Golden State Convertible: 1969 Mercury Marquis

Full-size domestic convertibles make regular appearances here on Barn Finds. And with good reason – they’re a throw-back to another time, one, that unfortunately, is lost to the ages. The good news is that, usually, these drop-tops were built in large numbers and many still exist. One that doesn’t turn up too often, however, is a 1969 Mercury Marquis and that’s probably because they were an exception and not built in large numbers – 2,300 or so, and that’s it. Today’s find is a California car, that for some reason, ended up last year, in Yorktown, New York and it’s now up for sale. For those that may be interested, it’s available here on craigslist for $12,000.

By ’69, there was some but not a whole lot of differentiation going on between a full-size Mercury and a full-size Ford. And that’s likely what caused Mercury’s ultimate demise but that unfortunate turn of events was still a ways off when this Marquis was built. One of the more noticeable differences, however, between this Marquis and a similar Ford LTD was the wheelbase. Size mattered with what were considered premium brand cars and where the LTD rode on a 121″ wheelbase, Mercury stretched it out three more to 124. As for other trim levels, Mercury also offered the performance-themed Marauder, the Monterey Custom, and the regular old Monterey in ’69. There was also a Monterey branded convertible in ’69 but its numbers were slight too with only 1,200 copies assembled.

Apparently, this Marquis was originally finished in dark blue but somewhere in its past, a switch was made to a lighter shade. The seller tells us that it’s not perfect but looks good overall. It’s considered a solid car and there are no visuals to dispute that claim – even the underside looks sound. The trunk pan shows some sign of water intrusion at one time but there’s no noted corrosion. The white folding top is in good nick and the seller mentions that he had the power motor replaced – all-in-all, this big Merc presents well.

Standard power is in place under that Montana-sized hood and it’s a 320 gross HP 429 CI V8 attached to the sole available transmission, a three-speed automatic – likely a C6. We’re told that the 114K mile engine has been rebuilt but the lone image of it doesn’t reveal what looks like a recently dismantled motor – just an observation as “rebuilt” can be used with different meanings. Anyway, we’re told that it “runs great“.

The interior is where a demerit or two would be warranted, one for the split driver’s side of the front bench seat (and what’s that mung all over the inside edge of the seat back?) and two for the cracked dash pad. The rest of the environment is pretty fair, including the carpet which surprisingly doesn’t look faded. One place where Mercurys still outshone their Ford counterpart was inside. Generally, Mercury used higher quality materials and finished off their interiors in a nicer manner but the differences really weren’t significant by ’69.

Well, there you have it. Earlier this week we reviewed this ’68 Ford Galaxie 500 convertible and now we’ve one up’d it with a Mercury option. Considering the two, and in spite of the $4,500 difference, my vote goes with the Ford. It may not be the better car in terms of brand hierarchy, but existentially, it wins my vote today – can less sometimes be more?