable equipped with the 3.5L Ford Cyclone V6 have a tendency to fail and potentially ruin the engine when they do. The water pumps on these engines are internally mounted and driven by the timing chain. As a result, when they fail, antifreeze is dumped directly into the crankcase; mixing with engine oil and potentially damaging the head gaskets and connecting rod bearings. These water pump failures could occur without warning, and repair could require engine disassembly or removal to access the water pump, or in some cases, engine replacement. A class action lawsuit was filed against Ford as a result of this issue.

ModelYearEnginePowerTorqueTransmissionBasePremier2008–20093.5 L Cyclone V66 speed 6F automatic

A few rare special editions of the Sable were made, all consisting of first generation models. During MY 1987, Mercury introduced a special edition of the Sable called the "LS Monochrome Edition," which as an option would color the bumpers, side trim, and wheels white. It was only offered during MY 1987; the production quantity is not known and it is also unknown how many still exist. A special one of a kind Sable convertible was created in 1987 for the 1988 Detroit SAE auto show. It was built from a sedan chassis and featured a completely custom two door body with a custom folding top. However, it was shelved; the only one sat in a warehouse for years until it was given a VIN, titled, and driven. It was sold on eBay in 2006. In the article "Top 10 Obscure Special Editions and Forgotten Limited Run Models: Lincoln Mercury Edition, Part II," Curbside Classic notes that when Mercury launched the VOGA editions, there was a Sable VOGA for the 2009 model year. It was noted as having 18" chrome cladded 7 spoke wheels, cashmere colored leather trim and black accents, chrome accents, and a charcoal black interior, with White Suede and Tuxedo Black being the only body colors available. Despite being featured in press releases and brochures, it is unknown if the Sable VOGA was ever released. A possible explanation would be that, due to slumping sales of the Sable against its Taurus counterpart and the better selling Milan, the latter of which had also overtaken the larger Grand Marquis in sales, no Sable VOGAs were sold, and as a result, were likely disposed of. The Sable was discontinued at the end of the 2009 model year.