Having spent the past 27 years sitting out in the Arizona sun, this 1955 Mercury Monterey is looking slightly toasted. However, beneath that facade lies a really solid car just waiting to be restored. The Mercury is located in Tucson, Arizona, and you will find it listed for sale here on eBay.
Ignoring the surface corrosion on the Mercury, the car itself is very solid. The owner provides plenty of photos, and all of the floors look really solid. There are a few dents and dings around the car, but these are of a pretty minor nature. The worst of the dents is on the front edge of the deck lid, but even that should pop out pretty easily. There is a piece of trim missing from the rear door on the driver’s side, but this is sitting in the trunk, along with the hubcaps. The bumpers and some of the chrome trim will require re-plating, and while the majority of the glass is in good condition, the front passenger side window is cracked.
The Mercury is fitted with a 292ci V8 and an automatic transmission, along with power brakes. The car doesn’t run, but the owner says that the engine turns freely. The car is also fitted with air conditioning, which would be a nice bonus when dealing with the Arizona sun.
The owner refers to the interior as being pretty well shot, and that’s a reasonably fair description. It appears that all of the upholstered surfaces have suffered under the ongoing UV exposure, but the dash has survived really well and is complete. There are a couple of really nice features here. The factory clock is still present, as is the factory radio with the rear speaker. The Mercury is also fitted with power windows and a power seat, and all of the controls are present and in good condition. The A/C has had the owner a bit confused, as he is unsure whether it is a factory unit, or if it was fitted by the dealer. It appears to be a Frigiking unit, which would either make it a dealer fitment, or one that was fitted by an outside supplier. Judging by the appearance of the under-dash unit, the model is a MagneTouch unit of 1950s vintage, so it may have been fitted by the dealer.
This 1955 Mercury Monterey was once a very attractive and well-equipped vehicle, and there is no reason why it can’t be returned to that state. The owner has set a BIN price of $4,500 for the car, but the option is there to make an offer. With nice 4-door examples similarly equipped to this one consistently selling for more than $25,000, it is certainly a viable restoration project.
Seems like this Mercury at least has a decent body to work with, a big plus is that it appears to have all the trim present. The interior is going to be a challenge as everything is pretty much toast but again, everything seems to be there. All the mechanicals will have to be gone through and hopefully the motor can be brought back to life. A lot of time and money will be needed to bring this one back, so maybe the asking price is a little high. I hope this Monterey is saved, it would be a real looker if restored properly.
Not enough time or money for this one, but I’m sure that someone out there in
BF land will give it a good home. With
all those creature comforts, this car
could’ve passed for a baby Lincoln.
That A/C unit looks like a very old Thermo King type installed by dealers
at that time and power windows were
almost unheard of when it came to low
or medium priced cars back then. Nice
to see that everything’s all there. It’ll
make it that much easier to rejuvinate
this old gal without too much trouble.
With all that being said, Happy New Year
from our house to yours!
Much more solid than the Mercedes from New Hampshire than was featured a couple of cars back. A good foundation to go in any direction from.
I believe the evaporator for factory A/C was in the trunk. Transparent ducts carried cold air from the package shelf to vents mounted in the headliner.
Joke of the day !
Gonna Buy Me a Mercury !
Just not this one.
Parts car. And not foŕ 4500
About as honest representation of an old classc as you will find in todays market. Only thing wrong here for me is the distance otherwise I would find a way to put it in my garage wit a little negotiating. If it were a Montclair Phaeton Hardtop or 2 door hard it would be ultimate and o question for me or the Mercury collector. True a lot of work but this is where one determines what is best for himself, and determined by his skills and what you want to spend. For me and my skills at 73 it could be done but no investment above this amount for sure.Have done these types before and once you could do it and even possibly make money but today better be for the love of the car. Every thing being ther is the best part of all and being rot free is the other. The nicety is all those nice options notfound on cars of the era. As a novice problems are the 6 volt system which 55 was last year for that and it can be repaired and made successful on the same 6 volt system and a heavy duty battery, just plan on many hours of love and time consuming hours to get t going and if you need parts not easy to find but you can change it over to 12 volts but here again time consuming, more work and parts if you want it correctly working. Not impossible. Yes a pretty much complete interior redo if you want even a driver most any old car you buy will need this unless you buy a high dollar survivor that isn’t going to need much and won’t be cheap. If you can’t do anything for yourself, then you are pretty much going to wind up in it upside down from the beginning. If you want a conservative fun old unusual driver this can be it. I have about gotten past my days of ding and have done a lot of them but if it were not so far to go get I would put it in my shop and make a doll out of it. Some I hope will get it and do t justice and enjoy. If it was a true runner when parked I would not be afraid of the engine or tranny. Fresh fluids new batter, plugs wires, points wheel cyliners and lines and decent tires and a daily driver you will have. Have seen these old Yblocks stared after 25-35 years and driven many more mles. Happy motoring to someone I hope
All the cosmetic issues aside, what one has here is a very solid, virtually rust free car that was loaded with options and is complete down to the hubcaps. How many 1955 era vehicles can boast of that? Yes it’s not a coupe or convertible, but this one deserves a second life. I know some folks born in 1955 that don’t look as good.
Someone save this remarkable survivor, yes, survivor. This car is speaking to one of us…”saying, help me”.
Not $4,500.00. $2,000.00, maybe…considering all the work that has to be done
The Car have a new Home st Switzerland