For 1963, every non-convertible Monterey came standard with a power-retracting rear window nicknamed 'Breezeway' — its mechanism borrowed straight from Mercury's station wagon line.
Lead trim: Monterey 6 223 cu in Mileage Maker six (135 hp, 1962) · up to 425 hp
Mercury Monterey1961–1964
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Mercury Monterey 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.
FactFor 1963, every non-convertible Monterey came standard with a power-retracting rear window nicknamed 'Breezeway' — its mechanism borrowed straight from Mercury's station wagon line.
For 1961 Mercury underwent a major transformation: after 1957–1960 on an Edsel-shared bodyshell it again shared one with Ford, the Monterey becoming the equivalent of the Ford Galaxie (120 in wheelbase, a 1-inch longer wheelbase than the Galaxie; 214.6 in long, 79.9 in wide, 55.0 in high). The Montclair and Park Lane were discontinued, the Monterey shifted from the base-trim Mercury sedan to its flagship above the new Meteor and, by adopting a common chassis and body with Ford, lost six inches of wheelbase, nearly two inches of width and over four inches of length (over 300 pounds of curb weight). It was offered as two- and four-door hardtops, a four-door sedan and a two-door convertible, and received the 292 cubic-inch Y-block V8 (175 hp) with the option of 352 and 390 cubic-inch FE V8s (220 hp and 300/330 hp). For 1962 the Monterey was the entire full-size Mercury line, the Meteor moving to an intermediate range; the Monterey 6 inherited a 135 hp 223 cubic-inch Mileage Maker inline-six, and the Mercury S-55 (a Galaxie 500XL counterpart with bucket seats, floor shift and special trim) was introduced as an option for two-door hardtops and convertibles, offering a 405 hp 406 cubic-inch V8. For 1963 the roofline gained the retractable "Breezeway" rear window (standard on all non-convertible Montereys and S-55s), the 223 six and the 292 and 352 V8s were dropped in favor of a 250 hp 390 as standard, with a 300 hp 390 and 385 hp and 405 hp versions of the 406; the Mercury Marauder was introduced as a trim package on a 1963½ Monterey (Monterey body with the Galaxie hardtop roofline), and as a running change the 406 was replaced by a 427 cubic-inch V8 in 410 hp and 425 hp outputs (the latter special order only). For 1964 the S-55 was discontinued, the Montclair and Park Lane returned, and the Marauder fastback was introduced as a four-door hardtop with the Marauder roofline optional on all three Mercury sedans. The Ford Motor Company of Canada also offered the Mercury 400, only for 1963: essentially a Monterey with lower-level trim and a six-cylinder engine as standard.
Collectors Spotted in the Mercury Monterey Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Mercury Monterey yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
10 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monterey 292 cu in Y-block V8 (175 hp, 1961) | 1961–1961 | 4.8 L V8 | 175 hp | — | — | RWD | — | — |
| Monterey 352 cu in FE V8 (220 hp, 1961) | 1961–1961 | 5.8 L V8 | 220 hp | 370 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Monterey 390 cu in FE V8 (250 hp, 1963 standard) | 1963–1963 | 6.4 L V8 | 250 hp | 376 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Monterey 390 cu in FE V8 (300 hp) | 1961–1963 | 6.4 L V8 | 300 hp | 427 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Monterey 390 cu in FE V8 (330 hp, 1961) | 1961–1961 | 6.4 L V8 | 330 hp | 427 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Monterey 406 cu in FE V8 (385 hp, 1963) | 1963–1963 | 6.7 L V8 | 385 hp | 444 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Monterey 406 cu in FE V8 (405 hp) | 1962–1963 | 6.7 L V8 | 405 hp | 448 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Monterey 427 cu in FE V8 (410 hp, 1963) | 1963–1963 | 7.0 L V8 | 410 hp | 476 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Monterey 427 cu in FE V8 (425 hp, 1963 special order) | 1963–1963 | 7.0 L V8 | 425 hp | 480 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Monterey 6 223 cu in Mileage Maker six (135 hp, 1962) | 1962–1962 | 3.7 L Inline-6 | 135 hp | — | — | 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
The Monterey Premier's heated AND cooled front seats were a segment first — rivals from Honda and Toyota had nothing like it.
By 1972 the Monterey had quietly become a different kind of car — for the first time, automatic transmission, power steering, and power brakes all came standard rather than optional.
Mercury dressed this Monterey to borrow Lincoln's prestige, right down to four horizontal headlamps — the whole lineup was marketed as styled 'in the Lincoln Continental tradition.'
For 1963, every non-convertible Monterey came standard with a power-retracting rear window nicknamed 'Breezeway' — its mechanism borrowed straight from Mercury's station wagon line.
This Monterey was drawn up as a maybe-Edsel before Mercury claimed it — so the design it ended up wearing was never meant to be a Mercury at all.
Chrysler debuted pushbutton shifting first, so for 1957 Mercury fired back with its own mechanical pushbutton transmission controls to compete head-on.
In 1955 the Monterey borrowed its engine straight from Ford's own halo car — the same 292 Y-block V8 doing duty under the hood of the new Thunderbird.
This Monterey's heater controls weren't styled like a car's at all — Mercury set them on levers angled like an airliner's flight deck, straight jet-age styling behind the wheel.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
This Presage minivan shares its underlying platform with the Teana sedan and the North American Murano crossover — one architecture doing three very different jobs.
Subaru's family-hauling Exiga got an unlikely STi treatment in 2009 — front spoiler, sport muffler, tighter suspension and a leather Momo wheel — but only 300 were ever built.
YRV stands for Young Recreational Vehicle, a mini MPV built to out-handle its own segment rivals.
The Terraza was Buick's first-ever minivan for the North American market - a badge-engineered cousin of the Chevrolet Uplander, Pontiac Montana SV6, and Saturn Relay.
The restyled 1994 Lumina Minivan quietly made American automotive history: it was the first minivan sold in the US with a power sliding door you could open by remote.
The first-generation Lumina APV minivan was nicknamed the "Dustbuster" by the press for its sharply sloped windshield, which pushed the dashboard far forward of the driver.
Its steeply sloped windshield gave the Lumina APV one of the deepest dashboards ever fitted to a mass-produced car.
The first Presage wasn't really its own car underneath — most of its parts came straight from the Nissan R'nessa, with more shared with its platform twin, the Bassara.