Car: Mercury Monterey Convertible
Year: 1954
What makes it special: The Mercury Monterey was introduced in 1952. During its production the Monterey served as the high-end, mid-range, and entry-level fullsize Mercury at various times throughout its run.
What made it famous: Monterey was introduced as a high-end two-door coupe as part of the Mercury Eight series in the same vein as the Ford Crestliner, the Lincoln Lido coupe and the Lincoln Cosmopolitan Capri coupe in order to compete with the hardtop coupes General Motors had introduced the previous model year. Montereys had either a canvas covered top for $2146 or vinyl for $2157. Standard features included leather faced seats, simulated leather headliner, wool carpets, chrome-plated interior moldings, two-toned dashboard, special black steering wheel, fender skirts, dual outside rearview mirrors, full wheelcovers & gold winged hood ornament. For $10 more all leather seats were an option. Two special colors were offered, Turquoise Blue with dark blue top and Cortaro Red metallic with black top. 1954 saw the introduction of the new 161 hp overhead valve Ford Y-block V8. The 1954 Montereys also received other alterations, such as new, lower taillights.
Why I would want one: If you wanted a fancier, more plus version of Ford’s Crestliner model, the Monterey was for you.
Fun fact: Monterey shared the same body style with the slightly more upscale Marquis, Park Lane and Montclair until the latter two were extinguished after the 1968 model year.
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