Before delving into the history of this superb Mercury Monterey, it is useful to touch upon the story of the Mercury brand itself. It was created by Edsel Ford in 1938 to bridge the gap between the Ford and Lincoln model lines within the Ford Motor Company. From 1945 until its closure in 2011, it formed half of the Lincoln-Mercury Division of the company.
Edsel Ford personally selected the Roman god’s name from over 100 options – despite the name having been used just four years earlier for the Chevrolet Mercury and no fewer than seven separate failed automobile companies from 1903 to 1923.
The Monterey model name first appeared in 1950 and denoted a special edition of two-door coupes (alongside the Lincoln Lido and Ford Crestliner). Intended to compete against the hardtop coupes from General Motors, the Monterey simulated the appearance of a convertible through the use of a canvas or vinyl roof.
In 1958, to accommodate the introduction of Edsel, Ford revised its divisional structure, with Mercury, Edsel, and Lincoln forming a combined division (M-E-L). The Edsel Citation and Edsel Corsair shared their chassis (and roofline) with Mercury, with the entire division overlapping Mercury in price (a key reason behind Edsel’s failure).
As for the car in our Snapshot, this is from the fifth generation of the Monterey, built from 1961 to 1964. For 1961, Mercury underwent a major transformation of its model line. Mercury once again shared a bodyshell with a divisional counterpart, shifting from Edsel to Ford, with the Monterey becoming the equivalent of the Ford Galaxie. The Montclair and Park Lane were discontinued, shifting the Monterey from the base-trim Mercury sedan to its flagship, slotted above the newly introduced Mercury Meteor. One of the first examples of downsizing, by adopting a common chassis and body with Ford, the Monterey lost six inches of wheelbase, nearly two inches of width, and over 4 inches of length; dependent on powertrain, the 1961 Monterey shed over 300 pounds of kerb weight. At 120 inches, the Monterey was given a 1-inch longer wheelbase than the Galaxie.
The Monterey was offered in four body styles; this is the four-door sedan. In place of the two large taillamps of its sister car the Ford Galaxie, the Monterey used six small taillamps.
For 1962, the Monterey served as the entire full-size Mercury line. To better distinguish the Monterey, stylists added a convex grille (opposed to the flat grille used by Ford); the taillamps were reduced to two only, at the end of the tailfins.
For 1963, the Monterey underwent a major revision to its roofline, reintroducing the reverse-slant retractable rear window used by the 1958-1960 Continental model line and the Mercury Turnpike Cruiser. The six-lens taillamp rear fascia returned. In all reasonable judgements, this was a retrograde step for the Monterey and leaves the 1962 car as perhaps the most beautiful of all the model years.
Photo by Peter McFadyen. See his website: http://petermcfadyen.co.uk
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