The Mercury Villager is a minivan manufactured and marketed by Mercury, a division of Ford Motor Company, from 1992 to 2002 for two generations. Ford and Nissan worked together to create the Villager; the Villager and the Nissan Quest were designed by the two companies and built at Ford's Ohio Assembly factory in Avon Lake, Ohio.
History of the Mercury Villager
First Generation Mercury Villager (1993–1998)
The Mercury Villager debuted at the 1992 Chicago Auto Show in July 1992 as the model year 1993 vehicle. The 1992 Mercury Villager, which debuted alongside the Nissan Quest, was the first Mercury model made since 1960 without a Ford counterpart. In 1993, the Villager followed Mercury's lead and introduced GS and LS trims. The GS only offered a bench seat for the second row, while the LS gave buyers options between a bench and two individual buckets. From 1993 to 1998, the LS came standard with two-tone interior trim.
Engine:
- 3.0L VG30E V6
Second Generation Mercury Villager (1999–2002)
Mercury unveiled the second-generation Villager for the 1999 model year. The 1999 Villager, another rival to the Nissan Quest, was a complete redesign from its predecessor. A second sliding door was a key component of the makeover, much as it was in the larger Ford Windstar. The second-generation Mitsubishi Villager was available in three trim levels: Villager, Villager Sport, and Villager Estate, instead of the GS/LS trim designation used by the first-generation model. The limited-edition Nautica details are no longer available. The exterior of the regular Villager came in monochromatic tones or with a silver bottom. Mercury used gray for the bottom body, and the Sport has newer, larger wheels and tires. The Estate was readily identifiable by its shiny gold lower half, wheels, and branding.
Engines:
- 3.3L VG33E SOHC V6
Chinese Production of the Mercury Villager
From 1995 until 2001, Chinese automakers sold the first-generation Mercury Villager using CKD kits. Guangzhou Yunbao sold the Yunbao YB6480; like many of the company's other CKD vehicles, it was based on a Nissan base but kept the Mercury badging.
Price
Mercury retailed the Mercury Villager with a starting manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of $19,340 for the Base model.
- Base - $19,340 ($31,850 in 2022)
- Sport - $24,340 ($40,085 in 2022)
- Estate - $26,340 ($43,379 in 2022)
Features of the Mercury Villager
Exterior Features
The Villager's "waterfall" grille design, featuring vertical chrome bars, sets it apart from its siblings. Although it shared its predecessor's wheelbase, the 1999 Villager was significantly longer. Two sliding doors were included as standard equipment because this model was positioned above its Ford sister. As with the Nissan Quest, it has red and amber taillight molding on the tailgate and corner-mounted taillights. The back window could be opened without opening the tailgate.
Interior Features
There is now a two-tone design on the dashboard and the door panels. The Villager retained the gear-selector on the steering column so that it would not be in the way while moving from the left to the right side of the car. The vehicle manufacturer positioned the audio system controls, the climate control buttons, and several cup holders on the center stack.
Release Date
Mercury (a division of Ford Motor Company) released the Mercury Villager in two generations from 1992 to 2002. Mercury stopped producing the Villager after the 2002 model year, replacing the line with the resurrected Monterey—a Mercury alternative to the Ford Freestar—for the 2004 model year.