You already know I had a bit of an aversion to big Fords in my teen years, but this would have me happy to ride in a mere LTD. Isn’t it sporty, to go along with that big fastback? Maybe it could be entered in the full-size Pine Box Derby.
But if a fastback woodie isn’t giving you a woodie, how about a convertible?
Thanks to you, bad memories return. I forgot about these laughs. For those who have never owned an applique-equipped automobile, I can vouch for the fact that one shopping cart in a parking lot is all it takes to ruin the decalcomania. I wonder how many of these were actually purchased.
Ha! Never seen a woodie coupe before. Like milk mixed with orange juice.
Like you, I have never seen a woodie fastback before.
“Milk and orange juice… what’s the upchuck factor on that?”
And yet . . . .
Those, and fudgsicles, were my favourite treats on a stick!
Great point. I do love a creamsicle.
Loved, and still do love, those!!
Creamsicles were great!
The beverages company I worked for for many years created and launched a milk+orange juice drink here in New Zealand somewhere around 2007/8. The taste and texture took some getting used to – it was sort of like dominant orange juice taste but with milk undertones and texture. Tasted better than it sounded, but the very idea made people scream and run a mile. Can’t remember how long it lasted but might have made it to a year before being deleted.
What? I can’t hear you over my own screaming, and the mile’s distance isn’t helping, either.
In a weird way, I kinda like it. Imagine towing an old fifties era teak wood Chris-Craft with that thing.
Then it would be cool to be seen in it on your way to the beach. 😉
This is a new one to me. I had no idea that they put di-noc on anything other than a station wagon in those days.
Chrysler had the same thing for a couple of years, equally bad.
At least Chrysler had some heritage behind it.
So did Mercury with the Sportsman.
More Chrysler history:
https://s.aolcdn.com/dims-global/dims3/GLOB/legacy_thumbnail/1049×590/quality/80/https://s.aolcdn.com/os/ab/_cms/2021/04/26160607/1985-Chrysler-LeBaron-Town-and-Country-convertible-auction-01.jpg
And in a more convenient size:
There are some questionable aftermarket PT Cruiser woodie kits, but the factory version is actually pretty good if you like that sort of thing. Of course many question the idea of a PT in the first place (but not me).
They should have made DiNoc with a fake inlaid veneer chessboard pattern for upperclass cabs. Chess Cab Company could use special codes for cab numbers, so drivers would pick up the mic and say things like “Bishop 4 to Queen 5.”
I have seen 1 or 2 of these Mercury fastbacks, though way back in the 70s, yet I don’t remember ever seeing a convertible. Conversely, I have seen 1 or 2 of the Chryslers as convertibles, but never the hardtop…that I can remember.
And for some reason, the Mercurys were always white, while the Chryslers were rarely white.
As another poster asked: it sure would be interesting to know the production numbers of each make and body style.
I could handle owning the convertible at the age I am now, but I’ve always found the fastback roof of these (and their full-size Ford siblings) to appear a bit top heavy. The DiNoc treatment on the sides seems to draw attention to this bulk.
It’s like a Marauder X100, but loaded with brougham instead of 429 muscle! Are those the same front side markers/turn signals that were on the malaise Cougar??
I like the Marauder X100 better. Yes, it’s big like the paneled Mercury but has a lot more style. This is my restored 69 with bucket seats and console shifter.
The kind of car I could see the character of Ned Merrill driving from the 1968 film adapation of the John Cheever short story “The Swimmer”. As he boasts to his neighbors about his fancy boat down at the marina. “Lucinda has it right now…”
Have you ever read the short story, Joseph? You can find it online if you haven’t – it’s worth reading.
Maybe it’s just a precursor to the full vinyl wraps that are popular today 🙂
You’re prescient. It’s back . . .
https://windowtintz.com/gorgeous-wood-wrap-cars-vans-trucks-suvs/
Should be on a Forester. Hmm, maybe I should mine like this.
Sometimes the articles – and especially the comments – on this website are hard to take.
They should all be a little more respectful of US car culture.
Just think for a second that the poor hicks on the old European continent have never had such precious excesses.
It can’t have been all bad!
Well, there have been excesses.
And since I’ve been reading along here, it’s become clear to me that many things were very bad.
But that’s no reason to make fun of American car production all the time!
Ah aorget what I said, I love your cynicism. Go on, there are good reasons.
I have never forgotten the 2-page ad for the hardtop that I found in an old magazine when I was in grade school – it might have been NatGeo, but I have long forgotten. But I never forgot that car, and have never seen one either.
And I would have remembered seeing one, because from about 1969 or 70 a family friend owned a big 68 Montclair fastback that I was in love with. The Ford version never looked 100% right with that fastback body, but I drooled over the Mercury version. I would absolutely have noticed one with the wood had I seen it out and around, but I never did.
As much as I like these cars, I think I would prefer to keep the wood on the wagons.
NatGeo was mostly all about Lincolns and Cadillacs, never lowly Mercurys in comparison. I do remember seeing some Caprice ads though.
One issue of National Geographic had a nice black and white ad with a 1963 Studebaker Cruiser. That’s about the cheapest model I have seen in auto ads in NG.
What I like about this is at least they tried seeing if it would work, we now associate woodgrain with station wagons but only because the market decided that was the acceptable bodystyle for it, there was no fundamental reason it shouldn’t be used on any other bodystyle, especially as the look was making a bit of a comeback, it just didn’t take for the other bodystyles. Silly as it is it’s sad you’ll never see something like this ever again from an automaker with the way market research and focus groups make every stylistic choice as safe and universal as possible.
The take rate must have been extremely low on the fastback, I can find images on Google of the convertibles but the closed roof is nowhere to be found.
Never too late Paul as here is your chance on Facebook Marketplace. Asking price of $15K which maybe high given the general opinion here. Lot going on with the white body, black vinyl top, and the rich simulated wood fake paneling.
A full shot. I will say the paneling does match the fake wood look inside the car on the dash and steering wheel.
Wow vinyl roof too! Not much of the white paint left visible, imagine if this were applicable to the Marauder X100 with its black trunk!
For some reason, the vinyl roof and DiNoc make that Mercury look like a ’66-’67 Charger.
These things were fuggly, weren’t they!
and it looked even worse, if such a thing is possible, on fuselage Chryslers:
I’m ashamed, I kind of like it. Much more tasteful that the K-Car Town & Country.
What is this, some kind of bad LSD trip flashback? No, for the love of God, NO! Faux wood panelling on cars ranks up there with vinyl roofs (rooves?) as the stying statements from the 1960’s and 70’s I’m most glad are dead and buried, hopefully, never to return! Whether it’s a vinyl sticker, pretending to be real wood, or a sheet of vinyl glued to the roof, pretending to be a real convertible top, the illusion isn’t fooling anyone and not only is it butt ugly, it traps water against the metal, accelerating rusting. If you don’t believe me, just watch any of those car restoration shows when they peel off the vinyl roof or woodgrain sticker and the steel underneath looks like Swiss cheese from body rot!
Wrap a Beetle (the waterproof ones) and take a cruise down the river.
A few decades from now I imagine people will be making fun of HHRs and PT Cruisers wrapped with DiNoc.
DiNoc is great for hiding dings and dents.
Someone in north suburban Pgh, near Valencia has the convertible version , far as I know,
Spotted it as recently as two years ago. Looks just like the one in oic. Top was white (or whitish).Had seen it prior to that from time to time as well.
Last sighting , i was north bound on RT 8 near Twin Willows. Big ole Merc was southbound.
Just an observation.
Once again, Paul and I agree on a car.
GMTA
Not what I would choose, but score points for offering it. Better than some of the wrap jobs we see today.
I have seen a hardtop with the Yacht paneling in the wrecking yard about 35 years ago. And I do remember a number of 1968 & ’69 Chryslers with the Sportsgrain trim.
I love that coupe. I think it looks fantastic.
Yuk! Never seen one in the flesh. Somehow it just doesn’t seem right but I do like the fake wood on wagons. Maybe if it had a border and didn’t go up to the top edge of fenders?
Just no fake wood on wagons was bad enough
I’m going to be the sole dissenter here (thus far)…
I just like this car… with no qualifiers, apologies, or embarrassment. Its looks just work for me, and I don’t see it as being weird or out of place at all. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered one in person.
They should have called it the Chris Craft edition…
Our next door neighbor in Burlington was apparently into Mercury in the 1960’s, they had a ’63 Comet and a ’68 Colony Park Wagon. They had a small motor boat that they towed on a trailer with the wagon, I rode in it a few times. Of course the wagon had the wood panelling on the outside. We had a ’65 F85 that didn’t have the panelling but the next year it was traded in on a ’69 Ford Country Squire that did…funny thing was subsequent wagons alternated between having paneling and not…the ’73 Ranch Wagon lacked it but the ’78 Chevy Caprice Classic had it.
Their ’68 was a nice car, product of its time, it seemed that wood grain started signifying something a bit more than pedestrian cars without it, both inside and out, so they almost had to include it on the mid-range cars like Mercury. I wasn’t fond of the “contact paper” on the outside plus if it got scratched it looked like hell, talk about higher maintenance (kind of like vinyl roof in this way). Could take it or leave it on the inside, my current car is hardly a luxury model, and it lacks even a token amount of fake wood anywhere, doesn’t make a difference to me (especially with grey interior, think wood would look better with beige or more “wood color” interior).
My Dad eventually moved over to Mercury specifically in 1989 and specifically the Sable; he had 3 of them in a row (’89, ’94, and ’96). I liked the Mercuries (except the ’96 with its curious styling; why I disliked leasing, my Dad leased the ’94 and was “forced” to do something in ’96, guess he could have bought the lease of the ’94 out, but instead just got the ’96). They were all comfortable cars, by then he no longer needed a wagon (good thing too, since they stopped offering them about this time) so sedans were fine for him and he became more of a conventional car buyer in his latter years…he’s gone now, but I think part of the reason he bought a Mercury was kind of the reason some people buy Lexus or Infiniti now…he liked the dealer, and they were near where he lived…nowdays they sell Alfa Romeo out of the same building (kind of odd, I think of the as being almost “opposite” brands…but of course Mercury is no more, so something occupied the former void).
Just got my latest issue of Hemmings Classic Car. A paneled ’68 Park Lane convertible is in it.