Mercury Monterey (1st gen) 1952-1954

The Mercury Monterey is a series of full-size cars that were manufactured and marketed by the Mercury division of Ford from 1952 to 1974. Deriving its name from Monterey Bay, the Mercury Monterey served as the upscale version of the Mercury Custom which replaced the Mercury Eight, the debut model line of the Mercury division. During its production, the Monterey would be offered in multiple body styles, ranging from coupes, convertibles, sedans, hardtops, and station wagons.

Over its 22 years of production, the Monterey served as the flagship, mid-range, and entry-level offering of the full-size Mercury product range. The only Mercury nameplate to be in continuous production throughout the 1960s, the Monterey was positioned above the Medalist, Custom, and Meteor; later, it was positioned below the Turnpike Cruiser, Montclair, Park Lane, and finally the Marquis.

Following the 1974 model year, Mercury discontinued the Monterey, consolidating its full-size range down to the Marquis and Colony Park station wagon. For 2004, the Monterey nameplate was revived, becoming the counterpart of the Ford Freestar minivan; it was produced through the 2007 model year.

[B]Early history[/B]
The Monterey (model 72C) was introduced in 1950 as a high-end two-door coupe as part of the Mercury Eight series in the same vein as the Ford Crestliner, the Lincoln Lido coupe and the Lincoln Cosmopolitan Capri coupe in order to compete with the hardtop coupes General Motors and Chrysler had introduced the previous model year. Montereys had either a canvas covered convertible for $2,146 ($26,102 in 2022 dollars) or vinyl for $2,157 ($26,236 in 2022 dollars). Standard features included leather faced seats, simulated leather headliner, wool carpets, chrome-plated interior garnish moldings, two-toned dashboard, special black steering wheel, fender skirts, dual outside rearview mirrors, full wheelcovers & gold winged hood ornament. For $10 more ($122 in 2022 dollars) all leather seats were an option. Two special colors were offered, Turquoise Blue with dark blue top and Cortaro Red metallic with black top. Black with yellow top was also available. Few Montereys were sold.

[B]First generation (1952-1954)[/B]
As Ford began to position Mercury as a mid-priced competitor to the Pontiac Chieftain, Buick Special, Studebaker Commander, Hudson Pacemaker, Kaiser Virginian, Nash Statesman, Dodge Meadowbrook and Dodge Coronet, all Mercury vehicles received a styling and engineering redesign for 1952, such as 18% more window area. Monterey became a separate series and Mercury's top model line over the mainstream Custom nameplate, a convertible and four-door sedan were included in the new series lineup. The heater and vent controls were changed to levers and placed on a plane set perpendicular to the dash behind the steering wheel, inspired by flight controls in large aircraft. The listed retail price was US$2,370 for the convertible ($26,118 in 2022 dollars). Eleven exterior colors were offered and seventeen two-tone color combinations were provided, and the standard list of equipment included broadcloth upholstery, full carpeting, and electric clock, luggage compartment light and chrome window surroundings. Optional equipment included a heater and windshield defroster, radio with antenna, and fog lamps.

A station wagon was first introduced as a Mercury for 1953 including an optional "woodie" appearance, the same year a Siren Red Monterey Convertible became Ford's forty-millionth car produced. 1954 saw the introduction of the new 161 hp (120 kW) overhead valve Ford Y-block V8, as well as the bubble-top Monterey Sun Valley, named for Sun Valley, Idaho, which had a Plexiglas front half roof which was similar to that of the Ford Crestline Skyliner. The color choices expanded considerably to offer fifteen single choices and thirty nine two-tone selections. The 1954 Montereys also received other alterations, such as new, lower taillights. The Mercury XM-800 concept car, first displayed at the Chicago Auto Show early in 1954, débuted as the Mercury Monterey XM-800.

[SIZE=1]Source: Wikipedia[/SIZE]