The name for Mercury’s mid-level car in this era is said to be taken from a city close to the company’s new manufacturing plant in Mahwah, NJ. It’s a good thing they didn’t call this car a Yonkers. This beautiful 1965 Mercury Montclair Breezeway four-door sedan is posted here on craigslist in Cleveland, Ohio and the seller is asking $17,000. Here is the original listing, and thanks to breezy Pat L. for sending in this tip!
The Montclair was made from 1955 through 1968 with a three-year gap towards the end. This is a fifth and final generation Montclair, which would have been made for the 1965 through 1968 model years, and then the model would go away forever. The ’65 Mercury is my personal favorite with those cool, lifeless shark eyes (headlights), I love that look. I would lose the headlight covers instantly, but that’s just me. Along with the wheel covers, opting instead for a more formal factory wheel cover. Thankfully, the seller is including the original ones!
The seller thinks that this car has had one repaint and they say that it’s nice but not perfect, but it sure looks good in the photos. The trunk is huge and they say that they have new boards and mats but they aren’t shown in the photos. The coolest part of this car, or any Breezeway – which would have been available on the Monterey, Montclair, and top-tier Park Lane – is the opening rear window. This power-opening rear window works as does everything else, other than the AM radio, which is nothing but static. It’s a shame that the Breezway window went away after 1968. In the last two years, ’67 and ’68, the new sloped-back design only allowed the rear window to go down a couple of inches. Air-conditioning is likely what caused the opening rear window to go away, what a shame.
They say that the interior is original and as expected, it’s absolutely beautiful. There aren’t any power options on this car, but it does appear to have an aftermarket air-conditioning system as seen in the photo above. The back seat looks like new and they show several underside photos. They mentioned running a magnet around the body of the car to make sure that it’s all metal. They say that they spent $2,000 on re-chroming the door sills and seat trip, yowsa.
The engine is Ford’s Z-Code 390-cu.in. OHV V8, which would have been factory-rated at around 300 horsepower and 427 lb-ft of torque. This car has a ton of new parts and pieces and NADA lists this car as having a high retail value of $17,400. Have any of you owned a Mercury Breezeway?
If you like your vintage cars big, here’s a real beauty for you! Probably a rare car these days, I don’t recall ever seeing one. Love the color in and out, a real contrast to the bland colored cars of today. The list of new parts and restoration work by the seller is impressive so it seems to be a car that you can hop in and drive it anywhere after you buy it. The price seems very fair for what you’d be getting, too. I’m a big fan of smoothies and I think they suit this Mercury pretty well. However, I’d understand if the next owner switched back to the original wheel covers for the factory look. This is a beautiful car at a decent price. You’d be hard pressed to find a nicer car for the money.
“I likes ’em big!”- The Benny Hill character in “The Italian Job”
You know, this is quite a site. Scrolling down, Lambo, nah, Jag, nah, Chrysler Super Duper Ghia Dart something, nah, 2 cylinder Suzuki Jeep,,double nah, then, hold the phone, a ’65 Merc( tires screeching), ahhh, here we go. Author brings us back to reality with a posting like this. If GMCs were Chevys with lockwashers, Merc was a Ford with them. Kidding, Mercs were no different than Fords, except in subtle ways. Same mechanics, but things like the back window. And I think, the reason they went away, wasn’t because of a/c, with all the other windows closed, opening the back created a negative draft, not unlike that station wagon with the tailgate open, and besides, a/c was catching on anyway, a complicated, costly option and discontinued. Again, the 390, great motor, probably Fords most famous V8, from T-birds to pickups, but not very friendly at the gas pump, if that’s an issue. A more future friendly motor would help all these older cars. I lost all faith in Ford when they dropped Mercury in 2010, and aside from that Sable abomination, a sad end to a wonderful car through the years.
I’ve owned a number of 390s through the years, they weren’t really all bad on gas, as long as ya kept yer foot outta the firewall.
And GM dropped 3.
GM dropped 2 – Olds and Pontiac. Saturn was the automotive equivalent of Garth Brooks doing Chris Gaines. There was product called “Saturn”, but ultimately it was GM.
GM dropped five in the 2000’s decade: Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saturn, Saab, and Hummer. Whether divisions or subsidiaries, they were all GM-owned brands. And, Mr. Green’s assessment of Saturn is simply incorrect.
A buddy of mine had a 63 Montclair, 410 4brl, that absolutely fly. He drove it to high-school.Me and a friend was in his Chevy truck with a 454 running 110 down the highway when the Montclair pulled up beside us, bounced a couple times and was gone. Sill can see his smiling face as he passed us.
The “Breezeway” roofline was possibly the ugliest styling idea Mercury ever came up with.
Lincoln actually, in 1958
Mercury signed off on it, evidently.
🎶 If I had money I’ll tell you what I’d do I’d go downtown and buy a Mercury or two
I’m crazy about a Mercury
crazy about a Mercury
I’m going to buy me a Mercury and cruise it up and down the road 🎶 🎸
https://youtu.be/URm7Ze9a56o
You got that right ✅️ Primo
Sorry, that one belongs to Alan Jackson.
Come on. A little credit to KC Douglas who did it first.
Steve Miller’s version was interesting as well
Sorry Ybloker, K.C. Douglas wrote this song and recorded it in 1952. Alan Jackson was one of the last artists to do a remake of it.
https://youtu.be/QsTfCITzISM
https://youtu.be/jS_Xfzx_Wpo David Lindley
Can you imagine any manufacturer opening a plant in Mahwah, NJ today?
In the 60’s, if you weren’t hip, you were “square” . This Merc screams square better than any other vehicle I’ve ever seen. I like it.
My father had a 64 Monterey with the Breezeway roof, and it was his favorite of many Mercurys he had, from a 39 to a 84. I think he would have kept it a lot longer, but my brother broke a radiator hose on the way home one night, drove it all the way home severely overheating it. After that it started burning oil, and so he traded it in on a 67 (with the 2 inch opening conventional rear window.
He talked about that 64 for alot of years after that
Mahway NJ to Montclair NJ is about 24 miles. Not what I’d call close. If they were looking for town names close, they’d choose the Mercury Montvale
We had a 66 Meteor Montcalm with breezeway roof.
That mill alone must be worth the better part of the asking price. Love the Breezeway look…
My old man got a new Merc every year back in the 60’s, thanks to his job as an industrial salesman. I remember sitting in the back seat as a kid with my Irish setter dog heading to Minnesota on fishing vacations. That back window was a real treat, and amazingly at highway speeds no air rushed in or out, and I could throw stuff out as we cruised down the highway.
My dad was an L-M dealer from 1948 – 73. Of all the years my favorite remains the 64 model. Trying to up it’s image as a baby Lincoln, Mercury went to the formal shoebox look in 65, a big disappointment to me at the time. Although nice designs, Mercurys from 1965 forward never really looked truly sporty again except for possibly the Marauder X100 of the late 60s. When the Taurus clones came out in the late 80s it was Mercury’s beginning of the end IMHO.
Bud Moore famously ran 1963/64 Mercurys in NASCAR. When the 65s came out, he continued to run 64s for the 1965 season probably because of better aerodynamics. In 1966, NASCAR allowed mid-sized cars and Moore switched over to the Comet which he ran in its various Cyclone forms through the very early 70s.
63-64 Maurader👍
“Marauder” from 63 to about 66 simply means the ‘fastback’ roofline vs. the Breezeway roof. Most hts were available either way. It did not mean a special model or engine then.
I think the ’67 Mercury Cyclone fastback was a slick car that looked better than it’s brethren Fairlane.
Did you ever hear of the Wood Bros. And a guy named David Pearson? They fielded Mercury’s all through the 70’s. A sporty looking Mercury Montego. Richard Petty always saw the taillights on those cars.
I had this exact same car, with the acceptation of the paint. Mine was that sea green with a white top. What a boat, but rode like a cloud. Dad gave it to me for my Sr. year in HS in ’69. Of course, as soon as I graduated, I sold it and replaced it with a ’66 GTO. That breezeway window was a hoot. Hit that baby and open the wings and all the ” hippy smoke ” would get sucked out.
My old man got a new Merc every year back in the 70’s, thanks to his job as an industrial salesman. I remember sitting in the back seat as a kid with my Irish setter dog heading to Minnesota on fishing vacations. That back window was a real treat, and amazingly at highway speeds no air rushed in or out, and I could throw stuff out.
Test Drive this and know why you want a classic car.
Dad had a 63 Merc w/operable rear window , 390 w/3 on the tree . It also had a syncro first gear . Do not remember any back draft from rear window .
john k.
The farmers Grandpa worked with down the road had a ’65 new, this color, they were Mercury people until ’72, when he had his heart attack. They sold their dairy 90 acres & accouterments @ auction at that time, & found their new house in the city wouldn’t house the car, so he took Grandpa’s advice & looked into Pontiac, ended up with a ’72 LeMans that would fit in the garage.
Good people, great cars, memories, & now I’m back in my childhood home at the farm in Ohio, after 4 decades in Ca.!