touches the floor, is 12.7 inches — in the second row the distance between the H-point and the heel point is 15.7 inches. Sales Discontinuation Following a poor critical reception, the Mercury Montego and Ford Five Hundred fell under sales projections from the 2005 to 2007 model years. For the 2008 model year, the Montego and Five Hundred underwent a mid-cycle update, with pre-production prototypes unveiled at 2007 auto shows. After his installation as Ford CEO, Alan Mulally ordered the model lines renamed before entering production, claiming higher brand value and recognition; the 2008 Mercury Montego adopted the Mercury Sable nameplate. For 2008, Mercury received an exterior styling update that better differentiated the two model lines; a powertrain upgrade replaced the 3.0L engine with a 3.5L engine (increasing output to 263 hp). Use in competition In the 1968 NASCAR Grand National stock car season, the fastback Fairlane body style proved much slicker than other makes, but the nose of the Mercury Cyclone Fastback was the main reason pointed to it being even slightly faster than its Ford counterpart. Cale Yarborough drove a Wood Brothers Cyclone to victory in the Daytona 500, and the Mercury bodies would remain a major force in NASCAR through 2 generations of bodies. The battle over aerodynamics would prompt Chrysler to respond with specialized "winged wonder" Daytona and Superbird bodies after its own fastback bodies proved disappointing. References Encyclopedia of American Cars by Publications International, Standard Catalog of Ford 1903-1998 by Krause Publications, External links MyFord500/Taurus - The first Mercury Montego & Ford Five Hundred enthusiast web site Mercury Montego Project Car and Technical Articles Montego Cars introduced in 1968 Vehicles with CVT transmission All-wheel-drive vehicles Front-wheel-drive vehicles Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Mid-size cars Full-size vehicles Coupés Sedans Muscle cars 1960s cars 1970s cars 2000s cars Ford D3 platform