In 1957, when gas was $0.28 a gallon, and until it was $1.14 a gallon in 1991, Ford’s upscale Mercury division offered its customers a very nice, often simulated woodgrain-sided, station wagon called the Colony Park. This eight-seat 1990 Mercury Grand Marquis GS Colony Park wagon can be found here on craigslist in Virginia Beach, Virginia and the seller is asking $12,500. Here is the original listing, and thanks to PRA4SNW for sending in this tip!
The “woody” part of this wagon has seen better days. I know that patina is a big thing right now, but would any of you redo the Di-noc woodgrain on this car, or leave it the way it looks now? This was a top-of-the-line car and I think it deserves to be looking great again, but it’ll be fun to hear your thoughts. This wagon is original, according to the seller, so there’s some merit in keeping it original, too.
The sixth-generation Colony Park was the last run for this Mercury model, and they were made from the fall of 1978 for the 1979 model year until the end of 1990 for the 1991 model year. In this generation, they were based on the Grand Marquis, and beginning in 1987, they came in either the base GS model or the upgraded LS model, similar to their Sable and Topaz line of cars.
The photos are a variety of verticals and horizontals, as is usually the case with craigslist ads. There isn’t one showing the dash really, at least overall, but from the partial photos included, it sure looks nice inside. The optional vinyl seats look almost perfect both front and rear. The seller refers to these seats as leather but leather wasn’t available on the GS. This is an eight-passenger wagon, having two jump seats under the floor in the rear cargo area.
The engine is Ford’s 302-cu.in. OHV V8, which had 160 horsepower and 280 lb-ft of torque when new. It sends power through a four-speed automatic to the rear wheels. The seller says that it runs “amazing”, has a recent tune-up, and there is little to no rust. Any thoughts on this faded woody wagon?
These seem to have more elegance than the ford country squire cousins and I would leave the fake wood paneling as is for now as it seems to almost match the seats in color and it gives it a dried drift wood appearance. I would still rather have the buick or chevy wagon of the late 1990s early 1990s instead.
1990 and 91 ( last production years) were the only two years these cats had airbags! The supplemental restraint law mandated airbags in all passenger cars by 92! The GS is a rare find in Colony parks and the last two years very few wagons were made! The culprit that killed traditional wagons was none other than the Grand Caravan which is now discontinued!
Yep, same exact airbag steering wheel as my ’91 SHO had. Same one the ’91 Mustang had too. They are not attractive at all.
12000 is about 5000 to high and I’ve had 2 of these work horse’s in the crown Victoria 4 door style with no patina problems
Those cars have the right balance of power and economy. I was shocked to find so many mustang parts in those motors, from the factory. I always wondered how those cars could get over 20 Mpg on the highway, with so much power. My fathers ’87 made it to 206k with the original plastic timing gears. Aside from sensors going bad, those are pretty great cars. Best thing you can do is put the transgo shift kit in those AOD units. Those cars will run forever.
I’m with you Scotty. If this Colony Park is as nice as it appears, it deserves to have the woodgrain restored.
I love our big beautiful station wagons from the Big Three. I can tell you just how great tell you just how great those wagons were. I had a 1975 Colony Park although it was a lot different than the one featured here. Mine was a 9 passenger, and loaded with every available option including ATC. It was white with tan vinyl seats, dark brown dash and carpet and really finished nice. When Ford linked Mercury and Lincoln together, the Colony Park was the wagon that filled that slot.If you looked close you could see the upscale trates that lifted the Colony Park above the Country Squires, although they are the same car. Mine had the massive 460 cubic inch engine, a 4 barrel Motorcraft 4300 carburetor, and duel exhaust that came out under the rear fenders, they had a little bit of a flair at the tips that gave the exhaust a rich classy sound. As big and heavy as it was, it had plenty of power to climb steep grades and cruise any highway at 75, to 80 mph without even breaking a sweat. It was as comfortable as any car out there, probably more so. I bought it in 1980, from a neighbor that used it to haul his huge dogs around in. It was pretty tore up when I got it, not one straight fender, and the woodgrain panels were all faded to almost white. But the engine trans, and brakes were all perfect. It took me a couple years but I made that “wagon” look brand new. In the process, I learned that Ford changed the color of the woodgrain panels just enough to give each model year there own look. The grain had clear areas mixed in to the woodgrain to allow the color of the car to bleed through, that means the entire car had to be painted before the transfers were applied. I ended up searching the Lincoln Mercury dealerships all across the country to get the correct model year transfers that all matched. But I found all 9 panels, brand new in their cardboard rolls. I was so proud to drive that now gorgeous Colony Park. It was the go to car for all my family and friends whenever we all wanted to go to the same place. So, by reading this you probably know that I vote restore the panels if they can be found, I would hate to think the correct panels couldn’t be found, but at this point they may not be. After all, it was all about retaining the “woody” look. In the 1970s, there was no better wagon than the 1973 to 1978 Fords. They are great looking, very reliable, and an icon for all wagons. Ford wasn’t known as the “Wagonmaster” for no reason. They were the most popular for families and delivery services. Our local entertainment industry all used them at all the studios for hauling the most stuff and then to get the movie executives all around town in style. Once the wagons were discontinued, the Talking Heads all told us the minivans, and SUVs took the place of the traditional station wagons, but they did not! I wanted my traditional sedan based wagons. I’m waiting for them to come back. With yesterday’s looks and culture and today’s technology. And when it comes to the woodgrain paneled sides, I say absolutely, as fake as we all know them to be, we also know the true American icon is a big station wagon, with woodgrain paneled sides. It doesn’t get more American than that.
Those Fords and Mercurys are my favorite wagons – and that whole genre was really the Swiss Army Knife of the auto world back then.
I enjoyed reading your comment and your experiences with them. I didn’t know Ford changed the wood grain every year – I learned something new!
There must be gold under dem wood panels I say! Yee ha
I have a 1988 Mercury Colony Park LS! The tailgate “wood” is faded, but the sides are in pretty good condition. I had the 302 V8 and the AOD transmission rebuilt at the 260,000 mile mark.
These were once everywhere. Now not so much. I knew a guy with one in maroon. The engine went and he put one from a Mark VI in it with the factory headers and stuff. The unit ran well. I wonder what became of it. I had not thought of that car until now.
I’ve never been a fan of the phony wood stickers on the sides, so I’d probably make them go away. This was the downsized version that was put on a diet starting in 1978, after the second oil crisis. I tend to prefer the original full-size examples from 1969-77, with my favorite years from a styling POV were the 1970-72 examples, although I tend to favor the simpler styling of the Ford LTD, the Mercury examples tended to be a bit baroque for my taste, although this one is commendably restrained. They’re still body-on-frame, though, so that’s a big plus, and there are lots of ways to extract more power from that 302 mill. The rear jump seats also add appeal.
My first car I bought on my own was a 1967 colony park with a 390 c.i.,4 bbl, 3 on the tree with a pull out over drive,true dual exhaust and posi rear end. Back in the day, got a ticket for 125 mph. Thankfully I didn’t lose my license.
Load up the kids and head to Wally World !
I was employed at the St. Thomas Ford Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada from1984 to the closing of the plant in 2011. Saw a lot of those go down the line in that time. It makes my heart proud every time I see one crusin’ down the road🥰
Nice wagon! I thought the GS package offered only velour upholstery? To get the leather you had to move up to the LS level? Which then tells me that what we are looking at is not leather but vinyl? The jump seats in the way back have the same “dull shine” as the rest of the upholstery. The jump seats were always vinyl in these cars no matter the trim level.
I only remember a few people driving these cars back in the day & for whatever reason they were mommy’s driving their kids around. They all had hard long years. The other was that the parents all smoked. Shocking today. More the norm then 33 years ago. The ashtrays in this model appear unused & the cigarette lighter appears the correct type? Leading me to believe this car saw light service all its life?
As for the engine? I had the identical engine in my 1988 Ford Bronco. It struggled up hills with the A/C on. The motor lost oil pressure after 68,000 miles & after replacing the rod & main bearings & oil pump it developed the same problem within 10 miles. I went for a 3/4 motor from Jasper. I replaced most of the top half of the engine with new. Bosch injectors etc. Added an engine cooler & pre-oiler like you find on race cars back then. I spent big coin on it. I thought for sure it would have more power for hills? NOPE! Same lame power for hills. I sold it a few years later for a loss.
I found out years later that the only engine it should have come with was the 351. A coworker had one with the big engine & he claimed it never had any power issues.
Thanks for picking this one up Scotty!
I didn’t know that you were a wagon man.
The weathered wood trim does not bother me as much as the price.
Yeppir, a real muscle car! They probably changed the frame, making it incompatible with a 427 drive line? With the 5.0 L, maybe $4M?
Probably, but a 351 small block is a bolt-in, either as a crate motor or from a wreck. Any bigger than that probably involves some modification to the frame, so unless you have the time, tools and skills to make it happen, I’d probably try to stick to bolt-in mods, myself, but that’s just me, I’m a scaredy cat, LOL! If you have the aforementioned assets, along with the stones to risk it, go for it! I’ll be cheering you on safely from the sidelines!
I’d strip the decals and find a nice brown paint as a substitute.
Authenticity is important in a future collectable car! I grew up when the Family Trickster was all the rage and the decals are like whitewalls or landau tops! They are mid century middle class milestones!
Listing update: the seller has lowered their asking price to $9,900.