Way back, my father owned a 1968 Mercury Monterey, but it was hardly this car; it was a boring, plain vanilla four-door sedan – you know, something a sensible business person would have driven. This example, however, is a high-performance ragtop and one of only 1,515 assembled 58 long years ago. Thousand Oaks, California, is its stomping ground, and it’s available here on craigslist for $18,000.
A Mercury was still a Mercury (sorta) in ’68, but there’s no denying the ever-creeping Fordness that was slowly penetrating their various models. Mercury’s full-size lineup for ’68 put the Brougham at the top, followed by the Parklane, which was just ahead of the Montclair, leaving the Monterey to bring up the markers. Monterey body styles included four-door sedans and hardtops, a sporty, sloped-back two-door hardtop, and, of course, the convertible. Mercury still mattered in ’68, putting up an eighth-place finish in the great domestic production race and knocking out 360K units. Finished in what appears to be Lime Frost, our subject’s finish has seen better days as it’s faded and scratched. This appears to be a rust-free specimen, and the underside images don’t reveal any unsound issues. Every old car has a story, and in this case, it’s “THIS IS MY FRIEND’S CAR, OVER 10K SPENT ON IT TO GET THE MECANICS WORKING… HE WAS GOING TO DO A RESTORATION, BUT HIS HOUSE BURNED DOWN, IT HAS BEEN SITTING FOR ABOUT 5 YEAR STARTED EVERY MONTH AND DRIVEN AROUND THE BLOCK, UNDERSIDE LOOKS RELLY GOOD.”
The big news is under the hood, where a 340 gross HP, 428 CI V8 engine is holding court. The seller claims, “runs and drives great,” and I’d suggest the engine is surprisingly clean considering that it has experienced a supposed 99K miles of use. Perhaps its appearance has something to do with that $10G spend. As is usually the case, a three-speed automatic transmission is backing up the big FE powerplant.
The images of the interior aren’t terribly revealing or comprehensive, so it’s difficult to make an assessment of its overall condition. What can be spied shows a black vinyl upholstered environment that doesn’t appear to have seen too much top-down time. That said, the dashpad is looking a bit flat, so it may need some attention.
Verdict? Being a rare convertible with big V8 power makes this one intriguing. I would like to see an image or two of the power top in the up position, and I can’t say that white letter tires do much for this car’s presentation, but that’s a subjective call and one that’s easily remedied. Let’s talk price; with an $18,000 ask, would you say this Monterey is priced right or not quite?
Seller is a dealer.
That’s relly good-looking convertible.
That’s a pretty rare car, not many left in convertible form. I love that year merc this looks rust free. If I had the money I would definitely look into this one.
Great looking merc. I love the stand up taillights before going to more dramatic horizontal the next year. Jim, I would think that your father may have imagined driving the sportier model behind the wheel of his sedan.
A nice alternative to a similarly equipped Ford.
I think the price is $10k to high no pictures or information on the condition of the top but it looks to be a nice driver for spring and summer
cool ride. i have not seen i of these in years. this is nice that has the big motor. a little tlc and she would be good. i would want to know where the 10k was spent. 18k with bad paint is a bit high
Love the car, the price, the engine. Too far from me.
Nice car, but low grade Monterey in green affects the value for me, and others. 428 is awesome!
The exterior color hurts the valuation of this car.
Nah that was a very popular color in the day. I really like this color!
Also known as lime gold on the Ford color wheel. Had a Fairlane in that color. Brought back briefly for Mustangs about 10 years ago give or take.
My father had a 68 Monterey ,and, like Jim’s father’s car , it was a 4 door sedan with a blue vinyl interior. We always swore the car was white , but my dad always insisted it was blue – many years later I found out he was right ;it was “Diamond Blue” which is about as white a blue as you could imagine !
Bakes it was brought back on the Mustang name changed to legend lime but looked the same shade green, I still like it today.