Nothing speaks of luxury like simulated wood paneling, and when that paneling is ostensibly original to the car, so much the better. Presented as a “real rust free car from [the] Southern Utah desert,” this 1966 Mercury Colony Park apparently has its original coat of Ford enamel and all its original trim. Barn Finds reader Mike F. found it on craigslist in Golden, Colorado, with a seemingly reasonable asking price of $14,500. Considering that it has a big 410 under the hood, in addition to a functional-looking set of steel wheels, new tires, and what appear to be 1957 Ford hubcaps, it seems like this big wagon should be sold by now. Will you make it happen?
For much of the 1960s, Mercury bypassed Ford’s sixes and small-blocks for an FE-based engine lineup. In 1966, the 390 was standard equipment, but a two-year-only 410-cubic-inch FE was available in 1966 and 1967, and indeed it was ordered in this top-of-the-line station wagon. With the 390’s bore size of 4.05″ and the 428’s stroke of 3.98″, the 410 was a torquey step up for those who didn’t quite need the 428. It produced 330 horsepower and 444 lb.-ft. of torque through a single exhaust system on wagons.
The seller says that it has “a new carburetor, distributor, wires, plugs, belts, hoses, valve cover gaskets, oil change and new air and oil filters.” You may notice that it’s an air-conditioned car, but it’s not currently working (although the compressor is free).
You could order your Colony Park with either an all-vinyl interior or a cloth-and-vinyl interior. This one appears to be all-vinyl, and it’s in great shape with a new front seat cover, carpeting, and headliner (the rest is original to the car). The lights and gauges are all “in working order,” and the car “runs and drives nice.”
Another fun feature offered by the Colony Park was the “Dual-Action Tailgate,” which opened like a traditional tailgate or like a door, take your pick. This is an opportunity to see the load floor, which appears to be ready for just about anything you can throw at it.
Station wagons of the 1960s might be about the best thing going these days; they aren’t ridiculously expensive and they are as practical as they were when new. With a burly 410 under the hood and a nice warm original glow based on those years under the Utah sun, this would be a Colony Park that anyone should be proud of parking in their garage.
Several decades ago, I had this in a convertible. Earl Scheib quality red respray. Top was down when I came to look. Price was right and I bought it on the spot. On the way home I found out that the top mechanism was frozen in place. Financial limitations prevented me from addressing this issue. Drove it all summer and got my money back in the fall without lying about the top. I call that a win. BTW, not badmouthing Earl Scheib paint jobs. I did the prep work on an Impala painted there and got many compliments on the result
We had a conversation here a couple of months back about Earl Scheib paint jobs. There is still at least one around LA and another in Las Vegas, but the parent company closed down years ago. Evidently, form what I read, Earl had his own paints produced of lesser quality, but closer to the end they used Sherwin Williams, and yes, doing your own prep and trim removal was advised.
Yep do your own prep, they still had over spray on the seats and thought I had enough trim off. 1964 Studebaker Challenger, left the taillights and front turn signals in. They painted over the front turn signals. After a couple of days of cleaning and putting grill etc back in didn’t look too bad.
As long as the frame is in good shape, and the magnet sticks to the lower body panels? This is a good deal. Rare, but all the mechanicals are out there.
The FE 410 was an interesting 2 year only engine. I have a 65 Mercury with an FE 390 with some upgrades and I love it. This Mercury wagon looks to be a pretty solid survivor, but would prefer a 2 door version.
totally cool. i had this in a matchbox when i was little. somebody will get a nice original piece
“Golvarg” diecast makes a nice model of this exact car in 1/43 scale if you wanted to re-live some memories.I think there’s is a ’65.
Around 75 i had a 66 or 67 sort of turquoises colored Colony Park with the 410/ auto. It was a big gas hog getting at most 8 mpg. Bur it did move on down the road until i hit a snow filled ditch and burned up the transmission trying to get out. I had got it from a relative pretty cheap so i sold it off to some guy that wanted it.