(first posted 6/16/2012) Despite the fact that at the end, there was not much left to Mercury Division, I still miss them. While Mercury was a fancier Ford for most of its existence, there were still some fairly unique and attractive designs. The 1965-68 Mercury took a couple more steps away from Ford than the 1961-64 versions, and it showed in cars like this ’68 Colony Park, complete with “yacht paneling.”
The Colony Park was L-M’s top of the line wagon, and it showed in period advertising: “If Lincoln Continental made a wagon, this would be it.” Priced at a healthy $3760, the CP distinguished itself from the more pedestrian Commuter wagon with its plank-style woodgrained paneling. If you didn’t already think one of these wagons was a land yacht, this handily eliminated any lingering doubt.
All Mercury station wagons had the dual-action Magic Doorgate, and could be equipped with either a conventional rear facing third row seat or dual facing jump seats. While every wagon on the market had the conventional third row bench, Ford Motor Company apparently was alone in offering the dual facing third row. They would actually remain on FoMoCo wagons right up to the end of Colony Park/Country Squire production in 1991.
Apparently, the upwardly mobile folks who bought a Mercury wagon much preferred the Colony Park to the plain-sided Commuter, as CP sales was nearly two and a half times better than the Commuter, to the tune of 21,179 to 8,688. I guess no one minded paying the extra $300 to gain a woodgrain vinyl wallpapered full size station wagon, the status symbol of 1960s suburbia.
I am curious as to how comfortable (or uncomfortable) those side-mounted third row seats were. I would think looking out of the side of a moving car would induce motion sickness, but I never got a chance to ride in the “way back” of one of these. By the time I came around, my parents and friends’ parents either had midsize, two-row station wagons, sedans, or minivans.
If you wanted to haul the whole family and a boat to the Grand Canyon for vacation, the Colony Park could do so with no trouble. The standard powerplant was a 265 hp 390 V8, breathing through a two barrel, Autolite C8AF-9510-M carb. And that was just for starters. Optional engines were there for the taking, starting with a 280 horse, 2 BBL 390 and going all the way up to a 4 BBL 428 with 360 horsepower.
In 1968 Mercury had a full lineup, including the Cougar (in its original, pseudo-Jaguar form), the powerful Cyclone fastback (you could be just like Cale Yarborough!), and Jack Lord’s favorite ride, a Park Lane Brougham four door hardtop. Hard to believe Mercury fell so far from its solid 1968 stance over the next thirty years. Rest in peace Mercury, you are missed.
Special thanks to c5karl, who found this time capsule of a Colony Park in a suitable suburban setting, complete with white picket fence. There’s been a number of interesting additions to the Cohort like this one over the last couple weeks. Why not check it out?
Nice car, love the crisp lines, makes it look like a tailored suit. Wonder how many were actually ordered without woodgrain? I’m guessing a VERY small percentage.
We had a ’68 Mercury Colony Park station wagon with wood trim. It was a dark green body with a beige interior.
I think my dad bought it from Hertz. It had very few miles on it and was loaded!
It could easily six 10 people ~ kids went in the third row.
I remember the big engine and the great air conditioning.
Truly a family car!
I wish I could afford to drive that!
Call me biased, but the ’68 Mercury was one of the best looking Ford products from the ’60’s. And the ’74 Grand Marquis was one of the best looking cars from the ’70’s. Anyway…
As luck and fortune would have it, my father-in-law has a ’67 Park Lane convertible. However, it has been parked under a tree in his yard for years and the only action it has seen is from cats giving birth in it. It looks rather sad.
I’ll give you the ’68, but the ’74…yikes. One of us needs to update his eyeglass prescription.
Your namesake got paid to drive one, you have no excuse, my friend. 😉
I’m with you on the ’74 GM! Gorgeous cars.
I will echo Jack. The 68 Mercury is a favorite of mine. We had a family friend with a 68 Montclair fastback 2 door that I really liked as a kid. The package shelf under the back window would sleep 2 ten year old kids on the interstate.
I will step up and say that I spent time in the dual facing rear seats in my Dad’s 66 Country Squire. I was 7 when he got it and 10 when he got rid of it, so this might not be so much help for adults. As a kid, I thought they were the greatest seats ever. My sister and I would sit side by side on one seat, and fold the other down to make a table which was great for coloring books, playing, or eating at a drive-in restaurant.
I recall one time when we were out with a bunch of people and an adult got into the back seats with us kids. I remember everybody laughing at him, but he was pretty good natured about it. He did not look all that comfortable.
Forget not, that if you really loved the wood paneling but hated wagons, Mercury was your car in 1968. You could get the paneling on the Park Lane 2 door or convertible, for a proper land yacht. Actually, Chrysler had a short-lived similar treatment on its 68s. I wonder who thought that to be a good idea? It certainly died quickly.
Oh my god! Two ten-year olds on the back deck? Panic stop and you are dead as well as the kids. But that never happened, did it? We lived in perfect worlds then.
My dad had a 1958 Plymouth Sport Suburban (where the hell did they get “Sport” from?) which was the team transport for the Pericos Little League baseball team in Mexico City. On the way back from practice my teammates and I would sit in the back (flat floor, 3rd seat stored) with the equipment bags and make various obscene gestures at the following cars. It’s amazing how pissed off adults would get when 11-year olds flipped them off.
Good times.
My dad was our little league coach. He’d drive the whole team to and from games in his pickup. 2 kids had to ride in the cab, the rest in the bed. What could go wrong?
Four. You could get Four 10-year olds back there.
And a good car-pooling mom could fit six first graders back there to school, another four in the back seat, and maybe two more in the front. One leans forward, one leans back across the row.
Neither 14 year-olds nor adults could fit into that face-each-other hell-hole in the backety-back. For that you needed the front-facing seat.
pretty sure a panic stop wouldn’t be what it is today, what with drum brakes and bias plys….
Errr…yeah. I was instantly reminded of this what Popular Science had to say about a panic stop in the 1960 Valiant:
Chevrolet/GMC offered the faux paneling on their light duty pickups beginning in ’73. They were quite rare.
I learned how to drive in my parent’s 1968 Mercury Marquis coupe. The front end of the ’68 Merc was particularly Lincoln-esqe. As far as I know, the woodgrain coupe was only a ’68 offering on Mercury, but Chrysler continued the woody look on the fuselage ’69 Newport.
I believe you could get an optional table with a printed checker/chess board for the rear compartment.
Of course the ultimate 60s Mercury wagon has to be Matt Helm’s customized ’65 Colony Park:
And check out that Mobile Director-style front passenger seat:
>>I am curious as to how comfortable (or uncomfortable) those side-mounted third row seats were.<<
I'll back up jpcavanaugh; if you were a kid, and therefore relatively small and light, they were great. It was like having a rec room way off distant from the parents. I imagine for adults they were too thinly padded, too low, and lacked sufficient legroom.
As for ride (likewise '66 Country Squire), my recollection was that one could get fairly queasy on a long trip; it wasn't so much that you were facing to one side, more that being behind the rear axle, there was a lot of vertical motion. Kind of how one feels rough air more when one is at the back of the plane.
At least we still have Mercury Marine….
Our family had a 1966 Ford Country Squire with the jump seats, too. White with blue interior, no wood paneling. Never got car-sick riding in the back that I can recall. It was a good car and provided many years of dependable service. My first car ended up being a 1968 Cougar, light green with a black vinyl roof and black vinyl interior and no A/C (not the best combination in Virginia in the summer).
Well, If it was a fullsize Ford wagon with no woodgrain then it would have been a “Country Sedan” NOT a Country Squire. All the Fulsize Ford non-woodgrained station wagons were called “Country Sedan” thru the late 1960’s thru the 1970’s up to 1978. Starting in 1979 with the down-sized fullsize Ford, they just called the non woody wagon the “Ford LTD” wagon. It’s amazing how many people call any kind of station wagon , sometimes even a Chevy or Chrysler wagon a Country Squire even though Ford only made one fullsize woodgrained station wagon every year until 1991 and it was a “Galaxie Country Squire” after 1959 and up to 1965. From 1966 to 1982 Ford called it the LTD Country Squire. Then in 1983 Ford brought back the Crown Victoria name on all of their fullsize cars and the name got really long and a mouthful to say. Ford called the fullsize woodgrained wagon the “LTD Crown Victoria LX Country Squire” Station Wagon.. The “Squire” nameplate was NEVER used on ANY NON-woodgrained Ford or any other station wagon. During the 1960’s and 1970’s Ford also made Fairlanes, Falcons and Torinos and Rancheros with the woodgrain treatment but were only called “Squires” with their respective name preceding it like “Torino Squire”, “Falcon Squire” or “Ranchero Squire”, NOT Country Squires. All of those vehicles were produced in very limited numbers thru the 1960’s and some into and thru 1970’s. Finding one now in any kind of shape is quite difficult and they are very rare indeed. The Fullsize Mercury non woodgrained station wagon was just called a “Mercury Monterey” wagon until on or around 1969 when Mercury changed their fullsize car name to “Marquis” and their fullsize Non-woodgrained wagon was now a “Mercury Marquis” wagon. The fullsized woodgrained counterpart to the Ford Country Squire was obviously called the “Mercury Marquis Colony Park” during the late 1960’s and 1970’s After 1983 just like the Ford Country Squire wagons, Mercury too had a mouth-full nameplate and now called their fullsize woodgrained station wagon the “Mercury Grand Marquis Colony Park” LX station wagon until it’s dimise in 1991 when the last of the “woody” wagons rolled off the Ford and Mercury assembly lines.. The smaller Mercury woodgrained counterpart to the pre-1968 Ford Fairlane and after 1968 the Torino was called a Mercury “Villager” station Wagon all thru the 1960’s, 1970’s and into the early 1980’s when in 1984 Mercury introduced a much smaller Mercury and Mercury woodgrained wagon and called it the Marquis Villager” station wagon.The bigger Grand Marquis wagon was the Colony Park. In 1976 thru 1979’s Mercury actually had a “Cougar” woodgrained station wagon that they called the “Villager” that name was brought back from the late 50’s and early 1960’s that they used on their cheaper station wagons. It was dropped after that. Then in 1985 Mercury brought back that “Villager” name again for the 3rd time but put it on their new Non-woodgrained mini-van that was the Ford Aerostar/Windstar minivan counterpart….
Ford’s base “Custom 500” level wagon was called Ranch Wagon, and Mercury had the Commuter and Villager series, below Colony Parks.
I just now noticed that the elegant Mercury shown here is wearing Virginia “antique” plates; very cool!
I like the old Virginia city and or county plates prior to the window stickers. Also, for years, the Old Dominion had only black or white plates.
I always thought those rear seats would be cool to ride in…as a kid. Didn’t have many chances; we had a 1968 Ford but it was the sedan. The old man’s wagon was a Wagoneer. No rear-mounted seat there; and the back compartment was as different from our old Rambler wagon with its carpeting, as one could imagine. Rather like a sump, or well…deep and dark and dirty.
Anyway…when I was about twelve, a friend’s father bought a used 1968…Country Squire with the hidden headlights and all. And the rear seats. Now at twelve, I was getting to be a pretty big kid…and when we opened up those seats, it was like they were for midgets. Or kindergarten kids. NO legroom; NO support. No real comfort.
It’s not hard to see why that idea finally died.
Dual facing jump seats were the worst idea ever for 3rd row seating. At least if one was a member of a large family. Our family of 10 went through a few FOMOCO wagons -including a Mercury Monterey- with those seats.
Car sickness? No. A close up view of a sibling’s face all the way from MI to CO? Yes. Knees bumping? Yes. Kicking each other? Yes. The cushions were thin.
The only thing that made trips tolerable was putting the 4 windows down just a crack, then cracking the tailgate window. Made for a very nice breeze.
I’m sorry, I can’t wax nostalgic about the sedan based wagon. Terrible vehicles. The Suburban made some sense, originating as a truck turned wagon. But sedan based wagons never made the least bit of sense – we just didn’t know any better until the minivan.
Tom, those are fantastic pictures — what a beautiful car. I don’t remember seeing many of these when I was a kid. Got any shots of the dash? Dashes/instrument panels are always neat to look at although it’s probably pretty tough to get decent shots through the windows.
I didn’t take the pictures, they were posted to the Cohort by c5karl.
Looks like I won “dumb question of the day” — should have read the entry a little more carefully.
I did try to snap some pictures of the dash, but in the glare of the midday sun, all you could see was the reflection off the window. I’m guessing the car is more-or-less permanently parked in that lot. I’ll try to swing by there another time when the sun is lower in the sky and post a few more shots to the cohort.
I Always shoot front interior shots from the passenger side window, which allows one to put the lens almost flat against the window, thus reducing or eliminating any glare. Shooting from the driver’s side through the glass is almost always impossible.
I would tend to disagree that the 1968 Colony Park was more popular than the 1968 Mercury Commuter.
In fact I have two 1968 Commuters and two 1968 Cougars.
OK they are Matchbox Speed Kings .
I gave up (after years of trying) to find a boxed K-28 Speed Kings Drag Pack, so bought a mint Commuter, mint Cougar and mint Trailer separately eBay. Of course the boxed set that I had been looking for turned up on eBay within 24 Hours of purchasing the pieces of the set individually.
This was my all time favourite Matchbox Car Set as a kid, so it doesn’t really bug me having two sets. One stays in my office and one stays in my bedroom.
Actually, living in Australia, I never new that the Colony Park existed until I landed on Curbside Classics (1968 Mercury Station Wagons are not really thick on the ground out here, and from what I can tell, they aren’t exactly thick on the ground in their homeland either).
“I am curious as to how comfortable (or uncomfortable) those side-mounted third row seats were.”
The neighbors had a mid-70s Country Squire, dark orange and de-rigueur Di-Noc. The facing seats were roomy enough for us rugrats because we were never ever belted in. If we couldn’t flop all over the place, maybe we would have been uncomfortable?
My only other memory of that car is that it caught fire while parked in the driveway. More of a smolder, I guess from a bad short, but it made lots of impressively nasty smoke.
I’ll “pile in” on the experience of riding in the “way-back” with the side-facing seats, which our ’68 Country Squire LTD had. Like others, when I was smaller (I was probably six or seven when we got the car), it was a pretty neat place to be, although I did sometimes suffer motion sickness effects (which I had tendencies toward no matter where I sat). I agree that it was as much about the location aft of the center of pitch as it was facing sideways.
I have three younger brothers (no sisters), so we were often relegated back there, but we did eventually outgrow our ability to fit, so the seats began staying down more and a 6″ thick foam pad and sleeping bag became a standard feature on long family vacation road trips (which often saw an 18′ Swinger camper trailer hitched behind us).
I can still close my eyes and hear the burble of the big 390 humming us to fitful sleep as Dad piloted us toward our destination.
Agreed – the Ford 390 was one of the best sounding engines ever. It was comforting.
A wonderful memory and beautiful imagery.
What is amazing is all the different model names for the ‘standard size’ Mercurys. Park Lane, Marquis, Monterey, and still had Montclair. Mid size had Montego, Cyclone, and Comet was lingering on the bottom.
While no experience with the subject vehicle, I did log a bunch of miles in the tan Naugahyde rear facing seat of Mom’s ’72 brown fuselage Town & Country. My favorite rear perches, however, where the mail slot like back of Dad’s ’69 Corvette, and the not much bigger rear area of his ’72 E-Type 2+2.
Today I am sure we would have been viewed as abused children…
Looks funny without two dogs in the back, just like my old matchbox toy..
”Today I am sure we would have been viewed as abused children…”
I had three Grand Marq wagons as project cars 10 years ago. The 3rd seat in them had 2 sets of seat belts. So, according to laws, if kids don’t need baby seat, they are OK as long as belted. Same as 3rd row in a minivan.
I got a brand-new Mercury Commuter wagon in 1968, and I still have it! Here it is:
I’ve got the upmarket version – I stuck woodgrain shelf paper on the side of mine!
I also got one at the age of four, and still have it. I also inherited my sister’s small collection of Matchbox cars and have two of these.
My guess is that the Matchbox Commuter outsold the Mercury Commuter by about 50 to 1. Several of my friends had them.
It’s been a pain taking car of those damn dogs all these years.
I am certain that the highest ratio of Matchbox to actual car is the 77 Cougar station wagon. They made a very small number for one year of the actual car and Matchbox may still be using the casting
Had the same in that same bright green.
I’m sure I had this if it came with a hunter and a dog it’s the one I had. I definitely remember a green American wagon with the 2 figures
I had that one too! Is the dog still waiting patiently in the back?
I spent a moderate amount of time in the backs of Country Squires and Gran Torinos and don’t recall any carsickness, although it was a bit cramped since we usually had 4 kids in the way back. I was a lot happier with the forward facing seat in the Vista Cruiser I rode in once.
I totally agree, only someone with no experience would “assume” the ride would be rough and car sickness.
Are you sure that a rear facing seat was available on those? I’ve only ever seen the side facing seats on 65 and up full size Fords. I prefer the rear facing, as I never saw the advantage to the side facing seats. I think the rear facing are safer, too.
According to the Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946-75, both were available. Maybe the dual facing third row seats were just a lot more popular.
Hi, Rear facing 3rd row seats were available in the Colony Park through 1968 model year . Commuter wagons only had the rear facing seat as standard issue. The side facing seats were first available as an option on ’68 Colony Park and became standard the following year. Ford had side facing seats as standard since ’66- ’91.
Actually the side seats appeared in ’67 Mercs, here’s a brochure shot.
i have a station wagon ford mercury lincon montego model 1976 condition is not very good
i want to sell my car
if you are interested to buy please contact me detail is as follows
cell No 0333-254-888-6
email address is zafar_as@hotmail.com
SPAM,SPAM,SPAM. !!! Go sell your car somewhere else. We don’t want to hear about it here !!! Does this look like a used car lot website ????
You don’t have to be so hard on him, a gentle admonishment will suffice.
It was 3 years ago. I think there was more spam then, but I couldn’t say for sure.
As a kid, we had a Merc CP with a 390-4v. As far as the 4 seats way in the back, they were uncomfortable even for us kids. The reason the legroom was so short was because the spare tire was on one side and the gas tank on the other, so the space was narrow side-to-side. The components which made up the folding seats weighed a ton! Ours did have the tissue dispenser though…what a land yacht.
Our family had the 67 Commuter, nothing but problems with the cooling system.
By 1968 it seems they worked out all those problems I remember the 68 as one of the most reliable cars of the day. And Jack Lord chasing the bad guys in Hawaii, in a Parklane.
Truth be known. Jack Lord of Hawaii 5-0 fame was actually a car collector and a Ford/Merc fanatic owning many Mercury’s. He insisted on driving that ’68 Mercury all thru the years of the show until the producers convinced him to drive a newer version in the latter years. Rumor has it that he actually bought the black ’68 from the show to have as his own. It is said that he was quite excentric over what he drove in the TV show. Book-em-Danno !!!
Uh, no. Here’s the real story.
http://www.mjq.net/fiveo/50mercury.htm
For old-time’s sake, my wife & I watched Five-O on Netflix (or Hulu) again. It exemplified the trope “The Main Characters Do Everything.” Unlike real police-chiefs, McGarrett did field-work, & his subordinates didn’t have to think for themselves, just carry out his orders. Hey, that worked in WW2, didn’t it?
While a couple of the cast regulars were Real Hawaiians, they often had to fake others with suitable make-up. It’s not like experienced actors were thick on the ground there.
I just stumbled across this website and comments on the 68 Colony Park. I have one that is a nice running driving example. It is a sweet car to drive, it will go down the road at 75 mph all day. It is big, power brakes are touchy but work really good. Fun to drive and always turns heads. I’ll attach a picture of the dash for whom ever asked.
Awesome article! Although no one in my family has owned a Mercury Colony Park station wagon, I’ve always liked the Merc station wagon, at least up to the 1970s.
More on the Mercury and Ford Station Wagons.
The only Mercury wagon our family has owned (still do) is a 1963 Mercury Country
Cruiser Station Wagon. This one has its original 260 engine.
Back in 1958 I ordered a Ford Country Squire with the 3rd front facing rear seat and
I might say a 223 CI 6 cylinder engine. The dealership didn’t want to order it without a sales agreement. They were afraid of getting stuck with such a oddball. As it turns out,
we were very happy with the vehicle. It was good for 102 mph (on a clear highway) and
was fairly frugal at 19 miles per gallon mileage. It would comfortably carry 8 passengers if those in the rear seat were not overly tall and it got considerable use. The major weakness to the vehicle was the tendency for fender rust out above the
headlights as there were no baffles to resist mud and salt buildup.
After the 1958 we progressed through several more Country Squire Fords. The used 1960 model had the sloping aero dynamic tailgate window and never had the dust and dirt buildup as with the others. Our other models were a 1963, 1965, 1968 and last a 1981. The forward facing were best for enjoying the scenery but the offspring enjoyed the others.
We still have the remainder of a 1968 Mercury yacht paneled fastback and a 1968 Park Lane Convertible. Sadly, no Colony Park
Awesome article and nice wagon! Dad almost sprung for a 1976 Colony Park but held out and ordered a 1977 Caprice Estate instead. Then in 1982 he bought a Country Squire and loved it. The twin facing rear seats were not that bad back there. I rode in them quite a few times and the ride was just fine. You could at least look forward if need be, unlike a rear facing seat which can lead to some nausea. Heck, we were just happy to be distanced from our parents so we didn’t care about comfort anyway!
There’s one I’ve seen a couple times recently
Rear view
I LOVE the ’68 Colony Parks — they are my favorite model year, though the ’69-’70 is a close second. Mercury had quite a killer line up back in this era; I always thought that they should have sold better than they did. And they would, in the ’70s. They were quite competitive with Dodge, Pontiac and the Chrysler Newport, and I suppose the Olds Ninety-Eight and Buick Electra 225. I do believe that Pontiac was the product planners’ primary bogey, though.
If only I had room in my garage…but it’s already filled with a ’68 Cougar and an all black ’73 Marquis Brougham.
And speaking of the Hawaii Five-0 Park Lane…it was destroyed in an episode. Years later, it was recovered by a guy in the Chicago area and restored. I believe that he still owns it.
Now I wonder who this is? Listing one’s cars is like listing one’s genetics.
By the way, the black 73 Marquis is a beautiful car, for those who don’t know.
Hey there, tbm3fan! I’m surprised you didn’t post a photo of your beautiful ’67 Park Lane.
And, with respect to the Marquis, thank you. Shameless plug: photos of it are in the October 2015 issue of Collectible Automobile magazine.
First wanted to see if you could put two and two together. The Park Lane would have been a dead give away.
My Father preferred the ’65 & ’66 Merc over the Ford because of the dashboard on the Mercury: round, legible dials and MUCH more gauges than just the ribbon speedometer and gas gauge the Ford had.
Digging those classic Mercury tail lights!
I happened to have come across this car in the same parking lot 3 years after these original pictures were taken. It was a block away or so from a car show, so I assume the owner is affiliated with the car show somehow.
Regardless, this car absolutely captivated me. Pictures cannot do it justice (especially for wagon lovers such as myself), but I’m glad to share some of the additional pictures I took of this car:
2nd row seat
3rd row seat:
Rear gate:
Side view:
Side view pictures are very useful to me.
I see it has the Visual Check Panel. That’s fairly rare.
With an FE under the hood, I could see the FUEL callout as the most useful. WRT to the BELT lamp, yep, that’ll put the fear of God in ’em and make ’em buckle up, you betcha!
That might be the classiest looking wagon ever. Makes Dinoc look good! A very similar survivor ’68 Colony Park sold at BJ Las Vegas last month for $21,450. http://www.barrett-jackson.com/Archive/Event/Item/1968-MERCURY-COLONY-PARK-WAGON-187209
That ’65 Ford wagon roof / greenhouse really worked well on these cars. It definitely made anything Ford put under it among the most handsome of big wagons.
It seems to be the only time that mimicking a style popular on coupes (the “sail panel” rear pillar) actually worked.
Sure about that?
Also – that roof rack!
Nice wagon. I`ll take one of these over a minivan or CUV anyday. I had an `82 Colony Park wagon and it did have the double side mounted rear seats like this one, but newsflash. In todays nanny state safety conscious society, you would probably get a ticket for. having children sit back there. Also, does anybody remember the `68 Merc Park Lane convertible with the yacht di-noc? Possibly the ultimate Mercury of the `68 line up.
If there are seatbelts in the back, there’s no problem. I don’t see what’s wrong with valuing human life enough that we should be concerned for others’ safety.
Beautiful wagon. Mercury was proud of the fact they built a lower priced Continental. They weren’t ashamed to admit it. A used ’67 Monterey 4 door sedan was purchased by Dad in 1970. He bought it because it looked so much like his new ’67 Continental that he had for about a year and a half. The wagons we had were a ’59 Plymouth, ’63 and ’65 Chevy. But we always just had a pad and sleeping bags on the floor to sprawl around on. With a roof rack for the luggage. What a sight it was looking out the back window of the ’65 Chevy as the suitcases one time flew off the car and all the other cars behind us were dancing around the freeway avoiding the bouncing bags. They did all stay shut and were retrieved.
Gorgeous, long time Mercury & woody fan here. Mercury really was at it’s peak then, sadly we know what happened next.
Quick question – do we know why the joggle on the profile of the base of jump seats is asymmetric, and indeed why it exists?
Roger Carr:
Possibility #1: The way they came together when folded
down for use of the back for cargo.
Possibility #2: To encourage(the first two!) occupants of
that area to NOT sit face to face, maximizing knee-room.
Number 2 is correct.
Amazing that the seat belts still have the plastic wrap from the factory.
Our next door neighbor in the 60’s on Killarney Drive in Burlington had one of these wagons, used to tow a motorboat with it. They were an all Mercury family, the father, an architect, drove a ’63 Comet, so as the mother drove the Colony Park, I got lots of rides with one of the boys in the family, my best friend at the time…they would invite me once in awhile to the boat club they belonged to on Mallets Bay. One thing different about the ’68 was the built-in wind deflector on the side of the “D” panel to clear grime from the near vertical rear window (no rear wiper or washer available back then). My Dad bought a ’69 Ford Country Squire (with the 351) the following year….my Mother drove that most of the time, since my Father had a really unusual 2nd car back then, he drove a 1968 Renault R10 (bought after a neighbor down the road creamed my Father’s ’59 Beetle parked in front of our house). The Squire had the rear window air deflector built into the end of the roof luggage rack that curved down to direct the air over the rear window. Our Country Squire didn’t have the dual rear seats; my father thought it was an art to packing as much stuff on trips in the “well” so as to leave room in the back part of the wagon for kids to sleep and move around in (never thought it was dangerous to jump around as kids in a moving car)…not having the seats gave you a much more spacious area under the floor you could jam lots of stuff into.
Another neighbor across the street had a ’63 Ford (fullsized) wagon, it was so rusty by the time we lived there that I remember laying in the cargo area with one of thier kids and looking at the road going by underneath through the holes in the floor (guess he kept his exhaust system in repair, otherwise we would have been asphixiated at our young age)
I did not realize that the D pillar vents were considered functional. I wonder how well they worked?
Sorry for delay in responding…more than 6 years later..
Yes, they were functional, but not sure how well as it was our neighbor’s car and I didn’t regularly ride in it. As I mentioned back then we had the next year implementation with the deflector on the luggage rack instead of the dual deflectors on the sides (Ford also had these I think 1967-1968, maybe more years). They helped with some of the grime from the low pressure area on the rear window, but it still got dirty. I guess they couldn’t use a window screen wiper/washer like they do on rear windows on hatchbacks and SUVs since the rear window could retract all the way into the rear wagon door, which would cause the wiper to flop when the window was down (and maybe get caught when the window went back up). Of course the ’69 up version in the luggage rack wouldn’t work too well if there was luggage in the rack since the luggage would block the airflow down to the rear window…so the ’68 and prior was probably better if you carried stuff on your roof.
Ford really concentrated on features like this for the large wagons back then, almost like Chrysler did more than a decade later on minivans. They didn’t know that large wagons would be withdrawn soon (by early 90’s).
I’m bordering on aging out of the big family vehicle era in my life, but if I could buy one these SUV’s of the ’60s, I’d go for one more big car.
“I am curious as to how comfortable (or uncomfortable) those side-mounted third row seats were.”
We had one with the aforementioned seats, in avocado green with a 390 and a green interior. My brother and I sat back there, I don’t remember them being uncomfortable but we were little kids. In fact I remember the tons of room it had being great for long trips. It was a good car, but we didn’t have it very long. Years later my Dad told me he didn’t think it was safe for us back there. There was very little protection in the event of a rear end crash.
My parents ordered this very station wagon when I was just 8 years old. It ended up being my birthday present on my 16th. I LOVED this car! It rode like a living room and would carry everything. I really miss it.
We owned one, bought used in 1969. It was a Ford exec. car, and had a factory 428 Police Interceptor engine, air conditioning, 8 track player, door ajar light, cruise control, air suspension springs (in the back), power windows, power door locks, I forget what else. A bank exec friend went for a ride in it and he said it drove better than his Cadillac.
We had a 428 green with green colony Park
would put it on TV if I could find one
anyone know how many were built with the 428 !????????
168 total built i believe
When I got married in 1984, we threw a wedding banquet and invited relatives from all over. But it fell to me to drive them around between their hotels and the restaurant, and for some sightseeing. The big Ford wagon we rented had those facing rear seats, and it was a perfect place to put in-laws. “YOU sit back there. Not me. I’m the one who knows where we’re going. So, THERE!”
I like the Lincoln-like style of these, and the woodgrain stuff (without the lighter maple-color surrounds) just looks “of the time” rather than “what were they thinking?”
I do remember the facing-pair rear seats (a ’66 Ford wagon, likely), and have no negative memories whatsoever. The Magic Two-Way Tailgate I found endlessly impressive, no question about it.
Overall, late-1960s and early 1970s Mercury = very appealing to me (I took my driver’s license test in one), doubtless colored by the glow of nostalgia…..nice to see these!
My uncle, aunt, 4 cousins, and their St. Bernard used to drive from Wilmington DE to the beach south of Wilmington NC every summer. Theirs looked just like this one but without the black roof. My uncle had the seat bolted further back for his long legs.
In my experience, riding around in a 1970 Country Squire, the side facing seats were perfect for fighting with your brother.
We had a gold one just like the picture but a painted roof. 315hp premium gas 390. Mushy ride, absolutely no steering feel, but could pile 6 Boy Scouts AND all camping gear to go on a camp out. It did really well off road. But 12 mpg city, 16 mpg Highway. Good dependable car.