Another in the series of killer (literally) cool 1950s car hood ornaments and great designs, this 1956 Mercury Montclair looks like a great project. That front bumper alone could be/should be in a museum. This beautiful and solid project car can be found here on eBay in the Harbor City neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The seller has a $5,500 buy-it-now price listed or you can make an offer.
The seller doesn’t say where they got this Mercury but I bet it was pretty exciting to see this for the first time in a garage or barn or wherever they found it. They say that it’s a California car and is super solid but will need a full restoration. The trunk appears to be filled with goodies: i.e. parts and pieces. The Montclair was made by Mercury, of course, but there were a few twists in the path between 1955 and 1968.
For the 1955 through the 1957 model years, the Montclair was made by Ford’s Mercury Division but for 1958 through 1960 they were sold under the Lincoln/Edsel/Mercury family. After a three-year hiatus, the Montclair name came back for the 1964 to 1968 model years but this time they were offered by the Lincoln/Mercury division. The seller offers us quite a few good photos, including the bad parts.
The interior looks surprisingly good for a car that’s been sitting for an unknown number of years or even decades. The color on this Montclair is hard to argue with, the only thing that may have added more pizzaz would be if it would have had a white and teal two-tone exterior paint scheme. They have included a few underside photos which is great and it does look mostly solid if you can see past the heavy surface rust – if that makes any sense at all. Hagerty is at $12,800 for a #4 fair condition car and $16,800 for a #3 good condition car.
There are no engine photos, unfortunately, but this one should have Mercury’s 312 cubic-inch V8 starting at 210 hp. We don’t know exactly which version this is with no mention of the engine configuration, no photos of it, and no VIN is given. They do say that it cranks over which is great, but they also say that there “is spark coming out of the carburetor” which is maybe not ideal. Most Barn Finds readers could have this Merc humming again in no time. There will be lots of work for anyone who wants to totally restore this car, but it’ll be gorgeous once it’s done.
Well, you don’t see these often, would definitely stand out at Coffee & Chrome! That front bumper/grille combination must weigh 500 lbs! GLWTA! :-)
Like Scotty said looks like a solid project. This car can be restored without having to replaced half offer the sheet metal from China
A preservation restoration with safety upgrades is certainly a possibility. This is something refreshingly interesting and different amongst the numerous tri-fives that usually congregate at car events…
I’ve got the spinner hub caps from my dad’s ’56 they made a nice ad-on (was a 4-dr hard top Medalist )
Once while getting an old truck inspected, the inspector told me, “A bumper is supposed to absorb impact, not deliver it!”.
What a nice car to restore. I,d rather have this GREAT AMERICAN MADE IN AMERICA car then any car coming off the assembly line today. Sink a $1,000 in it and drive it for alot less worry ,safety and money. . Try that on a new one or late model one and they will come up with all kinds of excuse its not covered and you get a bigbill handed to you. This car has class style and comfort written all over it and the body looks really solid. I wished they had shown the motor,cleaned out the interior and trunk.So we could see more about it. It would help sale the car . It wouldn,t have taken that much time.
“spark coming out of the carburetor” sounds like either a timing issue, or in my case, a broken timing chain…a very interesting project for someone to take on…
Read the posting again? It says “. Engine is cranking and spark coming out but carburetor will need work ” There’s nothing about spark coming out of the car raider is there?
Maybe you should read it again David because it says “spark coming out of the carburetor
Line cut & pasted from the ad: “Engine is cranking and spark coming out but carburetor will need work” This shows how not using a comma can cloud the meaning, ergo: Engine is cranking and spark is coming out, but carburetor will need work. Proper punctuation definitely helps! :-)
Car raider? I suppose you’re going to blame this on spell check again? Stupid spell check.
Commas save lives.
Let’s eat, mom.
Lets eat mom.
You’re right, guys! I read it incorrectly, my fault.
This could be a show winner with a little love, hard work and some money. One of my brothers had a 55 4 door in the same color back in the early 60’s.
God bless America
Owned a red and white one with Connie kit, skirts, spinners and spotlight from ’85-02, traded it for a ’40 Ford coupe, one of my bucket list cars. Mine was also out of California, I don’t think many survived east of the continental divide. Fun car to cruise around in but got about 10 mpg. I used to put a bud vase over the front of the hood ornament so it wouldn’t slice through the Omnibag I stored it in every winter.
Back in the 80’s, a co-worker of my X husband had one he was rebuilding. Even then there was a bunch of rust repair to do, mainly due to living in the rust belt. Had a modified 390 and 4 speed to go into it. Never had a chance to see it finished as we moved out of state before then. Wondered a few times whatever happened to it.
I like them, don’t see a lot of them around so they’re a tad unique.
Not exactly what they said about the spark.
“Engine is cranking and spark coming out but carburetor will need work ”
Always liked these.
https://youtu.be/C_r5UJrxcck watch this 59 Chevrolet crash test and then tall me how much safer the old cars were.
What an absolute waste of a beautiful 59 Chev., someone should be shot for that!
When restored, that care will look great! We have a black and yellow one, which always draws a lot of attention. Great front end.
I bought a 55 merc tudor sedan in 58 and the 292 it came with was in bad shape so I replaced it with a 312 from the wrecking yard of a smashed 57. It had a 3 speed on the column and was pretty fast after the engine swap.
In the closeup photo of the windshield, what do you suppose caused the dent in the chrome?
Bullet was my first thought.
Well it cranks over and HAS SPARK COMING OUT OF THE CAR. Do they mean fire coming out of the car while trying to start it ? If not then I don,t think they know much about cars. If it is. I hope the have a fire extinguisher handy in case. I really like it and like–I LOVE IT. I get to work on that and have it on the road driving it. From what I seen of it. It looks solid and should take much to get it going. Good luck to who ever buys it. I remeber years ago. A guy worked at the gas station had a orange and white one. He thouht he was all it. He was dating my friends sister. They would be parked out the road and we,d (her brothers and I) AND WHEN THEY WOULD GET ALL WORKED UP-LEANING TOWARD THE DOOR. We,d sneak up and open the door. They,d fall half way out and he,d get really mad. That,s how we had fun.and I rememer these cars. haha
Sounds like the opening scene from the Happy Days TV show, the first season showed the exact prank you describe during the spinning of Bill Haley’s Rock Around The Clock. Laughter ensued.
Red flag! Title issues. Get that straightened out first before trying to sell. Seller wants a deposit before proceeding. Not how it works in California. File for duplicate title with the DMV. Obviously seller does not have title to vehicle and may not even have a legitimate claim and proof of ownership. Hoping to sell overseas to avoid petty legalities. That’s what he is hinting at. Good luck.
Allow me to please clarify, I am not trying to cast aspersions upon the seller. I only want to urge caution to anyone considering purchase. Laying down a deposit on something with the promise of a title later is just bad idea. You have no protection if a title is not forthcoming for whatever reason.
And it’s a moot point as the seller has just now ended the auction. Interested to see if it ever appears again. It is a neat car with some potential to be a sweetheart. Best wishes to everyone involved.
Read it carefully, says it has spark but needs carburetor. Does not say has spark coming from carburetor.
My older brother had two or three of these sitting behind the barns. I used to play in them. This was my first introduction to the automatic transmission, at least my first awareness. Cool cars.
Ended on EBAY by seller. So the grammatical and punctuation errors are a mute point. ‘Engine is cranking and spark coming out but carburetor will need work’
II too have spark in my carburetor……the female drivers have always complained.
We had a ’54 Merc, the first I ever drove in as a baby. Completely different sheet metal and design of course but as it happens I saw one the other day in a parking lot.
I like the longer lines of the ’53 though
I have one of these for the past 14 years. In red and white in and out, in a convertible fully loaded with all of the goodies, spinner hubcaps, continental kit, fender skirts wide wall radials, and most of the power option offered for that year. All I can say is when I pull in a show or a cruise it gets a lot of attention. There isn’t a lot of them around. Something different to look at with beauty. I have loved them since I first saw them on the show room floor back in 1956 when I was 11 years old. I wish great luck to the seller and the buyer to bring this back to life and driver down the road.
They were great cars & at this price if it was closer to me I’d definitely check it out!