The Monterey

            Into 1950, the Mercury Eight series was the main engine driving this line of cars. That was the year the manufacturer introduced the Monterey, a high end two door coup that was designed to tap into a new market of buyers. In 1952 the Monterey became a separate line wearing its own badge and was slotted as Mercury’s top of the line model.

            The Monterey came, in 1952, with the famous 255 cubic inch Ford Flathead V8 power plant. Two years later in 1954 it was given a 256 cubic inch overhead cam Y Block V8 that pushed 161 horse power. In 1953 a Siren Red Monterey convertible became the forty millionth car produced by Ford.

            In 1955, with the introduction of the Montclair, the Monterey was no longer the top of the line Mercury automobile. That didn’t stop the company from pushing the car and adding upgrades throughout its line. In fact, Mercury borrowed the 292 cubic inch 188 horse power V8 engine from the Thunderbird as the Monterey’s standard power plant. That was upped the following year with an optional 312 cubic inch V8 capable of producing 235 horse power.

            A two year cycle had begun for the Monterey. A third generation car was made showing a drastic redesign on a longer wheel base was manufactured for the 1957 and 1958 model years. 1959 and 1960 saw a fourth generation of the Monterey.

            Changes slowed somewhat after that with changes to the body style, larger engine offerings and more features and safety equipment being made both standard and optional through 1974 when the car was discontinued. The car was still selling well when it was discontinued. Over seven million of the full sized models were sold between 1969 and 1974. But the fuel crisis and new government standards and regulations made Ford rethink all of its full sized cars and one of the casualties was the Monterey.

            The Monterey shown here is a 1953 model that featured that unique front bumper and one of the first MercMatic automatic transmission offering.