Two-Door Ford and Mercury Wagons

mercman from oz said:
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This picture of a 1957 Mercury Commuter Two-Door Hardtop Station Wagon was taken on the Gold Coast during the sixties by a friend of mine. It had been converted to Right Hand Drive. Because the owner resided near the coast, the salt in the air made its destructive way and it suffered by much rust and was eventually sold. Unfortunately, the new buyer thought that it was too big a task to restore so cut it up and dumped it. This is probably the only 1957 Mercury Commuter that made it's way to Australia. It is just a pity that it no longer exists.
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Interesting that this '57 Commuter has the Turnpike Cruiser four headlight set up. Was that an option, or installed after the fact ? Anybody know ?

Sal
 
As I understand the headlite situation is that there were 5 states in 1957 where the quad headlites were not allowed.

As I have seen most of the 57 Mercs were built with the quad headlite setup although I have never seen a spec of quad verses dual build numbers.

Its the single headlamp per fender vehicles that are the minority.

Personally I think the single headlite fenders are a lot cleaner and helps to create a more aggressive looking machine.

The 57 Fords were also originally slated to be a quad headlite arrangement.

Finally in 1958 all of the states allowed the quad lamp setup.

What blows me away is the right hand drive setup. I cant imagine how complex that must have been to pull off.

The Merc automatic used a push button/lever engagement arrangement that was mounted to the left side on the dash (on a left hand drive vehicle).

If it was a stick car it would have been odd to drive.

Oldmics
 
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338291

How about this neat 1961 Falcon Two-Door Station Wagon. It seems to have 14" wheels judging by the 62 (rear) and 63 (front) Galaxie Wheelcovers?
 
scicala said:
Interesting that this '57 Commuter has the Turnpike Cruiser four headlight set up. Was that an option, or installed after the fact ? Anybody know ?

Sal
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To add to Oldmics comments, the 57 MERC dual beam headlamps were optional and I believe standard on the TPC. I have the documentation packed away.

True about some states not allowing dualing headlamps. My father bought a 58 CHEV and was not at first allowed in TN and we were visiting family in Abington, VA (directly at state line). They later allowed them.
 
Kahuna said:
Oldmics

What is the M335 option?

Thanks
Jim
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Oldmics said:
The M 335 engine was Mercurys 1957 NASCAR race engine contribution.

Follow the link below to read about the Mercury race team headed by Bill Stroppe who developed the M 335 .

http://ford-mel-engine.com/viewtopic.php?f=110&t=1286

Oldmics
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Just a side-note-

The 1957 MERC was scheduled to receive the upcoming 410 MEL. Ford had foundry/casting problems and MERC then chose the LINC 368 for premium power (over the 312).

The 410 was finally released and went to the 58 EDSEL as they had an early release date. (The 361 FE also went to EDSEL making it the first FE issued on the 58 model run, not the 332/352).

BTW- Bill Stroppe also had much to do with the 56 MERC M260 and 58 MERC 430 3X2 SUPER MARAUDER.
 
mercman from oz said:
Kustom Komet from Arizona sent me these pictures of his 1960 Mercury Comet Two-Door Station Wagon.
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SIDE-NOTE- The 1960 COMET was to be assigned to EDSEL DIVISION. EDSEL went down and the COMET was sold independently of a division assignment (60/61) (although through established LINC-MERC Dealers) until it was assigned to MERC DIVISION in the 1962 model run.

Dealer signage usually read LINC-MERC with COMET shown separate.
 
Don't know, looks like a 54 ford with 54Merc. front sheetmetal, and 51 Merc. tail lights and part of the 51 Merc rear quarter panels , special wood treatment at the back corners. cant tell much more from one single small picture . looks good though.
 
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Here is a large picture of that 54 Mercury Two-Door Station Wagon. Whoever built it, did a fantastic job, as Mercury never built a Two-Door Wagon after the 1951 Mercury Woodys.
 
My best guess, and the easiest way to do it would be to have converted a '54 Merc wagon into a two door. Hard to tell from the photo if it's a Ford or Merc dash board.
Maybe Tomjc will enlighten us with the story.

Sal
 
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Here is a picture of a survivor, a 1956 Ford Parklane. It was Ford's attempt to offer a wagon to try and compete with the Chevrolet Nomad.
 
I was always a fan of the Parklane, had one once back in the late '60's, paid less than $900.00 for it. wish I had it now.
 
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