As our next entry in this occasional Gallery Series, let’s go with one of my favorite designs that I’ve found lately, a marvelous Mercury Monterey Commuter station wagon in Carnival Red. Just from a visual standpoint alone, this is near the top of the list of cars I’d like to have if one of these could be resurrected from what lays here. As always, click on the images to enlarge and I’ll keep silent as you peruse them.
Amazing this still turns up in a scrap yard. Impossible here in Europe.
Looks pretty rust free, no accident damage apart from the grille, reasonable chrome, interior mostly all there.
Beautiful big station, love the curved rear side glass and the wonderful rear lights.
Would this not be worth more than the scrap metal price? Seems pretty savable to me.
“Would this not be worth more than the scrap metal price?”
For a thing to have value, you must find a buyer.
Of course, I occasionally see a car I’ve been looking for show up in a salvage yard online inventory without first making an appearance in the local Craigslist. In these cases, I would have paid more than the salvage price, but not much more. Also, most people won’t purchase “missing title” vehicles, and I’m 95% that includes this one. End of the day, it’s easier for the owner to call a tow service, accept an immediate check, and call it a day
Here in Michigan (and other states I’m sure) you can’t send a motor vehicle to a junkyard or metal recycler without a title. They won’t take them for fear of receiving stolen goods. You can however cut it up into pieces and turn those in for scrap.
That crude steering column looks out of place in the allegedly “upscale” Mercury. 🙂
The open steering column is only because it’s a 3 speed. Unlike Ford, Mercury had a concealed shift tube.
Fords had those cheap steering columns and cheap dashes for a long time
and Mercury did no better
the Merc did have nice taillights
but just look at a 1962 Pontiac Safari and it’s like from a different, much better planet
Ford never figured out what to do w/ Merc, it’s surprising it hung around as long as it did
Eau Contraire on the steering column. Mercury DID do better – on the automatic cars. I cannot imagine they sold enough 3 speeds to design a specific steering column/shifter for those.
Don’t feel bad though, I only knew this because of the 62 Monterey I wrote up a long time ago. I saw that open shift tube on this car and was really confused – until I saw the 3 pedals on this car.
Definitely way cooler than a Country Squire.
Never seen a wagon before Mercuries this era are rare enough here but that wagon is cool I like it, and it looks quite saveable should anyone want to.
If it’s indeed the case it would be rare, but is this a manual transmission car? It looks like there are three pedals but the clutch pedal looks extraordinarily wide.
I’m thinking the engine is a 352 given it being painted blue (Ford didn’t paint all their engines blue until later) and because of the expansion tank above the radiator.
Regardless, this could be a nice old Mercury. Not many of these wagons left. It reminds me of the ’62 Ford wagon rescued by the Barn Find Hunter on Hagerty’s youtube channel.
Yes, I agree with your assessment. I see three pedals also (with the clutch pedal seemingly wider than the brake!) as well as the rotating shaft above the steering column. It looks like someone started to work on it, and then the vandals got to it. I’m surprised that those curved glass sections escaped.
Yes, a stick. The steering column gave it away for me, but only after I went back to an old picture I had of another 62 Mercury interior.
My question is whether it has OD – do you see any kind of dash control for that?
I think many of you know that I had a near-mint, 61,000 mi. ’62 Monterey w/ a 390 from 2016-2018. Original paint, virtually no rust, ran well. I only sold it to make room for a ’59 Chevy (because I really like ’59s).
I consider myself to be a pretty good car salesman, but after listing on CL & eBay for weeks, the best I could get was . . . $4800.
So if a fine example actually sells for so little, what hope is there for a car that needs even SOME expensive restoration? The economics don’t make sense . . .
Sorry you couldn’t even get $5K for your ’62, but that’s a lesson in present economics (even if wagons extra-hot at the moment). When I look at today’s car and think of all the missing bits needing replacement, the project sounds only labor-of-love-worthy.
I still dream of a CC meet-up where, over the course of a weekend, the assembled bring back the shine on some sort of “ran when parked” vehicle….
All this said, I hardly remember these early-1960s Mercury wagons on the road at the time—-the Fords must have really outsold ’em.
So true and you hit the nail on the head. So many times you see and older car for sale with the owner saying it will be worth some money when done. All you have to do is minor this and minor that. Well, we all know that isn’t true. Now if you can do you own work maybe you’ll be over 100-200% of what the final worth would be. If you can’t, and many can’t, a $30-50K restoration bill will be reserved for that 1 out of 100 cars where the numbers work. Most of the rest will end up in a yard just like this Mercury.
With this cool old wagon and many old cars, you have to do the work and spend the money because you love the car, enjoy the work, or both. The numbers don’t add up in most cases any other way. This wagon is a prime “get it back on the road” kind of car, but I’m worried that it’s missing too much trim, and the interior is pretty rough. The engine will probably need some work because it’s been exposed to the elements for who knows how long. I’m afraid it’s destined to remain a parts car.
Poindexter, someone got a great deal on yours…it’s too bad it was at your expense. Nice car.
Wow Jim, a great find here! This one breaks the stereotypes – some big spender in 1962 moved up to the Big M. He was flamboyant to pick the bright red one. And then he goes for the 3 speed stick. So were there no white or beige Ford Ranch Wagons available for Mr. Conservative? Or no automatic wagons for Mr. Snappy Image? Surely this had to be a special order car.
Maybe it was MRS. Conservative who laid down the law that if her cheap husband was going to insist on continuing to live in 1949 she was at least going to make sure the neighbors couldn’t see it. 🙂
Perhaps Mr. (or Mrs.) Buyer traded in the ’55 Rambler Cross Country from a few weeks ago for this as the family grew…
Three speed sticks were still quite common on new cars in 1962, especially so in more rural and semi-rural areas, where the convenience of an automatic was not seen as a good trade-off to the economy and performance of a stick.
Given its location in the boonies of Wyoming or Colorado, this was prime stick-shift country.
Knowing this article was coming, I looked up in my Standard Catalog about manual transmission Mercurys. While it didn’t give 1962 stats, manual transmission big Mercurys were around 17 to 18% in, like, 1961 I believe. So not truly rare, but not plentiful either.
Too much “Mercuryness” was squeezed out of the 61-62 models.
Mercurys of this era may have been big Fords, but the 61-62 models put less effort into disguising their roots. The ’60 & ’63 both seemed more distinctive. Ugly perhaps, but distinct.
These are rare, for sure, but not impossible to find. I do hope that the unobtanium bits (wagon-specific glass, chrome, and trim) get saved by someone before it gets scrapped.
For the preservationists reading this article worried about the loss of this specimen, rest assured that there are high-quality 1962 Mercury wagons out there. This fully restored example sold for $24,200 back in 2016.
https://www.barrett-jackson.com/Events/Event/Details/1962-MERCURY-MONTEREY-STATION-WAGON-193989
I wonder how much was in that car to get it to that condition? Shops would charge more than that just in labor costs for a fully restored before adding in parts. At a low $50 per hour that car could easily have more than 500 hours into it. Knowing the time someone put into restoring a 1969 CHP Polara, back to exact original condition himself, 500 hours could be low. Heck I put four years into my Mustang down to a striped bare body and back.
Except for the little nick in the grill, it looks almost road ready!
I was a gm fanboi because I grew up in the 80s when gm products of the 70s and 80s looked and were much better than fords. Had I grown up in the 50s and 60s, I might well have preferred the ford products. This is such a great find and so much better looking than the dull, slab sided gms of the early 60s. It’s still a letdown from the wurlitzer, flamboyant, overdecorated late 50s models but I like it better than the gm products.
I doubt that even a Colony Park would be worth saving. I always liked ’62 Mercury tail lights and it seems someone else noticed them too.
When I was young a nice family I knew seemed to get a new Colony Park every couple of years or so and I am sure I rode in maybe a ’67 or ’68 a few times. There was always a nice CP in their driveway for a decade or so.
Jason – does your catalog indicate the ratio of ’62 Commuter/Colony Park production?
You are in luck. Looking at it as I type, the Commuter was in the Monterey series with production of 8,389. The Colony Park was in the Monterey Custom series with production of (six and nine-passenger combined) of 9,596.
And I was wrong earlier on manual transmissions…in the footnotes it says less than 5% had a manual transmission. My 17% figure is the number of six-banger engines in the full-size Mercury that year.
I’m liking the wagon more and more with that info. Great color, good options, and like Jose said just add blankets and find a few bits. Leave the paint as is.
Shoot, buying Poindexter’s old ride as a parts car for under $5k would have provided 90% of the parts one may need. 🙂
Yep, a 5% manual take rate sounds about right for a full size Merc of this era. Similar to the take rates on full size Olds, Pontiac or Buick. Big Chevys and Fords had a more three pedals, but still pretty rare starting in the 60’s.
I recall a boyhood friends grandfather (a crusty WWII vet) visiting him in his new 1963 Olds 88. The Olds was fairly well equipped, but for the three on the tree. Don’t think I ever saw another big Olds after 1955 with a manual.
The economics of car restoration rarely work in anyone’s favor. Except the restoration shop! Mechanically that wagon could be resurrected at fairly reasonable cost. It’s the rest of the work that will add up. That’s why there are so “rat” type cars out there. Straight enough body, primer, cleaned up interior with Mexican blanket seats. It’s the rare car that’s worth spending the money on. If you owned a body shop, you could do the finishing yourself and swap your services to other mechanics, upholsterers, etc. That’s why it’s always cheaper to buy the best example of any car.,
At first I thought this car might be worth saving until I read Poindexter’s comment on his sale. I would have traded for a ’59 Chevy too! Oh and J.P., it’s “Au” contraire; Eau is water…
Thanks Jason; I thought the Colony Park would be much more favored. What I have read here confirms that for a wagon fan it is much more prudent to buy an excellent Mercedes 124 or 210 wagon for about $10-$15K than to go through the grief of resurrection of a very interesting Mercury like this.
I admire the car. I acknowledge how the market assessed Poindexter’s ’62 Mercury and Jason’s ’63 Ford. These ’60s FOMOCO wagons are attractive and interesting to me but one would have be terribly dedicated to even ask the yard if it had a title.
My parents bought this wagon new in ’62 in turquoise, with a black interior. Very substantial car, and the first one I ever drove with a clutch. There are more attractive wagons, I think, but this one looked pretty sharp in our neighborhood. Certainly classier than the Ford version.
the depth of the tailgates on these and their Ford cousins never fails to amaze me. What price a slanted, straight glass rear window.
To Dave Skinner; I respect everyone’s opinions, especially when it comes to cars. However. I have to disagree with you regarding an object only having value if there’s a buyer for it. It’s called intrinsic value. Check it out, it may change your point of view. I love big American station wagons, especially those made by the Ford Motor Company. For too many reasons to list here, early on. The Ford Motor Company was known as the “Wagonmaster”, and I agree with them all. By the time I was the appropriate age to own a wagon, mine was a 1975, Mercury Marquis Colony Park 9 passenger wagon. If Lincoln ever built a wagon, the Colony Park would be it. With a 460 4 barrel Motorcraft 4300 carburetor it could flatten the steep grades of the High Sierras with power to spare. It was beautiful, luxurious and always made me proud. I still am, I just wish I still had it. It will always be one of my top 5 all-time favorite cars. Granted the others are of course all Ford Motor Company vehicles.. I think I will need to read this article again. It makes my tail wag.
In 1962, I was 7 years old. I remember standing in the showroom of Van Nuys Motors, then Van Nuys Lincoln Mercury. My dad bought all his Mercurys and Lincolns at that dealer. At 7 years old my big mouth shattered more than a few new car sales. But, in 62 I remember standing at the left rear corner of a 62 Colony Park wagon and staring at those bullet shapped taillights. They were like no other, not even the Country Squires. My uncle had a 64, beautiful cream with dark red vinyl interior Colony Park 9 passanger wagon. I remember when he brought it home after trading in his 1956 light and dark blue Ford Country Sedan. I always loved the sound of the V8 engine and exhaust even as a little kid. I also remember visiting him 35 years later and seeing that 64 Colony Park sitting in their driveway. Only you other American car Gearheads will understand how seeing that wagon made me cry. It reminded me of riding in that 64, in 1964, and it made me appreciate all my great American automotive car memories. Today, in 2024, I’m 69 years old, and can honestly say I still look as good as that 64 Colony Park did. My love for American cars has only gotten stronger with age. In fact there were cars as a kid I hated the looks of. The 1958 Fords have always been one of them. There are still others, but just last year 2023, I finally came to terms with the face of those 58 Ford Fairlanes, something I never thought would happen. So, it just shows to go ya, you never know how your tastes will change. I wonder what’s next.
I said I would stop, but I can’t. Ford Motor Company all used the same dash on their full-size cars. But it 1965, Ford blew the doors off the compilation. The terrised dash, the a/c vent placements ( the GM chrome balls were excellent) and so were the declining Chrysler vents on top of the dash was fantastic. They reminded me of window water cooler vents. Those window water coolers could only be used in very dry conditions, and their very use, and all the built in swimming pools raised the humidity of Southern California that only refrigeration systems worked. Remember that? In 67, Mopars moved to horizontal shaped plastic vents. So sad. But Chrysler made up for it in 67 when they introduced floodlight dash lighting. It was brilliant. A beautiful color Aqua, and they literally lighted the entire dash without any backlighting. Very cool. Lincoln used the same color but with backlighting. Very cool but very expensive. Can you tell I have always loved dashboard lighting? Ford Motor Company threw in the towel after 1962. Every full-size Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln all shifted to a single rectangleur shaped instrument cluster with a row of idiot lights. So Sad. The mid 70s Town Cars had beautiful instrumentation individual pods, all backlit, and a multi colored rotating drum speedometer. Was that too cool or what. But then, in late 1978, even the Town Cars switched to that Ford corporate dash. That really pissed me off. One thing that always blew Cadillacs away. Those boring 70s Cadillac dashboards were an embarrassment to GM. How come I could see that and GM couldn’t. Horrible, just Horrible!
Correction: I mistakenly said Ford Motor Company changed to a horizontal band after 1962. It should be 1972. My bad.
Thinking back, there were a lot of cars I didn’t like, but you know, none that I hated. I have always appreciated those late 50s Finned Chrysler Corporation vehicles, I never hated them. Not even the canted headlights of the 61 and 62 full-size Chryslers. My love of the Astrodome instrumentation, and the Panelesent Chrysler Corporation fighting is still alive. I have of course added more, and other than the mid to late 60s Ford Thunderbirds, the rest were always Mopars. I never liked any dash of any GM vehicle, except for the mid-60s Pontiacs. Except Pontiac, the other GM brands used white boring dash lights. It was Chrysler Corporation that was first, then Ford Motor Company switched to aqua blue in 1963, and stayed until 1997, my beautiful 97 black EB Explorer was the last. My brothers 98 lit up green like the late 50s Plymouths. But those 60s Pontiacs were both beautiful and sexy, thank you John Z DeLorean. I’ll stop for now, but I’ll be back!
Oh, and here’s this. Around 1963, Ford used a separate radiator cooling chamber at the top of the engine, behind radiator and above the fan. I always looked for a mechanical reason to separate the coolant resavior from the radiator. Anyone know?
I always feel so sorry for today’s kids for not having the wonderful 1960s American automotive industries. When I see a kid writing that he never saw those beautiful American wagons, or a beautiful 60s dashboard, I get so sad. They don’t even know what they are missing.