1960 MERCURY PARKLANE 2DR HARDTOP - $5500 - E WINDSOR, CT - Not Mine

[58L-Y8]

1960 MERCURY PARKLANE 2DR HARDTOP, STORED SINCE 1988, RUNS - $5500 - E WINDSOR, CT

https://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/d/broad-brook-rare-find-1960-mercury/7145033343.html

 

RARE FIND 1960 MERCURY PARKLANE 2 DOOR HARDTOP, STORED SINCE 1988. VERY SOLID ORIGINAL WEST VIRGINIA CAR, EVEN TRUNK AND QUARTERS, 60000 ORIGINAL MILES 430 V8, RUNS MOVES, RECENT TUNEUP NEEDS RESTORATION BUT REALLY NICE FOR ITS AGE. COULD BE A DRIVER WITH TLC. CURRENTLY NEEDS BRAKES AND EXHAUST. INTERIOR NICE INCLUDING HEADLINER. HARD TO FIND SOMETHING WORKABLE FROM THIS VINTAGE, AND THIS IS FAR ABOVE THAT. ASKING $5500. SERIOUS ONLY, CALLS PREFERRED. PARTIAL SWAP FOR PRE 1980 FORD VEHICLES CONSIDERED. EMAILS WITHOUT NAME AND PHONE# PROBABLY WON'T GET A RESPONSE. IF YOU SEE IT , IT'S STILL FOR SALE......THANKS D...CALL (860)-SIX-27-58-zero-6.  LEAVE MESSAGE IF I DON'T ANSWER.

I have no personal interest or stake in the eventual sale of this 1960 Mercury Parklane two door hardtop.   Note: One of 2,974 built that year. 

[W_Higgins]

It's funny how different an animal they were from the Lincoln in 1960 and then in '61 they pick up the Lincoln Continental taillight lenses, and a couple of years later the breezeway rear window.  

[m-mman]

23 minutes ago, W_Higgins said:

It's funny how different an animal they were from the Lincoln in 1960 and then in '61 they pick up the Lincoln Continental taillight lenses, and a couple of years later the breezeway rear window.

 

Yeah, poor Mercury was always struggling to find itself and create an identity separate from not only Ford, but also the BOP competition. 

 

This car has the incredibility rare, seldom seen, but not especially pretty, factory wheel cover spinners. I have had a NOS one hanging in my barn for decades nobody has ever guessed what it was. If it weren't for the part number on the back I would never have known. 

 

Nice car, you dont want to have to search for parts for one of these. 

[avgwarhawk]

I have never seen one.  The interior looks pretty.  The front bumper looks like a chin.  Oddly, an overall smooth look to the entire vehicle.  It's neat.   

[JamesR]

21 hours ago, W_Higgins said:

It's funny how different an animal they were from the Lincoln in 1960 and then in '61 they pick up the Lincoln Continental taillight lenses, and a couple of years later the breezeway rear window.  

 

Not only that, it's odd that the full sized '61 Mercury adopted a taillight setup that was suggestive of a Lincoln that was no longer being produced in 1961. Not the way styling themes usually worked, from what I've seen. With this in mind, what Mercury might've been trying to do wasn't so much connect the car with Lincoln, but to distinguish it in a big way from Ford. 1960 was the last year that Mercury was on a different platform than the Ford...at least for a while. (Prior to '49, Mercs and Fords were fairly similar, but they were pretty different throughout the '50's.) In '61 they had essentially the same platform.

 

The '61 full size Mercs didn't sell well because the public saw them (correctly, more or less) as just a different version of a Ford. There's nothing wrong with that, as the '61 Ford was a good car, but the company was still trying to get a premium price for the Mercury name. The public wasn't going to pay more for a car that didn't seem that different from the less expensive Ford, though. Compare that '60 Merc with a '60 Ford and you get an idea of how different the marques had been. The good news for Mercury in '61 was that, despite poor full size sales, the new Comet was selling very well.

 

P.S. - BTW...I LOVE the full size '61 Merc...I have one, in fact. And the taillights are one of my favorite styling features. It's just odd how they came to be.

Edited June 24, 2020 by JamesR (see edit history)

[8E45E]

11 hours ago, JamesR said:

 

Not only that, it's odd that the full sized '61 Mercury adopted a taillight setup that was suggestive of a Lincoln that was no longer being produced in 1961. Not the way styling themes usually worked, from what I've seen. With this in mind, what Mercury might've been trying to do wasn't so much connect the car with Lincoln, but to distinguish it in a big way from Ford. 1960 was the last year that Mercury was on a different platform than the Ford...at least for a while. (Prior to '49, Mercs and Fords were fairly similar, but they were pretty different throughout the '50's.) In '61 they had essentially the same platform.

 

The '61 full size Mercs didn't sell well because the public saw them (correctly, more or less) as just a different version of a Ford. There's nothing wrong with that, as the '61 Ford was a good car, but the company was still trying to get a premium price for the Mercury name. The public wasn't going to pay more for a car that didn't seem that different from the less expensive Ford, though. Compare that '60 Merc with a '60 Ford and you get an idea of how different the marques had been. The good news for Mercury in '61 was that, despite poor full size sales, the new Comet was selling very well.

That was Robert McNamara and his badly executed cost-cutting move to share bodies with Ford and Mercury starting in 1961. 

 

Craig

[gsjohnny]

i go by this place every day to and from work. gentleman passed away awhile back. he was a ford man. 'fairlane farm' on the barn.

can stop if anybody needs info.

[B Jake Moran]

I’m sorry but that’s not an attractive car.  Bad styling.  Nice big block motor and interior. 

[JACK M]

12 hours ago, B Jake Moran said:

I’m sorry but that’s not an attractive car.  Bad styling.  Nice big block motor and interior. 

 

To each his own.

I like it.

[The 55er]

30 minutes ago, JACK M said:

 

To each his own.

I like it.

Since we're voicing our opinions, I don't like it. Definitely unusual however,  I've never seen those wheelcovers or fender skirts before. There was a white over red 1960 Mercury coupe ( I don't think it was a Parklane) running around my town years ago, saw it many times, it was later totalled in a front end accident. One of the few 1960 Mercs I've ever seen. Cost to rechrome that front bumper?