1968 Mercury Park Lane

Mercury's lush Park Lane convertible hit the deck with a new option for the 1968 Mercury Park Lane called "Yacht Paneling." Though an appliqué, it was a nice, nostalgic nod to the real woodies of the late 1940s.

he yacht paneling option on the
1968 Mercury Park Lane was not offered on later models.

Full-size late-'60s Mercurys were what we'd now call "near luxury" models, yet they were typically big, smooth, feature-laden machines. The all-new '65s were even grandly trumpeted as being "In the Lincoln Continental tradition," especially their square, formal styling. A more fulsome look arrived for '67, when Mercury billed itself "The Man's Car." How times have changed

The 1968 Mercury Park Lane yacht paneling look carried into its interior.

Mercury's big '68s were not much changed, still riding a 123-inch wheelbase and offering V-8s up to 428 cubic inches, but there was an interesting new option called "Yacht Paneling." Restricted at first to the top-line Park Lane fastback and $3822 convertible, this involved woody-look side trim like that on Colony Park wagons. As a full-length decal, Yacht Paneling wasn't structural like the real wood on Mercury's 1946 Sportsman convertible, but it was no less distinctive. However, it was none too popular either, lasting only this one year. Of the 1112 Park Lane ragtops built for '68, just a handful were Yacht Paneled, and a mere 15 are known to exist today. Sometimes, it just doesn't pay to go "retro."

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1955 Mercury Montclair

In 1955, Mercury claimed an upper-class identity with unique styling and a colorful new top-line series called the 1955 Mercury Montclair, home to Mercury's lone convertible. The result was a 27-percent sales gain over '54 to nearly 330,000 cars, a high-water mark that wouldn't be exceeded until the mid-'60s.

The 1955 Mercury Montclair was Mercury's only convertible, and a
hot seller as well

Priced at $2712, the ragtop Montclair naturally shared the bold new look of Mercury's Customs and Montereys, with longer and lower bodies, wrapped windshields, and squarer, more imposing lines. A slim beltline contrast-color panel distinguished Montclairs, which also included a unique low-roof four-door sedan and the interesting Sun Valley hardtop with a green-tinted transparent roof insert above the front seat. Introduced as a '54 Monterey, the Sun Valley sold just 1787 copies for '55 versus 10,668 convertibles -- proving perhaps that there's no substitute for real top-down motoring.

Also back from '54 was Mercury's first overhead-valve V-8, newly enlarged to 292 cubic inches and good for 198 horsepower with standard dual exhausts in Montclairs, which also came with self-shift Merc-O-Matic transmission. "Uncle" Tom McCahill clocked 0-60 mph at 12.8 seconds with a hardtop, so Mercury was still something of a "hot" car. Yet all '55s rode and handled better, thanks to refinements in the year-old ball-joint front suspension, and larger brakes improved stopping power.

                                                The 1955 Mercury Montclair was the first Mercury to offer factory air conditioning.

Montclairs were Mercury's best in '55, but they could be even better with options like power windows, four-way power seat, and first-time factory air conditioning. Of course, the convertible hardly needed A/C -- just a sunny day and room to roam.

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