Steve Hagy 4 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 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
m-mman 68 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 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nzcarnerd 463 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. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Mellor NJ 232 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. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Mellor NJ 232 Posted May 11, 2018 The Medalist first appeared in '56, not in response to the '58 recession. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gwells 78 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 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
m-mman 68 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 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites