If you wanted fresh air in your ride back in the day, you could have bought a convertible or a retractable hardtop. And maybe a car with T-Tops a little later on. Or there was the unique Breezeway, a formal hardtop or sedan body style where the rear window could be lowered in one piece behind the rear seat. It was a feature on Mercury and Lincoln products in the 1950s and 1960s. This ’63 Monterey 4-door sedan is a Breezeway, and it looks to be in great, mostly original condition. It’s also in Pataskala, Ohio, and is available here on craigslist for $23,000.
The idea behind the Breezeway was to offer flow-through ventilation for passengers. Ford Motor Co. introduced the design on the Mercury Turnpike Cruiser in 1957 and 1958. Then it moved to the Lincoln Continental during 1958-1960. Its final appearance was on several full-size Mercurys between 1963 and 1968. The Monterey was one of them, including the seller’s 4-door pillared sedan. More than 18,000 of that configuration were produced in 1963.
As the story goes, the seller bought this Merc from his/her neighbor’s family, the car’s original owners. During its 60 or so years, only 52,000 miles appear to have been added to the odometer. It changed hands just a few months ago and the seller doesn’t have time for it any longer. We’re told that it has had some “very, very mild custom” work done to it without elaboration as to what that entails, just that the original parts have also been saved. New stuff includes brake parts, fuel system work, and a partial tune-up.
The body and paint look to be in fine condition and the interior looks just like new, an indication the car was treated with kid gloves for many years. We suspect the engine is a 390 cubic inch V8 and it runs great with an automatic transmission. If you like an attention-getter and don’t mind four doors, could this Mercury be the “Sign of the Cat” in your garage?
It may be nice, but there has to be a person passionate about that particular car to pay $20,000+. That person is hard to find when generic 4 doors from the 1960’s through 1980’s in similar condition sell for a fraction of the price. An example this is the 36k mile 1966 2dr Mercury Parklane feature a few days ago with a $10,000 obo asking price. The seller also doesn’t help himself by saying he bought it from his neighbors estate from family members “who just wanted to get rid of it” 6 months ago. It’s been listed for 20 days so far, which suggest little interest, that’s not going to change. Cars like this are price sensitive, that’s what gets them a new home, not their desirability.
Steve R
Neat car in beautiful shape, but he wants to retire off the sale of it, and it just ain’t gonna happen at that price.
Another Marvelous Mercury. Love the breeze way look. But the price? It’s pretty Grand 😉. Also wondering about availability of repair for rear roll down. Having owned several GRAND MARQUIS and TOWN CARS, all were great luxurious cars. But this IS far better than anything produced today, all at a higher price.
Honestly, the ugliest roofline ever offered by Mercury.
Please, remove the cheap chrome air cleaner that looks way out of place…
Nice, just too much ask.
Keep it original please.
The first car I can remember as a child ,Mom & Dad bought a 2 door in 63 and kept it till 71 when he traded it for a LTD ,that ended up being my first car ,That breezeway window was always down far enough to let the Lucky Strike or 🐫 to drift over me to the back.Our seats were perfect too when he got rid of it for $200, I HAD motion Sickness,bad.
There is actually merit to your “sickness”. While the back window did allow the cigarette smoke to exit right past you, there were times when the window was down, it created a negative draft, and a lot of exhaust was sucked in. And not that “clean” exhaust of today, it was filled with lead.
Oddly, the 1963 Rambler Classic has a very similar front end/grill !
How could that happen!
The Breezeway: in the interest of air flow, an interesting concept in its day. I don’t know how well they sold. We look back and think it was a bizarre idea. Today, we instead cut holes in perfectly fine roofs.
My pickup trucks have had sliding rear windows since the 80’s.
It’s not the same.
Does the air come through differently?
Pataskala Ohio! I grew up 6 miles from there near Granville! Right on Rt. 16 between Columbus and Nerk!
I always liked the 63 breezeway best. Such Good condition too! This sale strikes me as a flip. Hope he lowers the price soon, so it can go to a good home.
Looks spacious clean and cared for. Forty years ago it was just an old sedan in good condition that needs premium fuel to run. Was a $300-500 car then, maybe ten times that today.
Base 2bbl. 390, which I expect this has, takes regular (leaded) fuel.
“Suoer 390” (4bbl.) requires premium.
Mercury sold a “Premium Fuel” 390 2v which had the 10.5 compression.
Not as familiar with these. My 2bbl Olds 88 liked premium and plenty of it.
Seller states he did a “partial tune-up.” What the heck does that mean? Points and no plugs? Rotor and plugs but no points? Means “LAZY” to me.
I remember my aunt and uncle bought a breezeway when they first came in a ’57 mercury It was a yellow/bronze white color and quite a looker. The rear breezeway window drew a crowd at first because it was so different to see a rear window wind down behind the back seat. They used it a couple of times, but it was mostly forgotten after the novelty wore off. In fact, my aunt was afraid to use it because she was always afraid that it might get stuck down and rain would get.
The electric lowering rear window like the Breezeway was a Packard idea. MANY from Packard went to FMC near the end, thus this window design and the ‘horse collar’ Edsel. The window was a great idea. As a little boy, I remember my grandparents 1958 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser. I loved to ride backwards and look out this breezeway opening. The Mercury had a ‘gun sight’ there too. Those were the days compared to the current ‘truckification’ of America.
Great point 👉. Grand Old school AUTOMOBILES have sadly been replaced by SUVS, crossovers and melted jelly beans. Glorified trucks masquerading as Luxury vehicles. 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮. Give me a LAND YACHT any day.
I bought the twin to this car a few years ago. It had considerably more miles, but was still under 100k, if I recall correctly. It was basically an estate situation. $200. I did a rudimentary cleaning, and sold it. The engine turned freely- I did not try to start it. Guy offered me $800 cash-sold.
They are near old cars. But at the end of the day it’s pretty much a fuel inefficient 4 door sedan. $20k? Yeah. No.
I can’t see paying $23K for this 63 Mercury 4 Dr sedan. Maybe for a 57-58 Mercury Turnpike cruiser.. it’s clean but its at least $10,000 overpriced.
Had a 64 2Dr Breezeway Turquois / White top – #3 condition my honest opinion Excellent orig w/ upgrade Pertronix Ignition was a regrettable to sell at $6500 & that was a hard sell.
2 Dr is much rarer. been following prices since 2002. Just way too much for 4dr. Mercury Especially Breezeway just don’t have followers like a 63 -66 Chevy Impala / Pontiac Bonneville / Grand Prix.
According to the 1963 Mercury Owners Manual there is one 390 2bbl. engine offered. The compression ratio is listed as 8.9 to 1. I figure the factory produced owners manual should be a pretty hallowed source.
The 2bbl carb and its accelerator linkage are very restrictive. On my 65 Mercury I had to delete the factory linkage and updated to a Lokar setup. Made all the difference in the world once I swapped to a 4bbl carb.