Sometimes I think that my childhood was deprived. We only had two station wagons while I was growing up. Of course, if I had either of them now, they might be worth something. When I was very young, my mother had a 1954 Chevrolet Townsman. Our other station wagon was the third vehicle briefly for the family, a 1959 Rambler American 2 door wagon. By the eighties, station wagons had become quite luxurious, especially the full-size models. This 1983 Mercury Colony Park is for sale here on Craigslist for $4,500 in Shelbyville, Indiana, brought to our attention by Barnfinds reader Keith.
Exterior shots of this Colony Park aren’t very good, but the interior pictures look pretty nice. I would have sworn this was leather. However, researching this particular model it appears that deluxe vinyl twin comfort seats were standard on the 1983 Colony Park, with no optional leather available in that year. If you had chosen the LS model, luxury cloth upholstery was included. Pictured features common in upscale wagons at this time include power windows, power door locks, cruise control, tilt steering wheel and possibly power seat.
My mother’s Townsman had a forward facing rear seat that was more like a bus seat than what you see here. By the sixties, most rear seats faced rearward, but Ford and Mercury decided to squeeze another passenger in with these dual facing rear seats. I’m sure the only suitable passengers for these seats were children. The rear seats were optional, and according to the sales brochure, were actually removable.
That’s a three-way tailgate on the Colony Park. You could let the rear window down and fold it down like a tailgate, or leave the window up or down and swing the door to the left. Each manufacturer seemed to use a different finish on their simulated wood-tone. The 1983 Mercury Colony Park used rosewood.
The seller also did not include any engine pictures, which is a 302 cubic inch V-8. This is a low mileage wagon with only 50,000 miles. It drives perfect, has no rust, and has been taken care of. The seller also includes the original wheels. Updates include a 5% window tint and a new exhaust. Does this Colony Park stir up memories from your childhood? Is it something you would like to add to your garage?
While you’re there, get our lemon tree back!
One of the best, if not the best, 1980’s vehicles that I have seen. Beautiful.
It is a beauty; if it checks out buy it and enjoy.
Honestly, it looks like it was reupholstered in leather. The pleats look nothing like OE stitching/patterns–they *should look at least related to the pattern on the way-way-back seats.
Maybe they stole it from a Town Car?
I agree, CS. I’ve never seen vinyl weather so beautifully as vinyl. I live close, have the cash, and may visit the seller over the long weekend. Beautiful company for my ’85 Grand Marquis LS with 9K miles.
Go for it W9BAG you can bet it’ll be around a lot longer than the new crap we are sold today, and it’s already 35 years old to start with, this thing is gorgeous with all of the fine styling of a house brick, a big one, love it. If it didn’t cost so much to ship to Australia I’d be very interested, you just don’t see real nice ones like this anymore. The cars today don’t have any definitive shape anymore they’re just a bunch of odd lines going everywhere.
I’m with CS. The wear pattern looks like leather…don’t think vinyl wears that way and front seat is not a match to the rear jump seats. Was this the last of the full grown RWD wagons? I drove the downsized Fox LTD wagon as a city courier sometime around the 1984-85 timeframe and enjoyed it for what it was. Being a full size Ford fan this wagon ticks all the boxes for me. The wood sides just add to the appeal. Dark wood and tint rules!
The rear folding seats were vinyl, and were shared with the Ford Country Squire..Vinyl was used, as the kids were usually back there, and the seats were folded away when they weren’t. so why waste money on leather back there….the “main” interior seats would have been done in leather, and the ones in this, look stock…..
What’s funny is that the stitching pattern on those way-way back seats is the exact same as on my LTD CV (same as a Squire), however my wagon has that stitching pattern on ALL the seats. I still think that’s not vinyl in this car, though. Mercedes TEX wears and looks like leather, domestic vinyl doesn’t (and I’ve recently owned cars with both).
Did some research and it appears that Mercury had it’s own stitching pattern (same pattern as above):
https://i2.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/1987MercuryGrandMarquis08.jpg
Lincoln’s was of course, overstuffed and fancy:
https://i1.wp.com/hooniverse.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Fullscreen-capture-9162011-111656-AM.bmp1.jpg
That’d make for a nice highway cruiser.
What a beauty this is…rims are a tad aggressive, otherwise it’s perfect. Growing up, my folks had a ’79 Colony Park and I still remember being in awe of the luxury that car offered. Dad eventually sold it for an ’88 Taurus wagon, after the tinworm eventually got the Colony Park. I recall the areas under the chrome window trim being the issue… top of windshield and rear side windows being the worst.
My nephew and his dad are currently in
the process of redoing an ’89 wagon
almost like this one. They’ve begun pricing the parts they’ll need to get it running again soon. If you love weathered paint, faded Di-Noc, and
crispy upholstery, then this car would
be for you. Sorry folks, but my nephew
states emphatically that their car is NOT
for sale. Looks like their car is fully
optioned down to the carriage lamps
mounted into the B pilars. In fact, the
original tool to remove the turbine style
rims is still with the car! And though
the seats are well-baked and crumbly,
they match the pattern of the seats of
our feature car so they must be in some
way factory issue. As for this car, I’d love
to park it under my carport anytime! I can
guarantee you that it would never run out
of uses! @Kén Tilly: The reason they
stopped building wagons was to force
the American public to buy more fuel
efficient minivans and those god-awful
SUV’s. If someone was building a decent
wagon today, I’d ditch my Hyundai, run out, and go buy it.
I don’t think that the amount of tint on the windshield is legal anywhere in the US though.
George — the posting says 5%. My understanding is, in my state, 5% is as high as you can go for the windscreen but limousine tint on the back and sides is acceptable. Looks pretty dark in the picture, I admit!
That looks a lot darker than 5%. Granted the pictures are in the shade. No windshield tint, other than at the top, is allowed in VA
Looks like Al’s car in “Home Improvement.”
No thanks.
60s wagons are neat. Even 70s ones.
This old Colostomy can stay where it is.
Any past the early 70s, they can keep unless it’s a cheap dog car.
Yep.
mid to late 60’s is the sweet spot. Styling and go power were peaking then.
IMO wagons will increase in value next few years as millennia’s figure out that early Bronco or Scout won’t go over 60 on the highway. And cost too darn much.
The cover on the rear license light appears to have gone missing. Common on FOMOCO products
I worked fo Ford for over 30 years prior to retiring. I had several of these for company vehicles. The leather interior is correct for the time. Vinyl way back seats were always vinyl regardless of what interior you chose I.e. leather, vinyl, or cloth. This car was probably not garaged as sitting in the sun would make the leather brittle over time. I loved these cars for long distance comfort and looks. To me the best looking Ford and Mercury wagons were from 1966 through 1970.
Yup….my ’89 Country Squire was a fantastic highway car……if I kept it under 65, I’d get almost 25 MPG……
not sure if this is the exact model I seek (the ’83/6 LTD or Marquis wagon). I believe it is not…but how is it any different frm the Grand Marquis. Both R full size I believe. Oh well, not the dwn sized fox-bodied at any rate.
Remove all rear seats on this bigun…a p/u truck w/topper/bed cover!
Had an ’89 Country Squire, still one of the best cars I ever owned…..I still blame the dealer for finally killing it…….
Why does it seem like almost everyone feels obligated to throw some kind of rims on every old barge? The old full sizers from the 70’s & 80’s, haveV-8s, not because they’re some kind of sports machine, but because they weigh-in at almost 2 tons, so they NEED it!
That is leather, in the correct pattern from the factory. Vinyl was available in GS models in a pattern like on the wayback seats. LS models got luxury velour standard or you could upgrade to the leather option. I had an ’83 years ago with that same dark brown leather. Great Car…
An extra set of headlights added in, and Honky Lips written in shoe polish on the rear side windows…the Family Truckster rides again!
My wife and I had a 1982 Colony Park and it was a real cruiser. It was like sitting in an easy chair gliding down the highway. Could haul a ton of kids in it. We put a 190K on it and sold it to my wife’s brother who drove it for a few years and it is still sitting at the back side of his acreage to this day. Only thing I ever did to it was rebuild the vv carb and timing chain and gears at 120K. Great memories! Thanks for the post!
Hey everyone, when I researched this article, I checked out the 1983 Mercury Grand Marquis brochure which made no mention of leather in the options chart. However, looking closer into the interior descriptions under some artwork of interiors in the brochure, it says that Twin Comfort Lounge seats trimmed in leather was optional on Colony Park LS wagons (as well as LS sedans). So this is actually a Colony Park LS with the leather option. I apologize for not looking a little more carefully the first time.
I had a 1978 Mercury Marquis station wagon with the 460 engine. What a cruiser it was, big, heavy, comfortable to drive, loved that car. Brought it from Pennsylvania to Texas in the early 80’s. It developed a leak in the radiator so took it in for repairs. The garage called me and said “Mister…this car is either from the Gulf area or from up north, it is totally rusted out underneath.” Sadly I traded it out the following week, but think about it all the time. Probably would still have it, if it hadn’t rusted out.
A fine wagon..always liked the Ford wagons more than Chevy/Pontiac/Buick.
The Olds wagon could run with the Fords though.