Here’s a very tidy 1957 Mercury Monterey two-door hardtop on Craigslist in the Chicago area with a $11,500 asking price. Thanks to Rocco B. for this one.
The new owner will not need to do much. The only thing the owner mentions is the need for “a little carb work,” though the car “starts, runs and drives very well.” It was out and about at a car show this past summer and it reportedly “got a lot of attention.”
And why not? The 1957 cars had maximum fin, maximum two-tone paint, and chrome ornamentation. The Monterey is pretty similar to a contemporary Edsel in appearance, but maybe a little better looking. This is one of the best you’re going to find. It was doted upon by the original owner from December 1956 to June of 2023 and stayed in the St. Louis area. It was the owner’s “pride and joy for over 60 years.” Nothing is missing, and the plastic covers that were popular then are still on the seats. Just about everything looks pristine and highly original.
The owner says his asking price is “very fair if you know what ’57 Mercs sell for.” True enough. There is, oddly enough, no engine photo, though the hood is shown in the up position. Four different V8s were offered on the ‘57 Monterey, with displacement from 312 cubic inches to 430. The buyer had a choice of a three-speed manual or a three-speed Merc-O-Matic automatic. The car on offer is said to have the 312 that is paired to an automatic. Mileage on this example is listed as improbably 111,111 miles.
It’s important that no trim is missing, because most of it is unique to this car. The two-tone paint is wild, and the stylists were really in charge—note how the interior colors closely mirror the exterior paint. Drive it? Maybe, but it could also go into an art gallery.
The full-sized Mercury was redesigned and enlarged for 1957, with a 122-inch wheelbase. The frame redesign enabled a lower floor. There was a new radio and memory front seats with power. Another ’57 innovation offered was a pushbutton automatic transmission. With five buttons, it was called “Keyboard Control.” What is that little lever to the right of the instrument panel? The lockout for the pushbutton trans?
The Monterey became a separate series in 1952, at which time it was a considerably less flamboyant automobile than this turnpike cruiser. Sorry, the Turnpike Cruiser was a separate offering for 1957. It’s hard to imagine the buyer going wrong paying the asking price here. Classic.com says the average of recent sales is $32,240. And this one needs only some minor carb work. Hey, just replace the carb with a new one and you’re still ahead of the game.
Now, THIS is how to spend low five figures and come out ahead with a unique ride (unlike a comment I made on a certain car for around the same buy-in but with mountains of funds to match this level of instant usability).
Odd but I would have expected the plastic seat covers to have yellowed a little bit by now. I’m a MY57, and I’ll never look this good again!
A beautiful car at a reasonable asking price.
Not a big fan of the colors. Still a nice car. 😊
I think this a very fair price for this car if you can also get vids on the way it drives. Or better yet, test drive it personally. Since the body and interior seems to have been maintained properly, I’m assuming the engine and transmission is more or less in the same condition. Worth a shot.
Actually just 2 engine choices in 57, the 312 or 368, the 383 and 430 didn’t arrive till 58. This is a beautiful car with a bargain price. Unbelievable. We go from one extreme to the other.
Thanks Yblocker, I was sure that was true.
Car spent its life in the St. Louis area but has ’60s California license plates even though it’s located in Illinois?
This car seems almost too clean for an original Midwest car that hasn’t been restored. In my experience living in Missouri from 1959-71 cars like this rusted out in just a few years, especially Ford products of this vintage.
Asking price seems too low — lower than “good” condition on the insurance site — but if it is real it would be a good buy. Even so, I would want to investigate the backstory further.
“Especially Ford products of this vintage”. Oh yeah, here we go, another heaping helping from the crock pot
I’m a Ford fan and I can vouch for the way Ford products of the mid to late 1950s would rust, especially in the Midwest and the Salt Belt.
Not as bad as Chrysler products, and GM wasn’t immuned either
Never owned a 50’s era Ford product in the rust belt, have you?
I made a significant amount of money in the mid 60’s selling patch panels for mid 50’s era Ford products.
No, but my dad did, northern Illinois, he had a buddy who owned a 55 chevrolet, the front end rusted so bad, the headlight buckets fell out. They ALL rusted to hell, Ford was no worse than the rest
EXACTLY what I was going to say.
A laughable discrepancy, I am skeptical of everything else in this advert.
The seller says it was at a car show and got a lot of attention. This car will get a lot of attention everywhere it goes!
Very nice car! The price, however, seems too good to be true, and I have my doubts about the back story. These cars were beautiful in their time and remain so now. But they seemed to vanish from everyday use quite a bit sooner than several other ’57s. “Pride and joy” cars generally are purchased later than age 30 — so, an “original owner” who bought this in 1957 and kept it until 2023 must have been upwards of 100-years-old. Possible, yes; probable, less likely. If instead, this is a California car which has sat idle since 1960, carefully stored indoors, then there are bound to be other issues. Pardon the skeptic in me… but these days, one never knows, particularly when an item for sale is dangerously close to, “too good to be true”. One man’s reaction.
To be fair, the narrative is a bit bumpy – and a VIN would be most helpful in determining the car’s origins. The rust won’t lie; it is definitely worth tracking the car down and getting underneath for a good look.
However, it was also common in many communities to own a “Sunday” car used for special occasions such as church, holidays, family trips to visit relatives, etc. as the older, lumpier daily hack/beater/hooptie moldered in the garage. The entire family would be detailed to wash, Simonize and whisk broom the car to perfection. Could this be one? Might make sense.
The price says he wants to unload it and move on, perhaps tired of fuel system maintenance with these beautiful monsters.
A beautiful `57, and appears to be all there. However, those seat covers are NOT 66 years old–if they were, they’d be a cloudy dark yellow and split with age! But I can’t gripe too much otherwise; newer paint and well kept! Someone is going to get a real deal on this one!
I had a 57 Turnpike Cruiser. I got it from the original owner in 1969 and it only had 30,000 miles. It was a tank and a bitch to drive. Definitely needed power steering despite my youth. But dependable and spacious.
“What is that little lever to the right of the instrument panel?”
if you’re talking about each lever on side of the speedometer they are the “fresh air valve levers”.
No pics of the engine bay so i’m not sure the car has power steering and power brakes. The steering wheel is simpler (no chrome) and without the central “power steering” medallion so it must be a manual steering.(i’ve a ’57 Mercury Voyager with Pw. steering … )
I always loved the body style of these cars. Back in about 1971 my mother in law was in need of a low priced used car, we found one listed in the newspaper for $50.00 non running but complete. We drove down the road to see it, it was just like this one but in brown and white. It had the 312 automatic push button. The seller was having a garage sale at the same time, but said the car was running when parked at current spot. I thought I could get it running so she bought the car with permission for me to do some minor tune up work on location. A trip to the local parts store for new points condenser and spark plugs, installing said parts in the car and she fired right up. Mary (my MIL) drove that car for several years before the transmission gave up. Last time I saw it she had parked it in her back yard. Under different circumstances I would be in line to purchase this car. Hope it finds a good home.
God Bless America
Beautiful?? Unique, but not beautiful. Too much going on. It’s an introduction to 58, a horrible year for American automobiles.
I’m a little confused, although that doesn’t take much.
Those levers on top, each side of the speedometer are vents for fresh air. The lever to the left of the steering wheel in the pod, is the temperature control for the heater. There is also one in the pod to the right, I assume is the fan speed control.
What I’m confused about is I can not see the transmission select lever to the right of the steering wheel, while at the same time, I can not see the push buttons to the left of the steering wheel.
My cousin had a ’57 or ’58 Merc and the button pod was to the left of the steering, (as most were), it had 4 buttons and the 5th button at the bottom was the drive button, which was elongated to about 4 inches long. If I’m not mistaken the park lever was just below the drive button.
The photo doesn’t show them well, but look just past the turn signal lever, you’ll see 2 of the shift buttons
WOW What a beauty pf a car and beauty pf a deal!!
Dream Car Design, these made the ’56s look really old. The car that these are based on, sat in ruins for years, until Joe Bortz ended up with it, and restored it completely. He sold it, unfortunately, but for his price it went to a good place. A family two streets over from us had a lavender and black two door sedan ’57 Monterey, that was turned in for a new white1962 Galaxie two door hardtop.
Regardless of this ones history, hope it goes to a good place.