Geopolitics is a blood sport. There is no two ways about it. Syria knows this better than most, as it passes its 13th year of a brutal civil war. That conflict saw the country abandon its US embassy all the way back in 2014, along with one lonely SUV.
The story comes to us from automotive YouTuber Doug DeMuro. He’s noted the decaying state of the Syrian embassy site in Washington D.C., watching as nature has slowly begun to take over the former site. Over multiple visits, he noticed something strange. Something that only a skilled intelligence agent—or a true car enthusiast—would pick up.
Amidst the detritus and weeds sits a single vehicle. A lone Mercury Mariner, standing watch over a parking lot long forgotten.
Syria abandoned its embassy in Washington DC in 2014, during the Syrian civil war, and nobody has been back since. The whole place is now an overgrown mess.
They also abandoned this Mercury Mariner in the parking lot, and it hasn’t moved in a decade. I think of it often. pic.twitter.com/XfzmdJmWZY
— Doug DeMuro (@DougDeMuro) July 22, 2024
Naturally, given a prompt like that? I decided to spend the better part of my workday trying to track down every detail possible about this car.
So what do we know about this Mercury Mariner? The model was in production from 2004 to 2010, for the 2005 to 2011 model years. This appears to be a first generation model from 2006 or earlier, as it has the more rectangular headlights and the original style front bumper. We don’t know its exact age, nor anything about its registration, since we don’t have its license plate number. What we do know is that Doug is not quite on the money in one regard. The car does appear abandoned, but it has moved in the last decade.
Let’s build up a timeline here. The State Department ordered the embassy closed in March 2014, giving Syrian diplomats until the end of the month to leave. A Google Street View photo taken in June that year shows an empty parking lot—if you look straight on. But if let the Google photo car go a little further down the road and look back, you can see the Mariner hiding behind a bush.
In fact, go back to 2007, and there’s a shot that I reckon might show the Mariner. It’s tenuous, though, because Google’s Street View photos were remarkably poor resolution at that point.
I’ll admit this is tenuous. But I reckon that back end looks a lot like the SUV we’re looking for.
At this point, it’s worth noting that while the embassy was in active use, its gardens were well maintained. The main frontage of the building was readily visible from Wyoming Avenue. However, in the wake of the embassy shutdown, plants were left to grow uncontrolled. Today, the building is completely obscured from view from the street.
But back to the Mariner. In November 2016, Google Street View shows us the Mariner parked on a section of the parking lot paved in red brick. The SUV sits roughly in line with the third window from the left on the building immediately behind it. The shot is blurry, and we can’t see the license plate. The windows and sunroof appear closed. That will become relevant later. A photo taken on June 2017 shows the vehicle still parked in the same position.
Things get more interesting in 2018. Street View photos from October that year show multiple vehicles in the parking lot. We see a woman in casual dress next to a white SUV, along with a white Ford pickup truck with a load in the bed.
A man is also visible in the parking lot, standing behind a bush. If you click around, there’s what looks like a Honda in there too. The Mariner has moved to a new parking spot by the leftmost window. Frustratingly, we can’t see the Mariner in detail, including the status of the sunroof.
It appears the 2018 photo may show the Mercury Mariner in its current resting place. A 2022 Street View photo shows the vehicle in the same spot, the parking lot now overgrown with weeds. The Mariner is looking rather sad and dusty, with its sunroof popped open. It’s the only car in the lot that we can see.
The scene looks much the same in the shot provided by Doug. The Mariner sits amongst tall weeds, parked by the same window with its sunroof open. Given it’s pictured in the same position, you could assume it’s been abandoned in that location since sometime 2018 or so.
“That was in early March,” Doug told us, regarding his photo of the Mystery Mercury. “But I have a friend who lives closely, and I’ve seen it there every single time I’ve been in D.C. going back years,” he says.
There’s just one thing bothering me. The Mercury doesn’t look abandoned in the slightest in Doug’s shot from earlier this year. Unlike the Street View images from 2022, the paint looks shiny and clean. You could argue that rainfall has something to do with that, but I’m not entirely convinced. I’ve never left a car outside for more than 6 months without it getting dirtier than a pig’s hind legs.
Other details don’t quite check out, either. There seems to be quite a contrast between the tire tread and the sidewalls. Almost as if the tires have been treated to a shine treatment at some point. The headlights are also in remarkable condition, as clean and clear as the day they were made. The fact all the tires look like they’re still holding some air is worth noting, too.
There are a lot of questions to be answered here. Whose Mercury is that? What was it used for, and why has it been moving around in the years since the embassy closed? How bad does it stink inside after years with the sunroof left open? Who even controls the embassy now? And who were those randoms walking around inside in 2018?
There’s one agency that can settle this. The US State Department is in charge of matters like these, so I’ve reached out to them for comment. Here’s hoping they can shed some light on the Mystery Mercury and the Syrian embassy that was. Alternatively, if you worked at the embassy or otherwise know what’s going on, you can reach me with your insider knowledge by email. You can remain anonymous if desired.
Update: Sadly, the State Department were not able to give me all the answers I had hoped for. A spokesperson notified me that the embassy’s operations are suspended, but that it remains in possession of the Syrian government. The department directed me to enquire with the Syrian government to determine the status of the Mercury Mariner.
It would be one thing if the Mercury had been sitting abandoned since mid-2014 when the embassy closed. But there’s clearly something marginally more interesting going on here, and I want answers. You’ll get them here at The Autopian as soon as I have them.
Image credits: Google Street View, Doug DeMuro
As a DC resident, I can say this is also the case for the Senegal Ambassador’s residence. There are 4+ cars that have been wasting away in the motor court for at least 10+ years. I’ll try to get a better take on the inventory next time I’m walking the dog on that street.
Between 2018 and 2022 someone stole the passenger side fog light.
When the US went back into Kabul in 2001, the last US Ambassdor’s ’76 Delta 88 was still in the compound.
How weird is life in the Upside Down that this scenario seems somehow plausible?
My Legacy sat in the (New England with no climate control) garage for about 14 years awaiting restoration that never happened thanks to the f’n house stealing its money. Tire pressures were low, but they still had enough air to roll it by hand (after pulling it out with a strap since the brakes had stuck, but then it rolled fairly freely).
To everyone who says there’s no chance an abandoned car in DC looks that clean: there was a GMC Envoy abandoned in my complex’s parking lot (in Chicago) which I hadn’t realized was abandoned until a neighbor pointed it out. It had last run (well, last operated legally) in 2021 and was just towed away this past month, but it looked as clean as the cars around it. No appreciable pollen, sap, dirt, or other scuzz. Probably still had enough air in the tires to roll, although they clearly needed to be refilled.
Sounds like a good spot for Dirty Mike and the Boys
The open sunroof is the clue. Raccoons have taken it over and are auto crossing it around the lot at night.
Edit: They have incredible dexterity and can hotwire just about anything. They are also very skilled detailers. In some cultures they are described as “washing bears”.
Please, please COTD for “washing bears” alone
The literal translation of the Danish word for raccoon is washing bear.
I will not take the time to confirm this, but 100% believe this.
Look at the tire, it’s wet. Even dirty paint looks shiny AF when it’s wet/raining out.
Is the building next door a home or another embassy? Wouldn’t be shocked if someone from the neighboring property took it upon themselves to clean it up so it wasn’t as much of an eyesore.
I’ve heard similar stories in neighborhoods where someone goes on vacation and comes back to find some mystery neighbor took care of some neglected thing they deemed an eyesore
Yeah, I’ve done this… usually neighbours cars with bird poop or tree sap on them. Never mentioned it to anyone, or sought thanks – just being a good neighbour.
You sound like a much better neighbor than I was thinking of in my comment! The stories I’ve heard are more like “we got home from vacation and a bush/tree on or near the property line was magically gone”
Where I live, if you let your car sitting for too long, you’ll find it cleaned of its wheels, mirrors and every useful mechanical parts.
It is a private home, was actually sold a few months ago for $3 million. Pretty attractive place, inside and out.
The windshield would be crusted over, the paint would be caked with crap, and the tires would be flat if that think had been sitting for 2 years, much less 10. DC weather / pollen is not kind to vehicles that are left outside unused for any amount of time.
One thing for sure is this is the same Mariner from 2017 onward. The passenger side fog lens is broken in all the photos. Either that or the Syrian people have a fetish for broken fog lenses.
You’ve uncovered a clandestine smuggling operation to ship Mercury Mariners to Syria all operating in plain sight. Its not a single Mariner parked at the embassy all of these years, but a fleet of said vehicles that have been relayed one by one through the embassy lot to maintain the appearance of the same SUV sitting there while in reality they’re being illegally transported to Syria. Probably a Google Street View of Damascus would reveal a mysteriously high number of Mariners operating in the city.
Does it say “Flowers By Irene” on the side?
Left the sunroof open?!?!?!?!
Okay, is there a chance of this group somehow offering to maintain this vehicle? I feel like this could be the Autopian’s chance to solve the world order by offering an olive branch to our friends suffering in Seria.
Please??
I hear SWG and Mercedes have experience with mold.
My bet is that the Mariner belongs to someone assigned to a (very boring) security detail. Embassies rarely get totally “abandoned”. There will be diplomatic issues of ownership and access, especially in D.C. More likely, the place is in some sort of diplomatic and legal limbo. And in the meantime, somebody is tasked with making sure that nobody unauthorized goes inside. Even if they, themselves, must sit in a small room adjacent to the entry, with all other access to the building locked away even from them.
And so, the Mariner comes and goes as some poor sod puts in their daily boring shift of sitting there doing nothing, but at least getting paid enough to eat and keep the Mariner running…
Probably the correct, if boring take.
That or it’s someone who goes in and cleans the place, makes sure the pipes haven’t exploded, etc. The simplest and least interesting explanation is probably the correct one.
Periodically flushing toilets, running the faucets, and changing HVAC filters is a true gravy Government job.
You need to exercise those toilet gaskets! It’s very important.
No lie, “flush Mondays” to make sure gaskets still move in faucets and sediment doesn’t build up in pipes.
As someone with a second bathroom that is rarely used, I can say that it is indeed important to occasionally flush the toilet so all the water doesn’t evaporate and allow sewer gas directly into the house.
I’d buy that, but it has no plates
Are we sure? Is it from a state where front plates aren’t required? There seem to be no clear images of the back plate, but not all US states require front plates.
Well, Virginia, Maryland, and District of Columbia all require front plates, and West Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania would all be pretty annoying commutes.
I wonder if it’s GSA plated – can’t find (though only cursory googling) if those plates are front and rear. :scott:
In cases like this where relations have been severed, the State Department typically puts embassy properties under a sort of protective custody, taking over maintenance and security responsibilities, with the idea that the buildings will eventually be returned to their country whenever relations are restored. They’ve been dealing with the Iranian embassy compound that way for 34 years now.
Interestingly, the main building on the Syrian embassy grounds is the former home of President & Chief Justice Taft, who lived there until his death in 1930, was designed by a pretty prominent architect, Appleton Clark, has 11 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places.
It’s a CIA plant
No, that’s probably part of the overgrowth around the building. ;P
Yeah… my rarely driven third car (2005 MDX) needs regular washes and tire maintenance just sitting in the driveway. After a year all 4 tires would be flat and the exterior would be crusted in pollen, leaves, mold. I religiously check tire pressures and fluids before driving it any distance as it sits so much. I have a compressor so no big deal.
If that say for as long as it is being claimed it has sat, there is no way those tires would not be flat by now.
Yeah, I call shenanigans.
Hey Farva, what’s the name of that restaurant you like with all the goofy shit on the walls and the mozzarella sticks?
Next one of you who says shenanigans is getting pistol whipped!
You mean Shenanigans? You’re talking about Shenanigans, right?
You’d be amazed at how long they’ll hold air if the valve seal isn’t goofed up. I have a plow truck that rides just fine but hasn’t been aired up in well over a decade, and it spends 99% of its time parked. The bigger tires do help, admittedly.
I’m assuming that Mercury has extremely low mileage, so those tires are pretty much a best case scenario. They’re a little low, but two minutes with an air compressor is a much easier fix than whatever Lovecraftian horrors await its future interior detailer.
I’m pretty sure I remember reading that the Mercury Mariner is a common US government fleet vehicle. And perhaps this is a fleet vehicle for maintenance crew that is responsible for crucial maintenance of the space?
If only we had a front plate! Is it one Mariner or many.
State Department gets the email and reads Mariner as Marines
State Department summons Australian journalist to US embassy
That thing is for sure being taken care of by somebody. Unless you are talking about some remote island in the South Pacific (even then), there isn’t any place on the planet that has good enough air quality to keep a car that clean. And, this is in D.C.?
Somebody’s FICA “donation” paid for that car wash.
Maybe someone’s hitting it with a pressure washer through the fence. Vigilante hydrodiplomacy.
If there’s one thing the world can agree on, it’s that whenever someone asks “Is that your Mercury Mariner parked outside?” the correct answer is “No. I’ve never seen that car before in my life.”
I’m not saying it was aliens… But it’s aliens
I’m just imagining the State Department agent who gets Lewin’s email. Amongst the thousands of usual “is it safe to travel” emails, there’s one titled, “I’m a journalist wondering about the so-called abandoned Mariner at the definitely-abandoned Syrian embassy”
“delete” email from LD.
problem solved.