Mercury returns to secret test facility at Lake X
Mercury returns to its roots with the leasing of its most famous and secret test facility at Lake X in FloridaAs marine engine technology forges ahead and competition between global brands hots up worldwide, Mercury Marine is taking up new strategic positions on the battlefield. Besides launching a new range of 2018 V6 Mercury outboards, the big engine makers has just announced it's leasing back the famous Mercury property and test facility at Lake X in Central Florida.
A pillar of Mercury’s heritage, the Lake X facility was designed to be the most secluded marine testing facility in the world, with 12,000 acres of land and 1,440 acres of water at Lake Conlin to test all manner of new engines and high-flying craft.
The secluded freshwater lake is also known for one of Mercury’s most famous PR events that took place in 1957, where a 50,000-mile endurance run, featuring two boats running continuously on a closed 5.8-mile course, 24 hours a day, seven days a week made marine industry history.
MERCURY'S 80TH ANNIVERSARY
Designed and built by Mercury Marine Founder E. Carl Kiekhaefer in 1957, Lake X was later sold to the Kirchman Foundation, which still owns the property today.
Michelle Dauchy, Mercury Marine chief marketing officer, made the point that Mercury Marine is closing in on its 80th anniversary, which happens in 2019, and it has a rich heritage that is unmatched in the marine industry.
“Returning to Lake X is an opportunity to build an immersive brand experience around that heritage and capitalise on the popularity of the Mercury brand.
"We have been able to host customer and media events as well as take advantage of the lake to test product,” Dauchy said.
THE TEST LAKE
Lake X, based in Osceola County, Florida, is roughly three miles long, one-mile wide and nearly six miles in circumference.
The location was long used for performance tests of Mercury-powered boats, R&D, new product testing and endurance validation.
Mercury Marine occupied Lake X until 2004 when it chose to not renew its lease.
Returning to the location will now give Mercury a strong outpost on the marine engine battlefield and lift its troop's moral.
“We hear stories all the time about folks who worked for Mr. Kiekhaefer and their wonderful experiences at Lake X,” said Dauchy.
“We want to create new memories and build on our heritage of performance, reliability and to merge together our new Go Boldly brand cache with almost 80 years of history."
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