Mercury has been gone for 15 years but it left an indelible mark as a Ford brand because it offered luxury with a shinier price tag than its Lincoln stablemate.
Mercury was created to cover the cost middle ground between Ford and Lincoln models, so the car name built its reputation as an affordable upscale brand and was a success in this department during its 72-year production run.
Jim Sutherland
We at MyStarCollectorCar believe Mercury built many outstanding models over the decades, but one of our favorites is the full-sized 1964 Mercury. The big ’64 Merc embodied all that was car guy cool in our opinion, so we decided to showcase the reasons behind our choice.
For example, the 1964 Mercury’s subtle rear tailfins were an interesting blast from the past because the era of the finned car was a small dot in the rear-view mirror of automotive trends by the mid-60. But they were an important part of the overall design for a full-size ’64 Merc.
The tailfins were not outrageous in an Elvis era automotive sense, but the 1964 Mercury swam upstream and included the fins in the car’s design. Even better, the ‘64 Mercury’s creators extended the fins to the front end of the car and ended them as angled points intersected with the car’s front bumper ahead of the grille.
The net result was a car that looked like it was going 100 mph at a standstill and was fully capable of that speed with a factory big block under its hood. In front of the hood was a grille that featured the same pointed style as the fenders, a feature that added to the 1964 Mercury’s blazing good looks.
The 1964 Mercury’s go-fast appearance was also enhanced by its fastback roofline in two-door hardtop versions. The fastback roofline trend was not common for full-sized models in ‘64 but Ford had a better idea about them and Mercury was one of their recipient models for the new C-pillar design. We at MyStarCollectorCar strongly agree with Ford’s decision from a style point of view.
However, Mercury kept its famous Breezeway rear window design option and used it as a choice for full-size models that year. It was another wise decision in our opinion here at MyStarCollectorCar because a rear window that could be lowered by the driver was a unique feature that Ford offered for a handful of its luxury liners, including the 1963-68 Mercury models.
The Breezeway window required an unusual C-pillar that overlapped the rear sill of the 1964 Mercury and leaned back into the car’s beltline at the bottom. It was a radical design that made the ’64 Merc stand out in a crowd of other cars with a conventional C-pillar style that year.
Even the four-door hardtop Mercury models had a striking C-pillar that was not quite as extended as the two-door versions but had the same sporty vibe.
There is little doubt the 1964 Mercury in all its land yacht sedan models (Monterey, Montclair and Park Lane/ Marauder) was a beauty in large beast form from our vantage point here at MyStarCollectorCar.
Jim Sutherland
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
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