The 1966 Colony Park debuted Ford's two-way "Magic Doorgate" — a tailgate that could fold down like normal or swing open sideways like a door.
Lead trim: Colony Park 390 cu in FE V8 (315 hp, 1968) · up to 345 hp
Mercury Colony Park1965–1968
- 0spots by members
- Unclaimednobody has spotted one yet
- 0sets it belongs to
Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Mercury Colony Park yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactThe 1966 Colony Park debuted Ford's two-way "Magic Doorgate" — a tailgate that could fold down like normal or swing open sideways like a door.
For 1965 Ford redesigned its entire full-size sedan and station wagon line, and the Colony Park was again a separate model line with the mid-level Commuter (without the simulated mahogany trim). It kept a body-on-frame chassis but the leaf-spring rear suspension gave way to a coil-spring live rear axle, a layout retained through the final Crown Victoria in 2011; the Colony Park kept its roofline alongside the Ford Country Squire but adopted the slab-sided language of Mercury sedans, heavily influenced by the Lincoln Continental. Dimensions: 119.0 in wheelbase, 210.0 in long, 77.4 in wide, 4,277 lb. The 1965 version listed at US$3,364 and 4,213 were manufactured; for 1966 the rear tailgate was updated with the two-way "Magic Doorgate", shared with all other Ford and Mercury wagons, allowing the tailgate to fold down or swing out to the driver's side as a door; for 1967 sideways-facing third-row seats were added as an option and fresh-air ventilation channels were integrated into the D pillar; the simulated wood paneling was redesigned in 1967 and 1968 to cover the entire side of the body. For 1967 and 1968 the Park Lane coupe and convertible offered the same paneling as "yacht deck paneling". For 1965 the 390 V8 was the sole engine; in 1966 Mercury added a 330 hp 410 "Marauder" V8 and a 345 hp 428 "Super Marauder" V8; for 1968 the 410 was dropped, replaced by a 315 hp version of the 390. Production was 15,294 in 1965, 18,894 in 1966, 24,578 in 1967 and 21,179 in 1968.
Collectors Spotted in the Mercury Colony Park Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Mercury Colony Park yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
4 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colony Park 390 cu in FE V8 (1965–1967) | 1965–1967 | 6.4 L V8 | — | — | — | RWD | — | — |
| Colony Park 390 cu in FE V8 (315 hp, 1968) | 1968–1968 | 6.4 L V8 | 315 hp | 427 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Colony Park 410 cu in Marauder V8 (330 hp, 1966–1967) | 1966–1967 | 6.7 L V8 | 330 hp | 444 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Colony Park 428 cu in Super Marauder V8 (345 hp, 1966–1967) | 1966–1967 | V8 | 345 hp | 462 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
For 1981 the Colony Park wagon picked up fuel injection and a 4-speed overdrive automatic shared with the Lincoln Continental — the first transmission of its kind fitted to any American full-size car.
Counterintuitively, the big Colony Park wagon actually rode a shorter wheelbase than the Marquis sedans it was built alongside.
The 1966 Colony Park debuted Ford's two-way "Magic Doorgate" — a tailgate that could fold down like normal or swing open sideways like a door.
This Colony Park redesign actually shrank the car — about five inches shorter, six inches less wheelbase, and 500 fewer pounds than the 1960 model — and sales went up anyway.
The 1959 Colony Park only got its own exclusive chassis because Ford killed off the Edsel Corsair and Citation it was built to share with -- a platform by accident, not design.
The '57 Colony Park's party trick — a tailgate with a power-retractable rear window — was such a good idea Mercury reused the hardware for the Turnpike Cruiser's famous 'Breezeway' window.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
Cooling the C6 RS6’s twin-turbo V10 took seven separate radiators and four electric fans under the bonnet.
The original RS6 debuted Audi's clever hydraulic Dynamic Ride Control suspension — and enough owners got tired of its leaking dampers that they ripped the whole system out for plain coilovers.
The C7-generation RS6 Avant never officially reached America at all — buyers there got the RS7 Sportback instead, running the exact same engine and platform in a different body.
For a few years, this Outback's six-cylinder trim came with genuine McIntosh audio — the same esteemed hi-fi name found in home theaters, one of the only cars ever to get it from the factory.
Subaru didn't have the budget for an all-new SUV, so it dressed up a Legacy wagon instead. A Subaru of America executive later put it bluntly: "[the Outback] saved our company."
The new Outback's full-width tail light bar has a 2 ft ruler built in, for measuring whatever you are about to load.
This Outback shared Top Gear's Car of the Year crown — an unusual honor for a jacked-up wagon to split with the Ford Mondeo in 2007.
A wagon beat the SUVs at their own game: this Outback generation won Motor Trend's Sport/Utility of the Year award for 2010.