Vehicle Description
1953 Mercury Monterey Hardtop
The Mercury Marque, gone since 2011, where it won't be long before
the last Mountaineer ends up as a refrigerator and a new generation
of auto buyers forgets the brand ever existed. But it had a pretty
good run. Take this V8-powered 1953 Mercury Monterey hardtop. It's
a stunning car - light, compact, decked with chrome yet still
somehow restrained, at least compared to what followed. The ad asks
us to "Imagine tingling, jet-smooth, alive-with-action performance"
and "visualize a kind of construction that builds a car as a
whole.". Take a 60 minute test drive and you'll see for yourself.
Gosh people in those days has sooooo much spare time, what
happened?
For consignment, a lightly modded and slightly rodded 1953 Mercury
Monterey hardtop. This car has a different from factory engine and
slight mods have been made to the bodywork, but it retains its
original charm. On the rockers we note faux lake pipes, some
frenched headlights, a wide arm side spear, and an ultra wide and
expansive looking rear continental bumper with a simple inflated
tire tube in the middle. This car may have more on the back end
than the front, which to many is an attractive feature. ( More junk
in the trunk? I'll go for that!)
Exterior
Yeah yeah there's junk in the trunk, but upfront will not be
outdone with the chromed double D sized dagmars leading the way in
front of the toothy grille and affixed to the wrap around bumper. A
long hood scoop is chromedon its edge, and on either side are
"frenched" headlights in single circular form. Laser straight and
rust free steel is bathed in a nice coating of white paint
throughout. This finish is not without faults, there is ample
bubbling on the wrap under lowers as well as chipping in various
areas that are starting to turn to surface rust. There is also
plenty of chrome trimming to accent it, including some wide trim
side spears, window surrounds, lake pipes, chromed wire wheels,
B-pillar wraps to go with the wrap around glass, rear quarter bump
out trimmings just before the rear tire and massive rear tail light
bezels. Of course we can't leave out the larger than life
continental bumper. Dual exhaust peeks out of the back bottom and
the spare on the bumper is sans its covering or tire for that
matter, as it is simply an inflated tire tube mounted on a steel
wheel. Wide whites wrap the 15-inch chrome wire spoke wheels and
some search lighting is on either side. What exactly were people
looking for??? Fill me in so I can write about it.
Interior
Here we go off to the interior races with red uppers in vinyl and a
curvaceous chrome delineator along with actuators and cranks and
then some slightly soiled cream vinyl lowers and a red vinyl
armrest in the middle. The sills are red painted steel and match
the vinyl pretty well. Sills on the passenger doors is chipped and
peeling. Inside, 2 large benches welcome passengers with short tuck
and roll inserts in vinyl and red vinyl uppers and bolsters. Seat
belts have been added and these reside under a red vinyl headliner
that is nicely preserved. Red carpeting is on the floors and the
car has some flaming graphic floor mats. A large two tone white and
black steering wheel with slightly cracked bakelite rim and a full
interior chrome horn ring is fronting the original dash. It is an
impressive array of futuristic rounded over panels protruding from
the dash front which has a central crescent visored speedometer and
two side "trays" with dice topped levers for airflow, temperature
controls, and fan speed to drivers right. Below are more knobs and
pulls for various controls and the ignition. In the center of the
red painted full metal jacket rounded over dash is a clock and just
below an aftermarket AM/FM/Cassette radio. Below this is a trio of
aftermarket gauges in a faux wood panel. Dice are being rolled all
over in this interior as toppers for the levers, shifter, and even
hanging in fuzzy form from the rear view mirror. LET IT RIDE!!
Drivetrain
Under the hood in a somewhat dusty. but not corroded or rusted,
engine bay sits a later model 302ci V8. It is topped with a
4-barrel carburetor and has a C4 3-speed automatic transmission on
the back. There is a Ford 9 inch rear axle in use and dual exhaust
and glasspack mufflers are on and underneath. So don't be fooled by
the faux lake pipes.
Undercarriage
Heavy undercoating has maintained the floor pans and framing of
this car. We note some surface rust on the suspension which is
front independent coil springs and rear leaf springs and some on
the exhaust but it is hole free at this point. Drum braking is on
all 4 corners.
Drive-Ability
An easy starter and smooth idler. It had some power for the takeoff
and bias free panic stopping. Meanwhile the steering was easy and
the transmission shifted smoothly. The speedometer did not track
mph, the odometer is also dormant, and the clock is frozen in
time.
An interesting luxury meets semi rod meets lots of classy chrome,
all draped in white with a snazzy red and white interior peppered
with dice. That about sums it up for this consignment!
53SL42175M
53-1953
SL-St. Louis, MO Assy Plant
42175-Sequential Unit Number
M-Mercury Line
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 850 vehicles for sale
with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle
barn find collection is on display. This vehicle is located in our
showroom in Morgantown, Pennsylvania, conveniently located just
1-hour west of Philadelphia on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The
website is www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888)
227-0914. Please contact us anytime for more information or to come
see the vehicle in person.
