On my 1990 country squire, I noticed that the center caps on the turbine wheels have the mercury emblems on them, is it possible that it came that way from the factory, because the guy I bought the car from said that those are the ones that came with the car.
The wheels maybe origonal but the center caps would have been Ford. All Ford wheels had problems retaining the center caps and I would assume that they had been replaced with what was available at the time. This is true for all the full size Fords even the latest 2008 big Panther chassis Fords.
I know it's a bit late but I hope this helps. Ford/Lincoln/Mercury used the turbine wheels (Lincoln for a lot longer than Ford and Mercury). There were 4 different caps (that I can think of) that were used, depending on Make and Year. Pic # 1 - Lincoln's version (note that it has the beveled edges...only Lincoln had that design). Same for all years, I'm pretty sure. Pic # 2 - Ford and Mercury from 1979-1987 used the same cap...I've seen pictures from brochures/publicity photos that show the cap with the same emblem, but with a black background, instead of red. I've never seen the black ones in person, nor in real-world photos...only the red ones. Pic # 5 has the detail of the emblem...this cap was the center cap for the optional wire wheel covers during the same years. Pic # 3 - Ford's version from 1988-1991 Pic # 4 - Mercury's version from 1988-1991 Pic # 5 - Detail of the caps in Pic # 2 My dad once worked for about a year at our local Ford/Lincoln/Mercury dealer in my hometown in New Mexico. I once heard him talk about someone who wanted a particular car, but with the turbine wheels, rather than the wheel covers. The dealer, in order to make the deal, took some wheels from the parts dept and put them on the car for the buyer. It is possible that something along those lines happened and the dealer slapped some Mercury caps on a Ford...
Thanks, the mistery continues, the guy I brought the car from said that those are the caps the car came with, I kinda doubt it. They are definetly the caps from the mercury. I got a set of ford caps of e-bay and I am much happier. You can't believe how much I disliked the car not being correct, everthing else is original.
No problem. I agree that when things on the car are not original, it can grate on your nerves. I feel like everyone in the world knows the difference, although, most wouldn't. I once had a Mercury Monarch with Pontiac wire wheel covers on it. I traded with my little brother's friend the 4 Pontiacs for 3 Mercury Monarch wire wheel covers. Even though there were only 3, at least they were original. Go figure. By the way, the Ford caps with the blue oval have a tendancy for the blue oval to fade over time. You might keep an eye out for a good deal on extras. My mother's 1991 Crown Vic caps faded something fierce (not unusual in New Mexico, though).
