This Mid-Century Mercury Montclair Turned Heads
The automotive marketplace hasn’t seen a new Mercury vehicle since 2011, and for the non-enthusiast public, the venerable Ford Motor Company division has virtually disappeared from the collective consciousness. That’s a shame because for 72 years, Mercury produced some genuinely appealing cars. This 1955 Montclair convertible was one of those head-turners, and it drew lots of attention in the car corral at the 2024 Rhinebeck Car Show.
It wasn’t simply because the car was perched on a trailer, literally head and shoulders above most of the rest of the field, that it caught peoples’ eyes. The Montclair convertible was painted a beautiful, creamy shade called Yukon Yellow that contrasted neatly with the Tuxedo Black beltline paint, the black cloth roof, and the linear bright metal trim that enhanced the Mercury’s long, low, lean look. Peering inside, you were greeted with roomy interior containing a big two-spoke steering wheel with a chrome horn ring, a stylish painted dashboard, and two bench seats upholstered in contrast-stitched black Chromatex fabric paired with white and black vinyl. New wide-whitewall radial tires and the presence of an alternator, rather than a generator, under the hood, were its only noteworthy deviations from factory.
This Mid-Century Mercury Montclair Turned Heads
This top-of-the-line model had the go to match its show, courtesy of a Holley four-barrel-carbureted Y-block “Super Torque” V-8 that drove its rear wheels through a rebuilt three-stage Merc-O-Matic transmission. The engine made 198 horsepower and 286 lb-ft of torque with help from an 8.5:1 compression ratio and dual exhausts, and that torque was substantial enough to give the circa-3,800-pound convertible some pep off the line.
We spoke with this car’s seller and learned it had spent time in California, down South, and up in New England before settling in this part of the Northeast. It was impressively solid and had been purchased as a project, with a nonfunctioning convertible roof that would be sorted by taking apart and restoring a donor top frame, installing a new cloth top, and renewing all the hydraulic lines and cylinders and the motor. The interior’s striking upholstery was a correct replacement, and the car still sported its original “Full Fidelity” seven-tube AM radio. The Montclair was offered with a $36,000 asking price in a low-key, but truthful fashion: “Not a high-end show car but presents itself very well.”
This mid-’50s Mercury attracted a crowd of admirers throughout the weekend, but despite some seemingly promising nibbles, it did not find a new home at Rhinebeck. The seller subsequently advertised it in Hemmings with a color-photo Classified Ad, and the car sold almost immediately. This result wasn’t surprising, as the Montclair was a very attractive car that was very nearly in great driver condition with some desirable mods to improve its roadability. We’d say it was a fine buy for its lucky new caretaker; while J.D. Power considers average retail for this model to be $32,125, a search of classic.com shows five 1955 Montclair convertibles have sold at auction since October 2020 with hammer prices averaging $55,160.
1955 Mercury Montclair
Asking price: $36,000
Seller description: “Car has the Y-block motor; automatic transmission (previously rebuilt); dual exhaust with glasspacks; new shocks; new 12-volt wiring harness with alternator; top bows have been disassembled and painted; new convertible top, top cylinders, motor, and lines; new interior; new radial tires; tinted glass; no power steering or power brakes. Painted Yukon Yellow and Tuxedo Black approximately three years ago, paint has some flaws; car needs some minor electrical work, gas gauge, horn, and heater.”
Known issues: Few touched-in paint chips, aging brightwork, some crazing evident in plastic lenses and emblems, needed a bit more work to be 100-percent functional
Why buy? This stylish convertible was solid and very presentable, appearing factory-correct and outwardly unmodified outside of a fresh set of wide-whitewall radials on original wheels. The canvas convertible top was new and covered an attractive two-tone interior, and the driveline—with updated electricals—was then Mercury’s most powerful.
Price new: $2,712 ($31,940 in 2024 dollars)
Value now: $17,000-$70,000
