The Mercury Monarch is a compact automobile that was marketed by the Mercury division of Ford from the 1975 to 1980 model years. Designed as the original successor for the Mercury Comet, the Monarch was marketed as a luxury compact vehicle; alongside its Ford Granada counterpart, the Monarch expanded the segment in the United States as automakers responded to the 1973 fuel crisis. Taking its name from a former marque of Ford Canada, the Mercury Monarch was slotted between the compact Comet and the Montego in the Mercury model line (later, the Zephyr and Cougar). Sharing many of its chassis underpinnings with the Comet, the Monarch marked the final evolution of the 1960-1965 Ford Falcon chassis architecture. The Monarch was also the counterpart of the 1977-1980 Lincoln Versailles sedan. In total, 575,567 Monarchs were produced. Ford assembled the model line alongside the Granada at Mahwah Assembly (Mahwah, New Jersey) and Wayne Stamping & Assembly (Wayne, Michigan). For 1981, the Monarch was discontinued after a single generation, with the Mercury counterpart of the Granada taking on the Cougar (and ultimately, Marquis) nameplate. Development The Mercury Monarch was developed as external circumstances outside of Ford Motor Company's control forced major changes in consumer buying habits. The 1973 fuel crisis and new engine power sapping emissions standards would lead to buyers valuing luxury over performance, with fuel economy becoming a key attribute. Originally developed as an extensively updated Mercury Comet for the 1975 model year, the more upscale redesign was instead renamed Mercury Monarch. The Ford division also introduced its own redesigned Maverick, the Granada. As Ford Motor Company predicted the compact segment would grow in sales, the existing Comet/Maverick would remain in production. To differentiate Granada/Monarch from the Maverick/Comet, Ford offered the new-generation compact-segment vehicles with a higher than usual level of equipment, comfort and convenience features. Although General Motors had earlier introduced the Buick Apollo (later Skylark) and Oldsmobile Omega in 1973, the Granada/Monarch became one of the few vehicles that would break a long-standing tradition within American auto manufacturers of associating size with luxury. Overview Chassis As with the Ford Granada, the Mercury Monarch shared its unibody chassis with its Ford Maverick/Mercury Comet predecessors. Based heavily on the first-generation Ford Falcon from 1960, the design utilized coil spring front suspension with a leaf-sprung live rear axle; due to its Falcon origins, the Monarch was also loosely mechanically related to the