This 1960 Mercury Park Lane came from the last year of production of the first generation of the Park Lane model. Listed for sale here on Craigslist, it is located in East Windsor, Connecticut. The car comes with a clean title and an asking price of $9,500.
The Park Lane was introduced by Mercury during 1958, and the first generation cars remained in production (with annual updates) until 1960. The Park Lane name was then retired by Mercury before being revived with the introduction of the second generation cars in 1964. This particular Park Lane has been in storage since 1988, but has recently been revived by the owner in preparation for it to be moved on to a new owner. The car appears to be quite straight, and the seller states that it has a solid trunk and rear quarters. There is some corrosion evident around the external trim on the driver’s side wing, but otherwise things look quite encouraging. What we don’t know is the state of the floors and frame, but if the external appearance is any guide then things could potentially be quite promising.
Under the hood is the 430ci MEL V8 engine, which sends its power to the road via the Merc-O-Matic auto transmission. The seller states that the Park Lane starts, runs and drives and has been the beneficiary of a recent tune-up. Unfortunately there are no engine shots, but the seller informs us that they have boxes of NOS parts still in boxes. They claim that there are thousands of dollars in parts including bumpers and chrome trim pieces, and that they will be included in the sale. That has just made this Mercury a bit more attractive.
The interior looks really good for its age. The seats look like they have received a re-trim at some stage and I suspect that the carpet has also been replaced at some stage, but the door trims and dash look good. There may be a slight problem with the padding on the dash above the glove compartment, but the cover looks intact. This is a bonus since 1960 marked the first year of padding on the dash, and sourcing a replacement may be a problem. The rear seat appears to be in similar condition to the front.
The Park Lane was the range-topping model, and this one appears to be in solid condition structurally. The interior trim looks good, and it also appears that it is probably quite solid mechanically. If the majority of the restoration work is cosmetic then it may not be a particularly hard restoration project. The addition of a stack of NOS parts makes this Park Lane all the more attractive.
I can’t think of any thing with a wilder back window or even the windshield for that matter. As far as Mercury styling,it just doesn’t get any more “Mercury” than this one in my opinion. Ya I’d like to have one but we just don’t see em out here. Almost beyond belief I think I may already have one and haven’t made the effort to retrieve it yet. Years ago ,guys would push junkers over the creek banks in an effort to slow erosion,which rarely helped,but that was the idea. It’s been over the edge, up side down, far to long to possibly yield any thing of value but eventually I’ll get it up and out if only to clean up the site of its demise.
Normally, I like all Mercury’s, but the 1960 was one I just couldn’t warm up to. Like the epitome of gawdiness. There’s a 5 mph front bumper for ya’. Since Adam wrote this up, I’ve always wondered what people from other countries thought of our big, gawdy, American barges that our parents drove, when they had compact Holdens or Fiat 500’s. Sure made a statement if you drove one of these. Heaven help you if you ever need a back window.
Howard A, I’ve always quite liked them, but then I grew up in an Australian household with a father who liked his American Fords. At various times we had Fairlanes, Galaxies, Rancheros, Customlines and even a ’57 T-bird in our garage. I can remember us breaking the windshield on a ’57 Customline and it took dad nearly 4 months to find one!
I have to say that on some of our narrow and more twisting roads cars like these were not great, but in chewing up the miles when driving interstate they were brilliant. I’s also worth remembering that Australia has some of the harshest road conditions on the planet, and cars like this tended to insulate you from the worst of it. Thanks for asking.
Well, Howard, I think folks from other countries (esp. Europeans) would be quite at home with all things gaudy, considering Antoni Gaudi was a Catalan and was the touchstone for the word, like Deusy.
They though, “those lucky Americans, they can stretch out their legs in a car”.
My 60 Mercury creek find
Nice find KSwheatfarmer, If only it was a Porsche.
I prefer the 59’s, but this car is really unique and a great starting point. Also right down the road from me……
Somewhere I read that the 1960 Mercury was the widest American production car ever made.
This is a very rare one.
What does MEL mean ?
Really?
Ok.
Mercury
Edsel
Lincoln
Or, Multi Engine Land. Or Minimum Equipment List. Muskies Eels and Lizzards.
BOP: Baggy Ol’ Peckerwood. What my wife calls me..
I didn’t know MEL either, …really!
I have always been a fan of different, and this is different! Restored this is going to be a beautiful car, and you could take it to a hundred car shows or classic car auctions and never see another one. PERFECT!
Rare and gorgeous car…but I’d break the piggy bank only for the convertible. One of the more beautiful rear end designs ever.