There are so many “googie” features on this 1958 Mercury that my eyes were flitting from one to the other. “Googie” is a word used in architecture to describe the projecting fins, extravagant swooping lines, machine-like shapes, wide ledges and bubbles found in 1950’s to mid 1960’s “space age” buildings – think the Jetsons. With fins, discs and swoopy lines all over this car, it easily brings you back to another time just by looking at it. Located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, it’s listed for sale here on eBay where bidding is up to $1,500 with the reserve unmet.
Just look at the details in the tailight housings and the gold script on the C-pillar. Wow! This seems like a pretty solid car, with mostly original paint and a lot of recent mechanical refurbishment. The seller states it needs transmission and exhaust leaks fixed to be driven, and of course the air conditioning isn’t working. The original 430 V-8 is still underhood, and the 106,000 miles is believable. The original interior looks very nice as well. What do you think of this googie Park Lane?
I wonder what the reserve is…
what a great highway and round town and Saturday night cruiser. Great colour, 4 door H/T, appears to be all there. What more could you ask for.
His statement of a relative low reserve means what? 5K. 10K. if this could be had for under 7k it would be well worth it considering what he has had done (with receipts?)
great listing
Currently at $4,850 reserve unmet…
Great color, don’t change it. The body looks to be in great condition. This is a well preserved example of late 50’s over ornamentation. Does anybody know how well the Fomoco push button tranny controls worked?
Super car! I hope it finds a good home.
Great car and if reserve is low enough for the working guy to own a classic it will be a great find. This car was made when cars had class not the cookie cutters of today.
Just love the bizarre styling of the late ’50’s. Never knew Ford had square or oblong steering wheels too. I really like the reverse opening hoods on these cars. I wonder why that never really caught on, as I thought it was easier to work on them. One of my favorites so far, here.
I recall reverse opening hoods being blamed for one losing one’s head in a front end collision. Literally. That may be one reason they did not catch on.
That is odd. Ford advertised them as a safety feature as they could not blow open when driving. I guess that plan did not work!
Triumph sold them the same way on their lineup. Funny thing is…on a TR6, if you lighten the hood enough on the race car and the hood pins vibrate loose at Charlotte on the banking, the doggone hood will raise anyway due to the aerodynamics and block your vision. BTDT.
This is just superb – such fantastic styling details. Up to USD 6,100.00 and not met its reserve. Great car !
look at the 1950 dodge pickup this seller has on ebay. i wonder how many legs have banged into the trailer hitches on both vehicles. great looking car that had to cost a lot when new. great find
Just another post making me jealous I don’t live in the USA. Cars like that are really rare and therefore expensive, never saw one in Belgium. Maybe in the UK or Sweden, but I would have to import it, which would set me back another 10% plus taxes (21%) on top of the normal taxes…
I’m old enough that I should remember seeing these as a child, but I really don’t recall them. I guess it must have been fairly rare even by the 1960’s. What a fantastic exercise in over-the-top styling. I think I have a new favorite late-50’s car.
A great driver, once sorted out, and a lot has been done, you could take this baby over the Interstates at 80 all day (I would replace the water pump, belts and hoses, and maybe a new radiator, fuel pump, or at least have spares in the enormous trunk). Only problem is the rear window is UGLY, the ’57’s with the back slant, if I remember right, were far better looking.
Just to prove we are all different, i love that rear window!! just don’t break it. Fantastic looking car.
@taxijohn … Same here and I agree better not break that window as it will cost as much as the car to replace it.
Looking at all the glitterati tacked on to this car, I’m thinking that Ford was trying to get rid of all the chrome parts left over from the 55-57 model runs, so they wouldn’t have to throw them away. And the 59s had some rocket bling too, but by ’60 Ford was toning it down a notch.
It’s funny to look at the Detroit cars in that late 50s era with all the bling and outrageous upholstery and chrome….One would think that the new decade brought in by the model year 1960 would have been the splashy-est , yet the 1960 cars seemed to be ebbing toward understatement. Except for the Exner cars I suppose.
IT SPEAKS TO ME!! What a cool old ride. Bet you’d be the only one at the car show! If I wasn’t car-poor already, I’d give this a call.
and the 1970’s Saabs had a hood that opened next to the windshield, in the one head on crash I know about, the hood went up over the roof, the engine and transmission dove under the passenger compartment, and the occupants, who had shoulder and lap belts, were only slightly injured. So the idea was good, just that Ford’s execution of it left something to be desired.
$6600 was the top bid. Not sold.
My folks sent me away to college driving the two door coupe model of this very same car. Same color, same reverse opening hood, same V8 Interceptor engine. The car originally belonged to an older woman who didn’t like driving. It was neat as a pin, had about 25,000 miles on it, and accellerated like a rocket. Of course it was seven years old by then and looked strangely out of place in the school parking lot next to all the Volkswagens, MGs and Triumphs. As an 18 year old I never liked it much, but you know what they say about gift horses…