(first posted 9/8/2011) What’s in a name? A car name, in particular. Pick a beautiful, exotic locale, and smack that name on your top-end model. If it does this, a carmaker can earn instant cachet, even snob appeal, so that it can charge a few dollars more. The Chevrolet Bel Air may be the most famous example. Chrysler’s Newport and Packard’s Carribean also come to mind. But all too often, the process starts anew and the former fair-haired child is replaced by another, more desirable model. Soon, that grand and luxurious nameplate is on a very, very ordinary car. Is there a better example of this than the Mercury Monterey?
Monterey. It must have been a happening place after the second world war. At least Frank Sinatra sang about something happening there. Come to think of it, are we talking about the Mexican resort area or the seaside town along California’s Pacific Coast Highway? Either way, it didn’t really matter, because it was someplace that would capture the imagination of an ordinary American in Delaware, Indiana or South Dakota. Whichever Monterey (or Monterrey?) was intended, Mercury grabbed the name for its top of the line model in 1950.
Fun fact of the day: Did you know that the 1950 Mercury Monterey (along with that year’s Lincoln Lido Coupe) was the first with what would become widely known a generation later as the vinyl roof? In any event, the Monterey was THE Mercury to have through 1954.
Then, along came the Montclair. This has always been a bit of a mystery to me. How, exactly, did Ford take it’s top Mercury, named after a picturesque resort city, and trump it with one named for someplace in New Jersey? Maybe this would make Mercury the Coast to Coast car? Anyway, so it continued through the years. Turnpike Cruiser, Park Lane, Marauder and Marquis, each got a turn as the Monterey’s richer and better looking brother. Actually, the Monterey got a second shot as top dog in 1961-62 before the Montclair and Parklane returned and put the Monterey back into its second-class status.
Think about it: Did Mercury ever have a better sounding nameplate? Mercury Monterey. It just sounds right. And even though it was usually the bottom-rung big Merc, it never became associated (at least in my mind) with an el-cheapo model the way Bel Air eventually did. So to me, it is all the more maddening that FoMoCo management was never able to do more with such a classic name. Mercury Monterey. Sigh.
This 1973 model has always been doubly maddening to me. All through the 1960s, the Ford Motor Company had been on a steady move up the auto industry’s caste system. The Lincoln was becoming a legitimate contender as a first class luxury car, and the Ford LTD was keeping up from the other end. The 1969-72 generation saw the Ford LTD hit new heights in social acceptance, with Mercury doing the same with its new Marquis. Couldn’t they have done a bit more with the Monterey?
The 1973 big Ford and Mercury were extensively redesigned cars. Mercury retained its 3 inch wheelbase advantage (124 compared to Ford’s 121 inches) and shared virtually no sheetmetal with its Ford counterpart. So why did they have to be so similar? It is a shame that Mercury could not have distinguished the Monterey more from the LTD and the Marquis.
Inside, the car was all but indistinguishable from the LTD. Was there any other company that had a more generic interior design in the 1970s than the Ford Motor Company? It seems that this basic dashboard (with your choice of round or rectangular guages) was used in everything from the Mustang II to the Mark IV in the 1970s. They could spend money for unique sheetmetal but could not even give the Mercury a unique dash, or even its own steering wheel?
Alas, it seems that with the success of both the Marquis and the LTD, there was just no room for the poor old Monterey any more. This showed up in the sales figures. In 1973, the more expensive Marquis series outsold the Montereys (regular and Custom) by over two to one, and the Ford LTD series did so by about ten to one. The Monterey Custom sedan (this car) was the most popular of the entire Monterey series, and was still good for only about twenty thousand units (beating the base Monterey sedan’s sixteen thousand). These numbers were mediocre for a dying Studebaker during the recession of the early 1960s, let alone for a newly redesigned Mercury in a record breaking year for the industry.
In spite of all of the disappointments, this car is actually kind of attractive, in a vanilla ice cream sort of way. Really, if you were going to sell a car in black and white generic packaging that said “Large Sedan” on the label, wouldn’t the car look just like this? The slab sides and fender skirts give the car a look of importance, although the look was leveraged better on the Marquis. Even with its plain-Jane looks, I always considered this car an improvement over the roly-poly ’73 LTD, which struck me as the automotive equivalent of a 47 year old guy with a beer belly. The Monterey also looks decidedly middle aged, but still, it looks a little more square-jawed and broad shouldered. More like a slightly overweight ex-football player.
Is there an automaker that did a worse job on the 1973 Federal five m.p.h. bumper than FoMoCo? If there is such a thing as the best of the worst, at least this big, square Mercury wore these bumpers better than the rest of the Ford Family of Fine Cars.
In truth, I had forgotten that this car (and the virtually identical 1974 model) was the end of the line for the Mercury Monterey. I refuse to count the short-lived re-badged Windstar that abused the name for a couple of years very recently. In 1975, each of the big Mercs became a Marquis (in base, Custom or Brougham flavors). I should have recalled this, as my drivers ed car was a yellow ’75 base-level Marquis sedan. Come to think of it, every drivers ed program in the country ought to maintain one or two of these cars to teach today’s hapless teens how to parallel park. If you can learn to parallel park one of these beasts, driving anything else is child’s play.
It seems that Curbside Classic is becoming the place to come if you have a thing for old Mercurys. I found this car at a drive-in restaurant in Lafayette, Indiana. I drove past it once, but did not have time to stop. Behold, it was there again the next time I was in the city, so it must belong to an employee or a regular customer. To find this car in this condition, nearly 40 years after it was built, is amazing. First, there were not that many of these to start with. Add in the fact that salt ate away most of them, and multiple fuel price spikes over the years took most of the rest. Yet, here is this car, making it seem like we are back in about 1978.
It is a shame that Ford could not find a bigger niche for this car. It is not bad looking (by the standards of 1973) and with a little more effort, it could have been a good alternative to the Bonneville or the 88, allowing the Marquis to move up a bit more into Olds/Buick territory. Perhaps the folks at Ford were still smarting from their disastrous attempt 15 years earlier at moving Mercury drastically up-market. By the early 1970s, the time may have been right, but the product was not there.
I miss the Monterey, although I never knew anybody who actually owned one. Weren’t they all owned by someone like the batchelor uncle of the guy down the street? Still, we should all have a little sympathy for the Monterey, given the way that it was treated. “Congratulations, Monterey, for twenty-five years of faithful service to Mercury and to the Ford Motor Company. Now, please clean out your desk, because you’re fired.” A sad ending for one of the best and most durable names of the post World War II auto industry. At least, unlike some other old-timers like New Yorker or Bonneville, it got to ride off into the sunset on a pretty respectable car.
Really, if you were going to sell a car in black and white generic packaging that said “Large Sedan” on the label, wouldn’t the car look just like this?
That’s the best line of the week. Simply brilliant.
I agree with Doug that the author has a great line about the not unpleasant generic styling of the 73 Monterey. Personally with the demise of Mercury I feel its a shame to waste some great recent name finds, such as “Mercury Mariner” for the small SUV and “Mercury Mountaineer” for the big one.
my favorite is “Lincoln Aviator”. Hinting at a problem with road-holding ability? 🙂
The reason this car looks better to us today, than the higher model lines using the same body, is because the strong overall shape is easier to see. We gawk at broughams today often due to their shocking overuse of trim. So it is a nice surprise to see a car like this, de-broughamed, as it were. Without the louvered headlights, fender peak trimmings, rocker panel chrome, and more elaborate roof trim, this large square car becomes more attractive to our modern sense of style.
These cars are more enjoyable sitting still, than they are on the road. These are not driver’s cars. These are passenger’s cars. They have a little bit of a 35 foot RV feel to them. Driving them made you feel completely disconnected from the road – not in a good way. Acceleration was not accurate, braking was not a strong point, and these cars went over bumps like ships cresting over ocean waves.
Visibility was challenging due to how low you sat in these cars, how high the dashboards were, and how long the hoods were. This meant that anything on the road in front of you disappeared a dozen feet or so, ahead. Parking required spatial skills normally observed in tank operators, tractor trailer truckers and aircraft during taxiing.
I, agree, wholeheartedly, VanillaDude. My Dad bought, new, a 1973 Rideau 500, 2-door hardtop. It was medium blue, with a white vinyl roof. It was gorgeous! When he purchased a new(in “Goldenrod”)1982 Chrysler New Yorker, Dad gave me the Mercury(I was 21.) Well, I’m, about, 5’7 and, let me say…I, always, felt, like I was driving that car, from its back seat! ‘Loved it, though! Regards,
J.R.
Now you know why I’m not much of a Ford fan.
The main photo reminds me of many years ago when ads for nasty stuff would be sent to you if you ordered anything (for the record – I never did), it would be “shipped in a plain, brown wrapper.” Is that what I would have received?
EDIT: I loved the name “Monterey”, though.
But Zackman, the rear windows even roll down! 🙂
Phooey! You had to find something good about it, didn’t you? Ha ha ha!
Was a ’73 Impala any better/different? it just just as big, just as bland….but rusted out around the windshield and back window MUCH quicker.
Is this car is the equivalent of my ’73 Galaxie 500 being a cheaper LTD? I still miss that barge and the 400M under the hood!
Yep, Pretty much. BTW , I always thought the Big M fullsizers of this era looked much better than the eqiuv Fords, YMMV.
I’m always facinated by “big cars” and this Monterey is no exception. One of the attractions I can see in this car is a little more rear leg room than the LTD (that’s what they did with the extra 3 in of wheelbase, right?) but still plain enough (with crank windows) that there isn’t much complexity on the car to break. Simple, plain, honest… but sadly it’s a Mercury – not a Ford. I think Ford might have done better with the last of the companies RWD sedans – Crown Victoria, Grand Marquis, and Town Car with a three wheelbase strategy. 114″ for the Crown Vic, 117″ for the Grand Marquis, and then make the Lincoln Town Car “L” (at 122″) the standard wheelbase length for the Town Car. That would have given greater differentiation and choice.
I would love to have one of these suckers now, but then again sometimes I think I’m just trying to become a custodian of dead brands. 🙂
I have to confess that this car has grown on me since I first saw it earlier this summer. I am a square land yacht kind of guy, and the more I look at the shape of this car, the better I like it. I think I am starting to prefer this one to the chromier Marquis. Some work on the front, back and insides, and it could have been pretty attractive.
I also like this one better than the 75-78 Marquis, that started getting a little baroque and fussy in its details.
You are right, Dan. Crank windows, few or no power options, a low stress 400, this could be the best choice for a trouble-free old monstro-cruiser. And what a great early 70s color.
FWIW I stare at old luxury cars on eBay and then my practical side kicks in and I start worrying about the things that would break (primate automatic climate controls, electric windows and seats, ect…)
Oh and just the other day I realized the 1980 LeBaron you took pics of had Paulding County OH plates on it. I grew up in Putnam County, right next door. My dad worked for Henry Implement Co. the John Deere dealer in Continental, OH.
Small world. My mother grew up in Paulding County. I was just there over the summer for a family reunion. Go Panthers!
The 1975 Marquis was my grandmother’s (and my aunt’s–she tended to copy Grandma) car. What a barge–but I remember it being absolutely silent to ride in. And air conditioning that could have done duty in a meat locker.
The Monterey would make a good Ford equivalent to Murilee Martin’s 1965 Impala Hell Project over at TTAC, but slightly more upscale. 😉
Not a bad idea, cfclark, but too close to what Murilee did for me. I’ve actually had an idea but I’ve got two directions on it. Lets see what you guys think.
Idea 1: Get a Grand Marquis (up level model) or a Town Car (year isn’t really important but I like the 2003 and up because of the changes they made). Turn it into a rolling testament to Detroits excesses of the 70s and into the 80s. Chrome everything that will stand still for it, continental kit if I can find one, steer horns on the hood, no portholes but maybe fender vents like Ford loved during those years… Call it the Baroque Brougham.
Idea 2: Get a Grand Marquis 1992 to 2011 or extreme areo Town Car (1998-2002) in a color that’s common on government cars and make it a commentary on our post 9/11 – Spent 1 TRILLION on Homeland Security world. (I’m a Libertarian at heart.) Add little touches that make it look like an unmarked/undercover car. Tinted windows to make it hard to see the luxurious interior (NM law will let you tint pretty decently dark), spotlight, steelies and blackwall tires, body color some of the bright work, a push bar… ect. Just enough to make people with a guilt complex sweat, until they get up close and see that it’s just a custom car. Padded roof equiped cars need not apply for this one. If it’s a Town Car areo models only cause their shape is the most like the Crown Victoria. You guys should understand I live in a city that not only has a police force, sheriffs office, but also has an FBI building, and numerous goverment agenices for the Navajo Tribe. When I go out on School District business I sometime drive 50 miles and only see 5 other cars, all of them with government plates.
What does the CC comentariat think?
I remember reading a piece in one of the early issues of MAKE magazine (well post-9/11, mind you) that described how you could take an innocuous civilian vehicle, in this case an XJ Jeep Cherokee, and turn it into something official-looking enough that you could just go where and park where you wanted, without anyone paying any notice. The author carried traffic cones in the vehicle, wore an orange safety vest if I recall correctly, and had a magnetic sign on the side that read “INSPECTION VEHICLE” or something like that…people would defer to this thing as if he were a utility worker, and never question him double-parking, etc.
When I worked for the Department of the Navy at a ship repair facility, I had, for quite a while, a sticker on the front of my hard hat that said AUTHORIZED PERSON.
A lot of the backwoods boys here like to buy castoff police Panthers…the spotlights and sometimes the push-bars are still in place. What do I think? Annoying…since I have a road-racer cycle that doesn’t like speeds under 70. I see something like that, grab brakes, and find out it’s just some doofus with three teeth making a beer run…
In the Navy, I used to masquerade at being a Senior Chief, with a kid from my department, who pretended to be an Ensign. He was 22; I was 36…old enough to know better.
In civvies, carrying empty briefcases, we commandeered official cars at the pier at Dubai when we were replenishing, during our time doing donuts in the Persian Gulf. Never got caught at it; but we had a smart young enlisted guy transfer to our ship, who inserted all kinds of stuff into his personnel record…in those days, before computerized recordkeeping, it was possible and probably commonplace. But he went over the line, and didn’t have the knowledge we Personnelmen did…we found it; let his DivO know; and the results were not pretty.
It ain’t worth it. If you need the adrenaline rush, go for it…but REAL official flunkies don’t like finding imitators. Expect the punishment to be out of proportion to the harm.
I don’t want to run around pretending to be a cop, I just want the car to look unoffically-offical. And a Crown Vic is too easy, plus the cop ones ride hard cause of the heavy duty springs.
Duly noted. But once the wrath of officialdom is aroused, they tend to be most generous in spreading the warm-fuzzies.
I suppose there’s no harm in just having an OFFICIAL USE ONLY -looking car. But there’s no real feedback on it, either. But if, as someone said, you start double-parking, wearing the vest, and setting out the cones…that’s playing with fire.
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/11/ur-turn-panther-love-in-the-time-of-homeland-security/
Sometimes you don’t even have to look official, draw your own conclusions. Although my mother is the type of person who would have called the cops if she saw Murilee’s Impala.
@educatordan
Go with #2. It sounds simply awesome. Aero Town Car, FTW!
Now if I just had the coin for the 1999 Town Car Signature sitting on a local dealers lot… only 63,000 miles – one owner local trade (the truth by the way, I know this dealer well)
Dan, I like the way you think! A great and fun project. Question: Does your F-150 have steer horns on the hood? If not, why not? You live in the perfect place. A guy in my neighborhood has an old circa 1997 beige, beat-up Camry with steer horns on its hood! I’m going to get a photo of it and share it with the group soon!
No steer horns on the F150 and I decided to put the money for a dual exhaust on it into the fee for my school administrators licence (there’s a few small holes in the exhaust but they’re all in the muffler or down stream and I can get away with it in the dry Southwest.) I have a feeling you could call me either Assistant Principal or Principal by the start of next school year.
Premature congratulations on that if it happens, just be sure to let us know! Principal_Dan? What then, an avatar of Dean Wormer?
Fat and stupid is no way to go through life, son.
Oops, too late. You beat me to the quote!
You don’t even have to do all that much cop-car customizing to scare the citizenry. My mother in law had a Crown Vic in the late 90’s. I drove it a few times and immediately noticed how the traffic around me slowed down and the drivers looked nervous.
Of course, as fewer and fewer Vics remain on police duty, this effect will wear off.
When I had my first CV a 92 LX HPP it got it’s share of respect from other drivers in stock form. The other cars on the road would slow down, move over, put on their seat belts ect. It commanded even more respect in certain areas since it was identical to the chief of police of a local town. There were also identical looking cars parked in front of the federal building in Seattle. More than once I had police wave at me as I sped and I do mean sped by them.
I vote for option 1 with one recomendation, that you start with the good one and up the performance too.
Start with a GM LS-E for the buckets and floor shifter of the Marauder, or just a GM LS or LS Ultimate with HPP for the bench seat.
Lower it about 1″ and a set of addco sway bars. Ultra high performance 255s all around or 275 or 285s in the rear for the staggered look. Gears to suit the tire size and a track lok for the rear A set of headers and free flow exhaust w/Dyno Max mufflers to keep it quiet during mild driving byt a little rumble when you are on it. Top it off with a SCT programer and a shot of nitrous.
Then go to town with the bro-ham theme. Do the Continental hump on the trunk with the “exposed” wheel made from a cut down wheel that matches the road wheels.Heavily padded contrasting color vinyl or cloth top. Cover the fixed portion of the rear doors and shrink the rear window size by about 1/2. Lighted chrome landau bars. Chrome fake side pipes that “exit” the front fender. Stainless lower door trim. Chrome mud flaps and chrome lighted curb feelers. And of course the horns.
You’re gonna laugh, bride to be (who is more of a child of the 90s, while I am more of a child of the 80s) would likely rather be seen in the “sinister” option 2. But I think that greater social commentary on the state of the “Artists Formerly Known As The Big 3” would be derived from option 1. Although option 2 would be more of a statement on American Society in the “Land of the Free.”
There is a saying that those who have been married for decades use. If Momma ain’t happy nobody is happy. So option 2 is the way to go.
You should still do the performance mods. With option 2 you sort of need it to back up the image, while with option 1 it provides a nice contrast to embarrass those who laugh at it in their “performance” cars.
How about a Brougham d’Elegance Signature Series Cartier Limited SE?
‘I`m from the Federal Government,and I`m here to help you.’
Just getting to this CC after 3 years, but I’m 100% certain the WB difference between the Mercuries and the Fords was ahead of the firewall – that was standard practice back then, and really from after the war. In the days of straight sixes and eights, you could argue there was a logical reason for it, but once V-*s became the norm it was pure marketing.
Hi. Not sure if this site is still active. But if so I just came across a 74 2 door hardtop custom ,62000 miles. A real one owner. With all the papers including a hand written note for the 100.00 dollar down payment. What a ride. forgot what a dream they were. My first was a 51.
I am so torn on Ford. I love them and I hate them. For me, they will always be the engineers (somewhere a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away) that brought us the Panther and Fox chassis. Those to me were two of the most fun to drive, affordable, rugged, easy to DIY fix, easy to mod platforms around – with the emphasis on a combination of all those factors, a rare combination in any vehicle. Then there is the Ford of dumb executive decisions, unfathomable corporate stupidity, etc.
LOL it’s just people on the other side, as anywhere else. Some smart, some idiots. The idiots are usually running things though. Like anywhere else.
One more thing that did not make it into the piece: That page from the sales lit of the car on the beach with the babe in the white bikini. Is there a person anywhere on earth who would have been less likely to buy that car in 1973?
Gotta love the shameless hormonal stimulation/manipulation! I wonder how many people actually would fall (fell) for something this, on a subconscious level?
Just like that recent Nissan commercial, forget what it was, but it had a bunch of teens being silly and sporting different hair and then the bottom line was it has the most head room in its class. The real manipulation was of course that it is a hip car and that *you* could be hip if you had one.
About as unusual as a girl on a racing bike. I always do a double-take with these, unsure whether the long hair means a ♀ wears the helmet.
I was thinking the same thing. Who ever at the ad agency came up with the idea should have got a kick in the butt. Beach babe with a big Monterey? Oh of course, she was borrowing Dad’s car.
And another classic (that would look ten times better with white-walls) falls victim to the dreaded black walls of doom. Sure, it’s probably not the owner’s fault, as white-walls are becoming increasingly hard to find in bigger sizes. When I bought new tires for my Caprice, my local Firestone had to order some in; they had none in stock in 225-75-15, which has been relegated to truck tire status.
OMG 75 aspect tyres no wonder the handling is barge like.
It’s face even looks sad, like it has resigned itself to the fact it was almost dead…
I’ve always felt that with these, and the base model Fords, the designers just gave up.
I think it was rather a holdover from an era when all models were the same size, and budget/fleet buyers had to be punished with more homely styling & less “bling.”
Japan started a new marketing paradigm (well, imitating Nash), with more std. fruit to impress buyers & simplify logistics, & accessorizing mostly at the dealer so they could get their cut.
I had a ’72 Monterey 2-door, the previous body style, during a wild period of buying/trading old junkers I went through in 1984-85. Bought it for $40.00 – the guy was going to junk it and that was the going rate then, so for some reason I decided to save it. It had the 400M engine, which I was assured was a good, smooth runner, and I just happened to have a ’73 Galaxie 500 with a 400M and a pronounced rod knock. Instant parts car.
The Merc had no battery and no tires/wheels. It wasn’t placed on blocks, so the car was sinking into the mud. My stepdad and I brought two wheels from the Galaxie along with a floor jack, and we were actually able to get the back of the car out of the mud and install the wheels. An old-fashioned tow truck brought it home.
When I swapped in the Galaxie’s battery, to my surprise the Merc started on the second or third try. It did indeed run well, but I quickly discovered that it needed a radiator and a water pump. The Galaxie sacrificed those along with its thermostat. I actually fashioned gaskets from an old album cover and liberal amounts of Permatex.
In the end, the cooling system parts, all four wheels, both seats, the AM/FM stereo, air cleaner assembly, and probably a few other things I don’t remember ended up on that Merc. A tuneup and oil change and I was on the road, and I got my $40.00 back when I scrapped the Galaxie. Get this – the A/C actually worked!
On the minus side, it suffered from the infamous Ford frame rot, so I didn’t have it long. Also, was there an uglier full-size Merc from the last 50 years than the ’71-’72’s? No, there wasn’t.
It’s funny how tastes are so different. I LOVE the body style of the 71 and 72’s. I had a green 71 Marquis sedan and it was one of the best cars I ever had.
Note the Sable (sans bumper) behind it in the lead picture. How many light years between this Merc and that one?
Not to mention the green Mystique behind that. But thats now as important.
When I was a teenager, my best friend had a 1974 Monterey two door with a 400 under the hood. We called it, “Queen Mary Jr.” What I do remember is getting pie-eyed and cruising around listening the the B-52s a full blast and frequent stops at gas stations where the hat got passed around to keep the fun going.
It’s amazing we all didn’t end up on jail or the morgue.
As I was reading this comment my Pandora Radio started to play “Deadbeat Club” – B-52s – perfect.
“I got me a Chrysler, it’s as big as a whale, and it’s about to set sail…”
That’s “Love Shack”
The greatest party song, finally upstaging “Louie, Louie”, which, ironically, I never particularly liked even tho’ it’s my generation.
I know, but there aren’t any car-related lines in “Deadbeat Club”!
But doesn’t Canucknucklehead make himself sound like a member of the “Deadbeat Club” with that story?
It must have been a Meteor Rideau 500 or Montcalm, as the Monterey in this form wasn’t sold in Canada,although it was essentually the same car.
Roger, I stand corrected. It looked just like the ones in the pictures here but at the time, I would have been to stoned to know the difference!
Man, were my teenage years ever fun. The namby-pamby nanny state has killed all the fun here.
@ Jordan Tenenbaum: I have taken to shooting pics of every whitewall I find. My kids think I’m nuts. It’s depressing to see Town Cars and Caddies without proper footwear. And there are good sources for tires online – not sure what the rules are about naming retailers in the comments, but I can recommend one if needed.
Well, I can tell you that the Tirerack is surely not one of them. I was able to find four Mastercrafts with whitewalls for my Caprice, but, they are certainly not as cheap as I once remember.
And no, you’re not nuts in the slightest!
When I sold cars in the late 80s there was a guy who would come onto the used lot with an device that would etch whitewalls onto a tire that was wasn’t. It worked like a giant compass from a kid’s geometry set.
It was a GM store on the Canadian prairies, right off of “Fargo”, and the clueless dimbulb sales manager thought that used 1-year-old Jettas and Sentras would somehow sell better with whitewalls.
Ah, the quandary of the name. When the Monterey was introduced, it was to invoke the image of a faraway seaside resort…
…but with time, for all the folks in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Sioux Falls…the name came to represent not exciting vacation destinations, but a pedestrian full-size car. In the end it was indistinguishable from a Galaxie except for the nameplate and a higher price.
The moral is: the car better live up to the image generated by the name; else the model is doomed.
“The moral is: the car better live up to the image generated by the name; else the model is doomed.”
Kind of like the 1997 Malibu, huh?
Which makes me wonder: will we ever pine for the days when `97 Malibus roamed the streets?
Perhaps my love for cars does indeed have its limits.
I think we will. When we get to the 2025 CAFE standards…and we’re forced to shoehorn ourselves into little four-wheeled sidecars…and yank on the starter rope of our EcoTech II engines…we’ll look at a 1997 Malibu and actually get aroused.
Remember all the moaning back in the seventies about how performance cars were history? By the year 2000 we’d all be snoozing around in fat, slow safetymobiles? Well they were right, they’re called SUVs.
On the other hand, the 2012 Boss 302 Mustang has 4 sec. 0-60 times, pulls .99 G and gets 26 mpg on the highway. Corvette’s 26 mpg highway too.
2025 CAFE cars can look like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_C-X75
Just the facts my friend, there will always be wonderful new cars.
When a $24K Chrysler 200 can pull a 5.5 second 0-60 time AND get 27.2 mpg, we are truly living in a golden age for cars.
…when pigs fly.
Using the logic offered…we’ll someday get cars that go from 0 to 60 in no-time flat and use no fuel.
It ain’t happening. There are limits; limits imposed by the laws of physics. And I think we’re close to being up against them. I know we’re as far as we can go without some earth-shattering new technology – which we do not have.
All I know is I like Steve McGarret’s ’68 Park-Lane Brougham better than his ’74 Marquis.
http://www.mjq.net/fiveo/50mercury.htm
http://home.comcast.net/~waxtadpole/car.htm
Interesting that it can be on the beach & not leave a mark on the sand.
Whitewalls- It’s difficult to find 6.00×16 blackwall tires for my truck. I’ll just add the complaint that 6.00×16 tires have about enough tread when new to drive on & off the trailer a few times, a few times around the parking lot & maybe a parade.
“Interesting that it can be on the beach & not leave a mark on the sand.
Photoshop 1974 beta version, maybe?
It does look like that pic was altered somehow. In pre-computer times, that would have been harder to do than just driving it on a beach somewhere…but that photo doesn’t look natural.
It looks like it’s standing on some kind of podium or platform, and it looks like they just covered it up with sand underneath the car. I don’t think they rolled the car down to the beach, I think they just lifted the platform with car and all down from a truck.
It’s probably just as well Ford retired the name Monterey. Like other great, full-size car names of the past (like Polara and Biscayne), they’re better left to be remembered as the land barges they were during their heyday than being tacked onto some lame car a fraction of the size in today’s world.
OTOH, Impala, Malibu, Mustang, and Camaro all survive in today’s market relatively undiluted. Challenger would make the list if it weren’t for the weak Mitsubishi version, as would Charger if Chrysler hadn’t decided to bring the name back on a 4-door (although they might as well since there was the Cordoba-variant, as well the FWD, 2-door, Omni-based version).
Impala and Malibu were actually revived (along with Monte Carlo-another great exotic locale used as a car name) after a long hiatus when both ended their production runs in the early 80s. The Impala actually followed a similar path to the Monterey. It was the top of the line from its introduction in ’58 until the Caprice came along in ’66. Unlike the Monterey though, it continued to post high sales numbers until about the late 70s, when it essentially became a de-contented Caprice.
Ford Aussie gave the Marquis badge a whirl in the late 70 on their range topping LTD it had the whole Brougham disaster kit even a lincolnesc front panel in fibreglass. The Govt bought up large as official cars the public not so much.
That is one soulless car right there.. That Monterey ranks right up there with the 73 Newport with it’s stolen Impala nose.
What makes it soul-less? At least these cars still had character. The 73 Newport still had torsion bars, an available big block, and legendary Torqueflite. The Mercury at least still had a unique wheelbase to make it different than the Ford and honestly I kinda like the body color hubcaps. Those two cars have twice the soul a Camry does today, now that’s a soulless car.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t feel they are horrible cars. They do have a few redeeming qualities but overall, to me, they just say “Here I am! Generic luxury car A and B.”.
Interesting point with the Camry as that’s the first car that came to mind when I saw the first image of the Monterey.
I always felt that the LTDs and Monaco/Polaras had more to offer with a little more character.
I admit that the Big 3 tried to make much “hay while the sun shines” from the same basic parts in the 60s, 70s, (and for GM) into the 80s. I fully understand why Chrysler and Ford cut their number of product offerings in the 70s and 80s. What was the point of a Newport when there were so many other products to sell that were almost the same dang thing? Why have the Monterey when a base Marquis/Grand Marquis would give you just about the same thing?
I was just defending their soul qualities. I’m one of those guys who thinks a base Newport or Monterey still had a lot more soul than a Camry or an Accord.
Amen, those big sedans if the 70’s had more soul than an Avalon or Versa if today.
Why do you think all the villains drove them in the Rockford Files, Kojak, Baretta, Mannix, Adam 12, etc.
You never saw them driving wimpy crap, like MGBs, Opel Kadetts or Mantas, Pintos or the embarrassing Mustang II. Right?
You know, after months of looking at the vintage ads for various cars, a form of art I truly miss is the realistic color illustration. Those were very common up to the early 1970’s, and quite prolific in Life and Look magazines.
Paul, you or another contributor could do an article on this. Geozinger, although younger, but an artist, may have something to say on this as well.
In my religious organization, that form of art is still used a lot, as you can highlight what you are trying to show and say in a way that is unique to that art form and can’t be brought out in a photograph and have the same impact.
Agreed!
Hey, thanks for the shout out! I too miss the great Van and Fitz ads of the 60’s. The other thing I notice is that no one tries to emulate Kodachrome much in their ads anymore. Rarely do I see photography that shows a good saturated color. (I saw the discussion about Tri-X? Pan-X? the last week on the other site.)
Somewhere in the late malaise period, I guess we got tired of color too? Or is that a function of the fact that as proofing processes got better, we got more accurate color (on press)? Did I say I miss the saturated color stuff?
Back in the 80’s I used to get a collector magazine (more like a broadsheet) that was published in Iowa, but I no longer remember the name. They did a complete in-depth article (20+ pages) on Van and Fitz. Because it was a cheap magazine, the insides were all newsprint, and the black and white reproductions of the V&F artwork was real muddy. Collectible Automobile did a series on V&F a few years back too. Rendered in color, it is fantastic stuff.
Ads like those are what sparked my interest in becoming a graphic designer. There was a lot of solid design behind them, I use their principles to this day when creating for work or for freelance.
Oh man, Van and Fitz, fantabulous!
http://www.fitz-art.com/home.htm
“I’ve always maintained that a picture of a car moving doesn’t mean a thing. They all move. You have to convey something about the car psychologically. It’s all about image. That’s the reason people buy cars.”
Kodachrome’s been out of style for just long enough – it will soon be ‘the look’. “Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day, oh yeah!”
Hi, GEO! Thanks for your insight on this subject. I did no illustrations, although an “Illustrator” in the Air Force – just basic graphics and later got into structural design where I am now, for the past 31½ years designing empty boxes for spark plugs, oil filters, cereal and such!
Darn, I forgot to mention Duotone!
I always liked that B&W photo effect, too.
@Zackman: I’d be curious to know what software you work with. I’m print production right now, so I use the Adobe Creative Suite for the most part.
I’m imagining you’re using the Esko Graphics software? Last I checked they were very popular for the carton/packaging crowd. Back in the mid-late ’80’s I was doing some carton work, mostly with corrugated. A whole weird world if you’re used to offset lithography.
About 15 years ago, I was using FreeHand, Illustrator and Quark for doing flexible packaging (potato chip bags, etc.) and flexo adhesive labels. But since then, I got back into regular production art and haven’t done any of that work. I had done some small scale carton work at my previous job, but I was fortunate to have the assistance of a good steel rule die maker to help me through the rough spots.
@geozinger:
I do use Esko Graphics ArtiosCAD software. 20 years ago I was still doing this stuff by hand, actually drawing the complete design on the back side of whatever stock I was using, cut out and score by hand! I don’t miss those days at all! Cutting tables do it so much better and neater, now.
This reminds me of the conversation back-and-forth over on TTAC a few months ago!
Hey, if you get in a jam and need some carton design work help, give me a shout!
Yes, Artios CAD. I couldn’t remember the exact name of the software.
And, yes, I will keep your offer in mind.
Strange, the ads have an effect on me as well. I usually do backgrounds and character designs for people’s flash cartoons and games on the internet (not good pay, but I enjoy it) and most of my palette that I use comes from old painted car ads I’ve scanned in and saved in my “SCO,” or “Sai Colour Operations” folder. I usually just make a folder and name it “Something something O.” Don’t ask. Anyways, because I disliked doing the designs with a cel-shaded aesthetic I had been using for years, I started leaning into using the watercolour tools more, the same as when I first started getting into actual art as a kid and not drawing funky fictional Mustang variations. The end result is that my work a lot of times is directly influenced or outright descended from those old automotive ads from things like National Geographic and dealership promotional items people gave me as a kid. I’m nowhere near as good as Van or Fitz, but thanks to things I’ve learned by simply looking at the ads I’ve got a colouring style that’s a lot more recognizable than most.
I did a post on Van and Fitz ads over at TTAC: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/01/those-amazing-psychedelic-pontiac-ads-by-fitzpatrick-and-kaufman/
My favorite all time ever ads.
Yeah, me too. I grew up believing the future would look like that. Dreamy.
’69 GTO was the official car of the US Ski Team? HooHooHahHahHah!!!!! (Check out the redwalls.)
Now it’s Audi Quattro. Cool.
What’s this got to do with a bland old Mercury anyway? What a crowd.
Hate to be a fly in the ointment but the Monterey name came back for this soulless forgettable monstrosity.
Ford probably brought the name back for its alliterative qualities so that it would follow the rest of the Mercury line (Mariner, Mountaineer, Milan, etc).
Well, at least Montego came back on a decent vehicle….
British leyland used the Montego badge on one of their disasters Ford should have copywrited it
The BL Montego wasn’t a complete disaster. Hot Rod magazine used the badging from it on their Monte1go. It was more butch than the 1970 swoopy cursive script Ford used.
Plenty of relevance for a “Monterey Custom” in the day – a (small) step up from an LTD, sure, but something to even out the (then good selling) full size Mercury line for ’73, although the Marquis was the “belle of the ball”.
My late Uncle and Aunt after being turned off of Mopars after their horrid ’78 Fury Wagon debacle went to Mercuries. My Uncle traded every year for a new Grand Marquis beginning in ’95 until he passed on in ’02. I used to joke with him that he was just going throug the color chart with each subsequent trade in. A Panther loyalist, indeed! (Auntie is still driving the ’02 – going strong – both the car and my 83 year old Aunt!).
Makes one wonder in relation to the posts and articles on the big GM C body “blurring” – Marquis/Grand Marquis and Continental/Town Car, too, were also “too close for comfort”. My Uncle (and my Grandmother, her last car being a Grand Marquis) felt that there was no reason to ante up to a Town Car – the Grand Marquis having all that and then some.
” At least, unlike some other old-timers like New Yorker or Bonneville, it got to ride off into the sunset on a pretty respectable car.”
Pity the poor Chevy Bel-Air, a nane once prestigious enough to lend its second syllable ro the 1950s Futurama Corvair dream car. It died as the entry-level full-size Chevy; below both the Impala and the Caprice
The Illinois Tollway used 71-74 Montereys as thier patrol cars. But didn’t see too many others, besides old timers with base hubcaps.
Lots of great car names were turned into ‘fleet specials’ by the 70’s, over shadowed by the newer ‘top of the line’. BelAir, Galaxie 500, Impala, Catalina, Polara, Fury, and Monterey. By the mid 80’s then all the former premium names were the whole full sized line, Crown Vic, Grand Marq, Bonneville and Caprice. Seeing taxi cab and cop car Caprices in 1986, with the ‘Fler de Lies’ badge was kinda strange.
Another change from 1973 to 2015: smog. I’m amazed at the cover of the 1973 brochure, which is a view across San Diego bay, from Coronado. I haven’t seen the horizon look that brown in many, many years.
Also, the cover pic makes it look extremely GM-ish to me
I like many varients of the ’73-’78 big Fords and Mercurys, and learned to drive in a ’76 LTD. Even as the middle trim car, the ’76 LTD just seemed 10 times better looking than this.
I don’t know quite what it is, this Montery has most of the standard trim for a non-stripper of the era, even optional fenders skirts, but this comes across as likely the frumpiest 1973 big car that was not usually intended for police or taxi duty.
The Montery after 1968 always seemed to be the frumpiest big car available. Chrysler Newports, Olds 88s, and Buick LeSabres, this car’s primary competition, all seemed to be much better looking cars – Mercury could not seem to figure out why all those nameplates easily outsold it, even when the problem was featured prominently in advertising.
I get a kick out of the ad with the barely clothed young lady. The car pictured would seem to be the last car on earth a lady like that would choose.
I think Mercury wanted buyers to move up to the (more profitable) Marquis after 1968. The Marquis really was a big step up from the Monterey in looks and luxury.
I was looking through my old issues of Special Interest Autos last night. Ford actually ran an ad for the 1974 Marquis on the back of a 1974 issue. It was a big step up from this car.
Growing up our next door neighbor had one of these, it was white with a white top and blue cloth interior. They had that car for what seemed like forever to me as a kid. I remember the white colored wheel covers and fender skirts seemed so luxurious to me.
I have always had a soft spot for these, as I did a lot of my early driving in my grandparents’ ’76 Grand Marquis. So, when a nice, clean, low mileage one crossed my path a dozen years ago, it became mine — the loaded all black ’73 Marquis Brougham pictured here, which now has 82K miles on it (see photo). With the self-leveling rear suspension, it’s a treat to drive on the highway and recently got 17 MPG (@70-75 MPH) on a few legs of a recent long trip.
I think it and it’s Ford counterparts were about the last FoMoCo products that were designed without any concern for weight, because this is one heavy car, especially when equipped with the 429 like this one, and loaded with options. Still, it can be surprisingly nimble for such a large, overweight car. And of course, the ride is just beyond compare. Often, you (barely) hear bumps but don’t really feel them at all. Back in the early ’80s I had a ’76 LTD Landau that was also quite a handler, due to it’s heavy duty suspension.
The oooonly way to fly!
Gorgeous car! Love the color combo and it looks like a loaded car too…..You would swear that picture came right out of the 1973 Mercury brochure – the backdrop/setting is perfect! Even the way the car is turned – it looks flawless!
Thank you for the kind words about the photo. It was taken a few days ago at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, CA. And yes, it is loaded — twenty options.
We knew then Mercury for 1962 tried to bring the Meteor as Mercury’s mid-size counterpart of the Fairlane (while Comet was still a “senior compact”) while it was the basic version of the full-size Mercury trying to imitate Dodge going almost into C-F-P (Chevrolet-Ford-Plymouth) territory after the Edsel fiasco and the Eisenhower recession the model year before. We could wonder what if Mercury had decided to use the Monterey monicker instead of Meteor for their mid-size/intermediate version of the Fairlane for 1962?
Ford and Mercury seemed to be pushing the lux-o names at dealers. “Get an LTD for same as an Impala!” Ditto for base Marquis competing with 88/LeSabre.
But then, Ford/Merc RWD full sizers outlived GM’s by 15 years.
I think it was the ’73 Monterey that Jim Morrison was singing about when he sang, “The End.”
I don`t think so. Mr. Mojo Rising, aka The Lizard King, aka Jim Morrison was dead in` 71,two years before the Monterey.
Parents had a ’62 and ’67. The ’62 was a 2 door 390 4 barrel with bucket seats, floor shifter auto in beige with 2 tone beige and brown interior with lots of chrome and stainless steel inside and out. It had much more power then the ’67 390 2 barrel example, even after it’s plugged up exhaust system was replaced. The ’67 was a puke green in and out 4 door bench seat model. The in dash AC was much better than the factory under dash unit of the ’62. The ’62 was a special car, the ’67 not. I think Dad bought the ’67 because it reminded him of his old 67Conti he bought new but only had for about 2 years. Mom was not happy at all about this as he traded in “her” ’62 on this. He had a bad habit of trading in good cars for not so good ones. And it ran like crap the day he bought it (used, around 1972). The same repair shop that did the brakes on the ’62 (fell apart on the freeway) and tie rod ends (fell off at a stop sign, both wheels pointed opposite direction), replaced the transmission and did a valve job on the ’67 which didn’t fix this cars lack of power. Finally they figured out the muffler had collapsed internally. That’s all it needed, a new muffler. Don’t ask me why he used that same shop/gas station for so long other than he really got along with the owner. I actually think the ’67 Galaxie was a much nicer and better looking car. The ’62 was much nicer looking than the ’62 Galaxie, in my opinion. The ’67 did survive a “Dukes of Hazard” jump done at 75 mph by stupid 16 year old me with only a pinhole in the gas tank as a result. I didn’t notice that until the next day when there was gas on the driveway. I “fixed” the leak with a self tapping screw and a faucet washer. Sorry Dad. By ’73 the Monterey was a sad ghost of it’s former glory. I could always tell when a early to mid 70’s 390 Ford single exhaust was run hard uphill, the exhaust sounded like a broken air hose and for all the noise the car was not moving very fast. Enjoyed the write up.
“Is there an automaker that did a worse job on the 1973 Federal five m.p.h. bumper than FoMoCo?” Yeah, Chevrolet, check out the ’73 Malibu:
http://www.oldcarbrochures.org/NA/Chevrolet/1973_Chevrolet/1973-Chevrolet-Chevelle-Brochure/1973-Chevrolet-Chevelle-08-09
I think they are both equally crude.
For some odd reason I actually prefer the Monterey over the Marquis when it comes to the 1973-74 styling and could never understand why the final generation of the RWD Monterey’s weren’t a big seller, I didn’t think the hidden headlights looked that good on the 1973-74 Marquis’s yet they looked great on the 1969-72 and 1975-78 Marquis’s.
“Soon, that grand and luxurious nameplate is on a very, very ordinary car. Is there a better example of this than the Mercury Monterey? ”
LeMans.
Hey, while you were there, do you also get any pictures of that Sable and the green Mystique behind it? Pretty good Mercury-per-lot ratio in this shot.
No I did not, I didn’t notice those other Mercury photobombs until later. 🙂
This wasn’t the Monterey nameplate’s last ride, sadly, it came back as a lame minivan, from 2004-2007.
Talk about being reincarnated into something a lot worse. That’s just as bad as when the Pontiac Le Mans came back in 1988 as a shitbox Daewoo, and when the Chevy Nova came back as a Toyota Corolla(Sprinter)… I had an 86 Yota Nova, and it was a reliable lil sucka, even though, it was nowhere as fast as the V8 Novas of yore.
The 1988 Novas were equipped with the 4AgE twin cam engine… yes, the same power plant as the iconic AE86 RWD Corolla GTS.
That Monterey, with the hideaway lights and full dress skirts, looks like a tan version of Steve McGarrett’s undercover Brougham… Even though, we all know he had a Marquis Brougham, after his Park Lane.
I must be nuts, because I love these things. Normally I have an abhorrence of massive personal coupes from the 1970s, but I just can’t fault this generation of the Monterey. A 1973 Hardtop Coupe in dark brown with the three-speed manual and the 351 Windsor seems like a really alluring car. And while some of you may say this car is “generic” I say it’s clean and simple. The Toyota Camry is generic. Same wraparound taillights, same pointy headlights, same stupid chrome bar across the back and that annoying rounded styling that pops up everywhere. The 1973 Monterey is so simple as to be alluring. I mean, come on. I’m talking about this car like I’m in love with it, and I usually avoid anything bigger than a Honda Fit like the plague. It has its faults, yes. The engines were always a bit weaker than they needed to be, and the interiors broke apart like a TIE Fighter in a STAR WARS movie. But these were big fat cruisers, weekend cars that were never meant to be flogged like a poor donkey on the rim of the Grand Canyon. You want a classic car you can run through the badlands and survive with, go grab a Ford Falcon. The Monterey and I will enjoy a leisurely cruise through the valley.
“A 1973 Hardtop Coupe in dark brown with the three-speed manual and the 351 Windsor seems like a really alluring car.”
I’m sure that both Montereys that were so configured would make for an interesting story and test drive. Title: “Accidents from the Assembly Line”
Alas, no manual transmissions in big Mercurys after ’71.
Yeah, I know. A man can dream though, right? It’s like people who shove production 454s and Powerglides in their 1957 Bel-Airs. Basically all the same parts, and everything fits, so why not just put all the ingredients in the same pan?
Only on Curbside Classic could you pull 100+ comments about a ’73 Mercury Monterey. 🙂
And the same goofballs come back and re-read them four years later. 🙂
Well, there may have been a stone left unturned… you never know.
Any car from ’73 thru the early ’80s looks awful with the big bumpers. Something from ’71 or ’72 would make you proud to have in your driveway.
I love how the old ads referred to the smooth ride. When did that go out of fashion? Must every sedan corner like a Corvette? The only car I can think of in recent memory that referred to the smooth ride was the prior generation Toyota Avalon. I guess the Lexus ES and LS are about the softest riding cars around, but it must be uncool to reference how isolated and comforting they are.
Seems like when Boomers became prime new car buyers, and imports started taking more market share, that ‘cushy’ went out.
Back in the Yuppie 80’s, instead of a big Caddy, once Boomers got a good paying job, it was a Benz or Beemer. And the big tanks got the ‘old man’ image.
Although, nowadays, Import Lux cars are ‘cushier’. Wonder why? lol
“Although, nowadays, Import Lux cars are ‘cushier’. Wonder why? lol”
Yeah, and Cadillacs ride and handle with a razor sharp edge. They’ve out BMWed BMW. The dirty little secret about Cadillac sales is that the Escalade is the one doing the heavy lifting.
So you say…the nicest looking Big car of the Seventies; ’77-’79 Mark V
That is a very sharp color combo. I’d never own one, being more of a Porsche / BMW guy, but I can’t think of another American luxury coupe that had more presence. Perfectly designed to do task it was built for.
Duly noted and a hell of a Mark V.
However, my heart belongs to the Mark III
I didn’t catch this four years ago, but the name “Montclair” may be not from New Jersey, but from the identically-named town in California (which at this point is nothing special to look at, either).
(And I think that makes me one of the “goofballs”. 😉 )
One thing about all the full-sized Mercurys over the years, they tended to get burdened with odd-duck styling that didn’t seem to impart any additional perceived luxury over its Galaxie/LTD twin. They were always more ornate, but pointlessly so. They never stuck with a design theme long enough to give them any real identity. I believe having McGarret drive a new Marquis on Hawaii Five-O did more to build the Marquis’s image than any marketing efforts from Lincoln-Mercury. At least in the late 60s-70s people could see a Marquis and think “Oh yeah, McGarret’s car. That’s pretty bad-ass.”
I had to pass my driver’s exam in one of these (including the dreaded parallel parking), but then it (dad’s car) was there to borrow for, uh, courtship (hooray for big, cushy bench seats, front and rear), and the first Gas Crisis hadn’t yet pinched prices. No wonder I smile at the great memories…..:-)
The only things missing are a spotlight, a couple of low band VHF antennas and a Missouri Highway Patrol sticker on the door. MSHP was probably the last significant user of police package Mercs lasting up to the early Panther era. As with the Chargers they use today, they came in every standard factory color.
By ’74, Monterey and Galaxie 500’s were ignored, but then there was this Oil Crisis going on. Those that could afford new big Ford cars and higher gas prices got LTD’s/Marquis.
My dad actually SPECIAL-ORDERED a ’73 Monterey from the factory. It was absolutely plain on the outside (no vinyl top, blackwall tires, and dog-dish hubcaps rather than full wheel covers). I’ve never SEEN another Monterey without full covers for the wheels.
For some reason, they were short on 351s when they made it, so they gave him a 429 at no extra cost.
I was in my teens when he bought it, so at the time it was the total opposite of what I wanted in a car. But I do remember how smooth and quiet it was. And that 429 would move out when one tromped the gas pedal
I have no idea how many miles were on it in 1989-1990 when it wouldn’t pass PA state inspection any more. My stepmom let it go to the junkyard.
It is rather blah.
My favorite full-sized Ford was the 1971 LTD 2 door. I’ve always loved the lines.
The blob full-sized Mercs were just invisible unless fully brougham’d to the highest Brougham level possible.
Ford really knew how to make a strippo car look like a strippo car in the 1970’s and early 1980’s. One look at these and you knew the owner “could not spring an extra $500 to get a good car.”
Mercury offering in Canada was different for 1973, we got the Marquis but no Monterey in the Great White North with the Meteor filling the void.
http://www.oldcarbrochures.org/Canada/Ford-Canada/Mercury/1973-Mercury-Meteor-Brochure/index.html
http://www.oldcarbrochures.org/Canada/Ford-Canada/Mercury/1973%20Mercury%20Marquis%20-%20Canada/index.html
Back in 2015 when this article was reprised, 73 ImpCapn and Greg Olotka wrote:
“And the same goofballs come back and re-read them four years later. 🙂”
“Well, there may have been a stone left unturned… you never know.”
And here we are again, six more years later and the same goofballs are back, self included! Actually these rereads are a lot of fun. And I did spot one of those stones, JPC wrote originally:
“Actually, the Monterey got a second shot as top dog in 1961-62 before the Montclair and Parklane returned and put the Monterey back into its second-class status.” The Monterey Custom continued for one more year as top dog in 1963, the Park Lane and Montclair reappeared in 1964. My dad bought a new ’63 Monterey Custom 4 door hardtop as our family car, our first one with power windows and air conditioning. It was quite an upscale car in those days, I learned to drive in that car and just loved it.
I’d drop the skirts, put WSW tires back on as they were available at the time, and ditch the color keyed blah looking wheel covers with something a bit more interesting from prior years like below. Also dump what looks like the Gold Glamour Poly color with something else, not in the browns whatever or pastels, like a darker green, blue, or red ploy.
By the time I became interested in cars (around 1976), the practice of giving different trim levels of the same basic car different names already seemed quaint. It made sense in the 1950s when nearly all Mercurys, Fords, or Chevys were essentially of the same design, albeit with far more choices in body styles, drivetrains, and equipment than is common today. But by the mid-70s when each brand offered several distinct cars, why did the large cars (and sometimes the mid-sized ones) need to be sold under two, three, or four different names? All of the Detroit brands were curtailing this practice around the time this Monterey was built, usually axing the low-end models like Biscayne or Galaxie. There were a few late holdouts like Impala/Caprice or Century/Regal; also those FWD Fleetwoods that were just fancy DeVilles. Sporty variants occasionally still get a separate moniker, but in most cases it makes sense to car the same cars the same name.
My father had a 1972 Mercury Montery sedan in blue with a 429 4v under the hood. I remember borrowing it to get parts to fix their old car (a 1963 1/2 Ford Country Squire) which had quit on my way back to San Diego after watching a Can Am race at Riverside (Ca) Raceway. I was cruising up CA163 (US15) wondering why everyone was going so slow when I noticed my speed was 85 mph. The soft suspension and quiet ride made the speed barely noticeable. If I remember correctly, the CHP had that vintage Monterey.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall in some of these marketing meetings when the geographic names come up. I mean, I get Sierra, Yukon, Silverado, perhaps Malibu. Even Bel Air, though I wonder how many people really knew where it was (or perhaps it had more cachet back then). But Tacoma? Monterey? Calais? Dakota? Of course, my town is just getting an addition to this list, from Hyundai … and we don’t even have a Hyundai dealer in town, so locals will have to go to Monterey to buy one.
I’m not sure about the ’50 Monterey being the first car to have a vinyl roof. The Riley RM series cars from 1946 on had what appears to be a vinyl roof.
But if you mean a vinyl roof in the sense of being a vinyl applique over steel, then the Monterey (and Ford Crestliner) wins.
Noticed this comment form September 2011 by JustPassinThru:
“Using the logic offered…we’ll someday get cars that go from 0 to 60 in no-time flat and use no fuel.
It ain’t happening. There are limits; limits imposed by the laws of physics. And I think we’re close to being up against them. I know we’re as far as we can go without some earth-shattering new technology – which we do not have.”
Made me chuckle
My Dad bought a ’73 Ford Ranch Wagon new that same year; it was metallic brown, dark but one of my favorite colors of all his cars. It was his first wagon in awhile that wasn’t green (he bought them all new), had a tan vinyl interior. I think the dash in the Mercury was similar/same to the Ford in ’73; I think previous years the Mercury had its own dash (not sure, but my brother-in-law had a ’69 Mercury that had a unique (not shared with Ford) dash. Despite being a Ranch Wagon versus our previous ’69 Country Squire, it was pretty plush; his first car with Air Conditioning, AM/FM stereo, power locks (didn’t have power windows) and trailer towing package. It had the 400/2bbl, which got terrible mileage, as later that year the first gas crisis hit, and he tried unsuccessfully to add electronic ignition to get better mileage, but it fried the coil, so he ripped it out. We had the car until ’78 when he traded it in on a new Caprice Classic wagon (which did get better fuel mileage) in time for the 2nd gas crisis in ’79. It was a big, comfortable car for long trips which we used it for quite a bit; we had a pop-top camper back then and though the trailer towing package was probably overkill, it was appreciated. It also came with Firestone 500 radials, which showed delamination very quickly (within 1000 miles) fortunately when up on a lift, he had them all replaced.
The funny thing was while owning this car, my Dad was in the hospital for a back problem, and we got a flat tire on his 2nd car in the hospital parking lot. I remember changing it myself, despite never having seen it done, because I had to. I was probably the first instance of working on a car I ever did (besides washing car or cleaning windows). I always think about doing this when I read that lots of cars no longer come with a spare tire anymore….granted flats seem less common now than 50 years ago, but I wouldn’t want to be stuck waiting for the auto club in the unpredictable event of getting a flat. I make a practice of checking the air pressure in my spare (and that of my Mother’s car) to make sure it could be used if needed. I even had to replace my spare due to age when the valve went bad and the tire was too old to remount (original spare on 20 year old car).