Steve Hagy Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 Hi! Well, if my research on the internet is correct this is a 1958 Mercury. Where I have failed is in trying to decide what model this is. Help me out here gang! Thanks, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m-mman Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 I am thinking that it is a 'Metalist.' An unusual car but not necessarily for commercial/government use. 1958 was supposed to be a banner year. Mercury offered the Monterey, Montclair, and Parklane series. All rather expensive. Then the recession hit and the market dropped for middle-priced and expensive cars. To survive Mercury began offering a very cheap loss-leader car, the Metalist. It was made cheap by removing the second molding along the side and using only the older Y-block engine (not the new MEL 383-430 design) but also Metalist cars use a column shift transmission in place of Mercs pushbutton controls. Anything to try to price compete in a very down market. Introduced (cobbled together?) in January, they did not create a Metalist script for it. Some printed material doesn't even use the Metalist name, rather calling it by its body codes 58C or 64C(?) Could be wrong on this detail - my books are at home. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzcarnerd Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 Going by the info in The Standard Catalog, what you say is correct - except the model name was Medallist with a 'd' and two 'l's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Mellor NJ Posted May 11, 2018 Share Posted May 11, 2018 Interesting how the sedan roof with the reverse "C" pillar came out in the '58 cheapie sedan model Merc and was adopted by the '59 cheapie sedan model Ford. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Mellor NJ Posted May 11, 2018 Share Posted May 11, 2018 The Medalist first appeared in '56, not in response to the '58 recession. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwells Posted May 11, 2018 Share Posted May 11, 2018 Based on the above pic, it looks like the proper spelling of the model name is 'Medalist,' with a single 'L.' 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m-mman Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 Introduced for 1956, dropped for 1957, returned (temporarily) for 1958, then gone forever... Not the best-sounding model name. Difficult to spell, has hard "T" ending, doesn't bring to mind beautiful places or images. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now