Described as a “background car” for the upcoming movie “The Fate of The Furious”, this 1953 Mercury Monterey looks clean, and is a driver, looking to need little. With little information, it would be cool to purchase this one before the movie debuted so you could have a “famous” car so to speak. This possible movie star is offered at $6,800. Find it here on craigslist out of Chatsworth, California. Thanks goes out to TireFriar for the submission!
Even if the movie claim isn’t true, this is still a nice Merc. Being a 53, this Monterey is powered by a 255 cubic inch flathead V8, with a 3 speed column shifted manual. There are no engine bay photos, but this one has upgraded wiring, and has been converted to 12 volt. Also this Monterey flaunts a new interior and new tires. The Paint is beautiful, and the chrome looks nice as well, though the front bumper has a ding, and is missing 1953 spec bumper trim. Otherwise, this looks like a great cruiser that is road ready. Will you own this 1953 Mercury before “The Fate of the Furious” comes out?
My dad’s first car was a 53 Monterey. Cool find.
My first car was a ’54, they had best tail lights but the 53 sounded better especially when starting. Today everyone loves flatheads not so much the “Y” blocks.
We had a ’54…..rear lights different.
We did too, our car was dark green and I think that the 54 had the best tail lights
Clean old Merc, and upgraded even. A good buy @ $6.8K even w/o the purported Fast-n-Furious provenance IMHO.
I love it! I wish I had the cash so I could bring her home.
Nice car! My wife even likes it but then, she actually loves the color. The ’52 – ’54 Ford/Mercury is my favorite of the 50’s Fords. I actually preferred the squared-off Style to the ‘jellybean’ of the 50’s Chevys. The flathead will take you a long way. Some people get intimidated by the teapot carburetor that is likely feeding that flathead but I’ve worked on them and they seem to be OK. I still have a problem with those who convert them to 12V. I guess if you want to run modern accessories then it’s probably mandatory. Otherwise, if the 6V system is properly maintained, it should be completely reliable….
Good point on the battery voltage, a coworker of mine said the same thing to me. The way he handled modern accessories was to put a 12 volt deep cycle RV battery in the trunk with its own fuse block and he would run his stereo eguipment off of that, and when the car was at home in the garage he would charge the battery back up with a trickle charger.this is how I’m going to handle my stereo needs in my 51 dodge I may add a12 volt alternator next to my 6 volt generator. Not fully decided yet , but the point is the original generator system will remain.
When I fooled with 6V cars I was a high school kid with not a lot of money. The cars were old and didn’t always start so well, not being able to afford an overhaul a 12V battery on a 6V starter sure made them turnover better and start, at 20 below! Can you still get 6V bulbs horns and the like?
Yep. You can still get six volt pretty much everything. I have two six volt cars.
As kids, the first thing we did was buy a box of chrome bumper bolts and take off all the guards, overriders etc. for a clean look.
What a blast from the past. My father brought a Mercury just like this home and it was the first car that really impacted me. I thought it the most beautiful car I had ever seen. I was 12 and that was the beginning of a life long love of cars. Interesting because my father didn’t care about cars as long as they started. I’m glad this ’53 is in CA and I don’t have room for another car.
Please tell me “The Fate of The Furious” is going to be a prequel set in the 1950s.
What…? A guy can dream, can’t he?
As a more serious aside, I’ve read that the ’52 Mercury was intended to use the Lincoln Y-block instead of the flathead. I consider this bolstered by the fact that Ford had contemplated discontinuing the flathead after 1951. But I’ve never been able to find confirmation. A Lincoln-powered Merc would have given some Rocket 88’s a run for their money.