It’s time again to give Dearborn’s middle child a few minutes of attention, with this set of images portraying the brand in some of its better days. Most shots date from the 1950s, but a couple do come from the 1960s. And regarding the folks posing alongside these Mercurys, they make a curious juxtaposition; from family-types to some with a James Dean vibe.
While I appreciate the Cougar in the last picture I just can’t take my eyes off the college age woman’s hat. Clearly 1968 or 1969 so that hat! None of the older pictures, with older women, are wearing a hat. Maybe because I am Southern California now is why it looks so strange to me. Not what I’d see at UCLA. Also it is huge.
That hat jumped out at me too. Before I clicked on it to enlarge the pic, it looked almost like a yarmulke. After enlarging, it looks more like a bicycle helmet. I’ve never seen a hat like that one.
Think a lady in “Bewitched” wore a hat much like that once.
Love the photos. I have seen a few of these before. I had a cousin who had ’53 Mercury sedan, t upscale model. He and another cousin drove it from Troy, NY to Miami, Florida in thirty hours, taking turns sleeping and driving. Remember, there were in interstate highways at the time. Check out this ’53!
And let us not forget Joe Cool.
Thomas ;
That’s his younger brother Joe Dirt .
-Nate
In this photo, the boys get together to see what’s under the hood or, presumably, to repair it.
I always like the dashboard of the ’52 to ’54 models, especially the heatercontrols.
Did Mercury have their own engines or were they just Ford engines? One reason GM was able to have many divisions was that each had their own engines, at least up to a point. Part of GMs downfall was doing away with division engines.
Yeah – I think GMs marketing machine was caught out in the cold when US customers realized that the sizzle on the steak was really sizzle on gristle. As far as I’m concerned, GM sold basically the same design of car from ~1955 to 1980, and when they had to compete with FWD they choked. There’s only so much a car company can do when their commitment is to cost cutting and marketing, vs. actual product value. I think GM got what they deserved.
Except for hard points demanded by Fisher Body, there was considerably less commonality in GM divisions than you think until 64-65. It was not just engines, transmissions, frames and suspensions had significant divisional differences. Only GM’s sheer volume could have possibly justified it.
Yes and no depending on the year. Some years it was mostly a displacement difference but the FE was for Fords and small Edsels while the MEL was for Mercury, Large Edsels and Lincolns. So shared with others but not Fords.
As others have mentioned the only reason that GM could have so many engine families was due to the sheer volume they moved. The decline of V8 popularity, increasing emissions and fuel economy standards combined with their shrinking market share meant there just wasn’t enough demand to support 6 engine families with many sharing advertised displacements.
My DAD put a 1958 Mercury 4 barrel 312 engine in his 1955 Ford Fairlane to replace the 272 2 barrel. The Mercury 312 was originally used to drag race with high performance cam on the old Harriman Dragstrip in Harriman Tennessee. My Dad bored out .030 over before putting it in his Fairlane. It was a snappy car back then! The engines were both Y blocks and the intakes would swap out. I inherited the Ford and it was my first car in high school. (After I worked to purchase my own insurance). It was stolen from my house in Oak Ridge after I had problems walking back in around 2015. Maybe I will find it someday…
Look at this proud owner of a ’56. Bet he hoped to pick up the chicks in this one.
Isn’t he maybe an employee of the car wash?
Tom, forgive me but that’s a `55 Monclair hardtop, not a `56. But still, one sharp Merc.
Driveway in third from last pic has both a Mercury Comet and a Comet from before they were officially a Mercury.
Liked both “Comet’s” in the burbs, pics.
That was the one that really caught my eye, I’d say someone was pretty happy with their first Comet that they bought another one and in what appears to be the same color. Love the crazy print on the coat too.
In the first pic; waay in back is a “30’s mobile”?
My favorite is the first photo, a young guy obviously very proud of his Merc. I’ll bet mercury Blues is his favorite song.
My wife’s uncle and his 1955 Mercury Montclair
Dear Will, I stand corrected and appreciate that. As foor Jim’s wife’s uncle and his Merc, WOW!
Photograph with my 56 Monterey
Bought a ’73 Road Runner repossessed by the bank. 2 months later the Arabs shut off the oil, & I had a 400 cubic inch car that got 7 mph in town. Took it to the local Dodge dealership and they gave me what I had paid for the Roadrunner. Called up my buddy, & bought a ’53 Mercury 2 door hardtop from him For $125. Drove it for several years, getting 15 to 20 mpg. Used to strap my rowboat to the roof& go fishing..
Brings to mind the 1959 Twilight Zone episode “The Hitchhiker” starring Inger Stevens, as she drove her ’59 Mercury cross country, not knowing she was already dead.
The 1953 was one of my favourite Mercury’s. It was a “facelift” of the 1952 (first picture) — but I felt that the ’52 was slightly “austere”, and the 1953 brought-out the charms of the design.. The ’54 was a bit TOO much, and I missed the 1952-’53 tail-lamps. I would LOVE to own and drive a 1953 Mercury 2-door hardtop. I saw one (a Monterey with Merc-O-Matic) not long ago, metallic green, with matching original interior — everything original, with “dealer” plates: when I went back to enquire about it, it was gone. I’ve always loved Mercurys: I drive one that has 381,000 miles.