(first posted 1/24/2012) I really was rather excited to find this Montego at Bi-Mart the other day; I can’t even remember the last time I saw one of this vintage. And just in the condition that I like them too. Wow! I should have rushed right home and harnessed that enthusiasm to write a thrilling Curbside Classic. Now here it is a few days later, and I’m having another Mercury Moment™. Somebody please pass me an Adderall.
I suppose if it had been a Cyclone Spoiler II Cale Yarborough edition, with the NASCAR-friendly long nose, but in the same semi-beater condition as the Montego coupe I found, I wouldn’t be having this MM (of a different kind). But now I’m MMing about a car that I didn’t find, and obviously never will. Not a good sign.
Racing; that will get the blood flowing. Here’s Cale in his 1968 Cyclone, before it got its nose augmentation. He won the Daytona that year, averaging 143.25 mph. It was the last year for the legendary 427 engine.
By 1969, the year of the funny cars, his long-nose Cyclone #21 had the new 429 Boss engine. Big, thumping, bellowing hairy engines; yes, that’s starting to work. Ironically, neither the 427 or the 429 were actually available in 1969 Montegos or Cyclones. Oh well…but the Cobra Jet 428 was, rated at an insurance-friendly 335 hp.
No such thing hiding behind the rather dull grille here. Probably the 302; maybe a 351. If it had the 250 inch six, no one would have bothered to keep it this long. At least in 1969, the small block eights still ran decently.
The Montego arrived in the almost-identical looking version for 1968, along with its corporate sibling/styling buddy Ford Torino; basically a Montego with an even duller front and rear end. Imagine that. On second thought, don’t bother. The Torino front grille can only be described as generic at best.
I suspect very strongly that Ford brass had something of an “aha” moment when they saw the all-new mid-sized coupes GM worked up for 1968. More likely they shit their pants. Yes, the fastback Torino and Cyclone had a bit of dramatic flair, but GM’s strategy was much better: one dynamic coupe for everyone, instead of having to make that painful choice. Anyway, a rather generic flat fastback alone does not make a well-designed and dynamic-looking car. Look at the sides of these two coupes, or just their wheel wells alone. No wonder the Montego coupe induces a powerful Mercury Moment™, oxymoronic as that may be.
Mercury vainly fought back the GM Olds-Buick-Pontiac coupe assault with a restyled 1970 Montego, featuring a front end that was one of the more pathetic/memorable acts of those memorable times. Ford styling, which had its golden days in the T-Bird roof era, was now crumpling under the GM assault. Somehow, they found a sort of reprieve/salvation of sorts in their Bulgemobile coupes of the latter part of the decade, but no one will ever accuse Ford of one truly fine piece of design during the Great Brougham Epoch.
You see; it’s working! I’m actually worked up by a Mercury; disgust can be a very effective motivator. Turns out there are two kinds of Mercury Moments™.
Hey, I like that taillight. Looks like it might have fallen of a Continental some years earlier. Oh, right: Lincoln – Mercury. Must remind folks that there’s a genuine connection between the Montego and a Conti. Otherwise, why bother at all?
Now if this were a 1969 Comet, the sheer rarity of it might have me in a better mood. Never seen one. Sort of like what Ford did with the 1970½ Falcon, Mercury kept the Comet name (barely) alive, by reserving one low-end model (coupe only) for it to carry that once popular name. The sin of name debasement never ends…
But despair not; there is a silver lining in the Montego; inside. Its dash is relatively clean, having been inspired by the 1967 Cougar’s dash, which of course was inspired by Jaguar dashes of yore. Hey; beats the weird multi-tunnel dash that the Torino had. I know; there’s some of you out there that are going to tell me how much you like that.
Some of you younger readers may not be able to conjure that bold and daring dash to mind, so here’s a picture of it. I especially loved that fake stitching around each of those tunnels. Ok; I admit it’s different. Memorable even. Never mind; that alone makes it brilliant. No one will ever accuse the Montego of having anything memorable, so the Torino dash it is. Another MM.
I need to quit before I have another MM attack; one can only take so many at a time. If I’ve offended anyone, my apologies. It’s been too dark here for too long. I know; that’s the problem: it was a rare sunny day when I shot it; no wonder I was excited. I guess I should have waited for another sunny day to write it up.
I was brought home from the hospital in a ’69 Fairlane coupe…this Mercury, despite its grille, is a much bigger visual treat than the Fairlane.
Re: the 1970 Cyclone: What a nose! They should have called it the Pinocchio…
Yep – there it is – besides Mustangs, the only other Ford I liked in the 60’s – the 1968/69 Torino, especially that tunnel dash and wheel – verrrry nice. Dad wanted to buy one – a coupe, green-on-green. I approved, but he couldn’t afford it or any new car, hence our 1966 Impala.
My love for the 65 – 66 Galaxies came later, but that’s an account I’ve told before…
The Mercury in question? Nope. I always thought these were a design afterthought, merely to distinguish them from a Ford and not convincingly. Just bloat.
That shot of the Cutlass got my attention, too!
With few exceptions, GM just out-styled everyone – to me, at least, but the rest of the OEMs have their fans, too – I’m one of them in certain cases. A great time to love cars, for sure.
FWIW, the tunnel dash was incredibly handy for road tolls and late night drive thru runs. It could hold about $5 in change in those nacelles.
I have incredibly mixed feelings about this car. First, I like the lines. But then, I am a sucker for more angular lines. The 68-69 Cutlass was probably my least favorite of that model, but with some variety, there is something for everyone.
It just now hits me: this car would have translated into Brougham so much better than the 1970-76 models did. The styling was a nice mix of angular and fluid. So, I like it. But then, I like vanilla ice cream, too.
My problem with this car was as a car. As much as I love a good 390, these were just not any good as performance cars. That is what Mopar B bodies were for. However, these were also not very good luxury cars. The GM intermediates did luxury so much better. Plus, these were some of Ford’s worst rusters in the midwest. So, in 1969, it didn’t do anything really well.
I started out to chide you for your lack of enthusiasm over this car, but instead, I think that your Mercury Moment was contagious.
“So, I like it. But then, I like vanilla ice cream, too.”
Me too, but my vanilla had better come with hot fudge and whipped cream!
Question: Were 1968-69 Roadrunners heavier as pillarless hardtops or post models? I liked them…a lot!
I found one source that says that the hardtop was heavier than the pillared coupe, but only by 15 pounds. Which is precisely the amount of weight I am trying to lose, and your hot fudge sundae is not helping, my friend 🙂
I am just glad I don’t live in Cincinnati where you have Graeters stores!
Final off-topic comment, JP: I’d bet you could do a “CC” on those Plymouths and Dodges in question! Those are among my favorite non-GM’s from back then.
Wifey keeps me away from Graeter’s and only allows me there on rare occasions – thankfully!
They can make for great performance cars with a couple bolt on pieces and a little effort. I’m roaring and ripping all over my town in my 68 Mercury Montego, which looks a bit better on the outside than this one. Mine is red with a black vinyl roof, it’s an MX package so some more detailing on the outside.
Only has a 302 in it, but with a holley 4 barel and an Edelbrock Performer RPM intake and a true dual Flowmaster Super 44 exhaust, it’s a blast.
I always thought this coupe roofline was graceful and attractive. The fastback coupe roofline, not so much.
Strange then Mercury decided to go with the Montego name for 1968, compared to the 1967 mid-size line-up who have others names besides Comet like Caliente, Capri and Cyclone.
I guess the folks of Mercury saw what Ford of Canada did with the Meteor in the Great White North, when they introduced the Montego name for the Meteor line-up for 1967. http://www.flickr.com/photos/37573576@N06/6134540010/
At least Mercury was a bit wiser when they dusted off the Comet name for their Maverick counterpart. Returns to its roots. Here a vintage Canadian ad showing the “Maverick-ized” Comet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiwgfEQLtqE
Off-topic…but take another look to the Daytona 500 race shot.
Notice the electric blue “43” at left…a Torino.
1969 was the year King Richard had a falling out with Plymouth and campaigned a Ford instead. It was all about the winged cars…that Dodge got the Charger Daytona but there was no equivalent Plymouth.
ChryCo got the message loud and clear and when the Plymouth Superbird appeared for 1970, Petty and Plymouth reconciled.
Hot Rod has a few paragraphs on it in this month’s issue.
The whole ‘we’ve got to get Petty back!’ thing at Chrysler was just another in a long line of corporate blunders that cost the company dearly. Getting Petty into a winged Plymouth (instead of just giving him a Daytona, which is what they should have done in the first place) was a hugely expensive proposition, not only in the development of making the car, but in the fact that nearly all of the Superbirds had to be built and eventually sold at huge losses. And it was all for just one year since NASCAR then changed the rules, effectively outlawing the aerodynamic specials.
On top of all that, it’s quite likely that the introduction of the 1971 Chrysler intermediates would have to be held off for an entire year just to get that solitary 1970 Superbird into production (it was actually a Roadrunner with modified Coronet fenders and hood). Getting the 1971 Mopars into the showrooms as 1970 models to compete with the new GM and Ford intermediates might have meant a whole lot more sales (maybe even offsetting the dismal sales of the new 1970 E-body Barracuda and Challenger).
I will have to come back to This Later, I really Don’t Know what to wax on about this car.
If you really lay on the cookie Dough and gussy it up, it is easy to see this transforming into a Mark III….
A friend Had a 74 MX Brougham Blue on white viynl…that He Loved, but I thought it was quite a step down from the 72 Coupe DeVille he had trashed…
“Montego Bay” was a big hit song around this time… perhaps other than Mercury decided everything should start with an M, Marquis, Maurauder both reappearing and re-emphasized this year.
When Bunkie Knudson was brought over to Ford from GM, he ordered the ‘Ponitac noses’ put on some Ford cars, like T-Bird, LTD, and Montegos. He also signed off on the bigger 71 Stangs. But he was gone when his creations were for sale.
In looking at 1968 Montego vs Torino, it shows that badge engineering was starting to dilute styling. To an average person they look alike, and the Torino is more iconic to car nuts. With the Maverick based Comet, Mercury started to not bother with differerent sheet metal. Looking with 20/20 vision it seems Mercury was just another Ford that claimed to be ‘better’, but why bother?
A lot of what Bunkie did at Ford was done with knowlege of what GM had coming down the pipe. Bunkie and Shinoda both knew the Colonade cars were planned to be introduced in 71 as “all new” 72 models. I think much of the direction they took with the Mustang/Cougar was trying to beat GM to the punch on the new larger, softer “muscle” cars.
Original sketches of the cancelled 72’s, drawn in 1968, showed very swoopy designs, predicting more speed/muscle. Collectible Automobile showed some with GTO and SS badges.
Game changer was the ’69 Grand Prix, and the affordable personal luxury cars taking place of muscle as ‘image cars’. [and rising costs to own hi-power cars, Earth Day 1970, etc,etc]
Here are the sketches for the proposed 71/72 Malibu. They came darn close to the production model. The clays were even closer to what became the Laguna.
I would have liked to see the Colonnades produced in ’72. The picture shows they looked pretty good without the ’73 ‘park bench’ bumpers on the front!
Collectible Automobile showed pics of would be “72 LeMans” and the front bumper is very skinny. Also the eventual Grand Am plastic front was meant to be the GTO’s.
The 1969 Mercurys left an impression on me, but it didn’t have much to do with the cars. There was a promotion where a plastic Mecury – I believe they included the Cougar, Montego, and Marauder – was contained in certain brands of cereal. You were supposed to pester your parents to buy these brands of cereal to obtain all of the cars (which, of course, I did!).
While the 1968 GM fastbacks look purer and more balanced than the contemporary Torinos and Montegos, in 1970 Oldsmobile took a page from the Ford playbook and and offered the fastback Cutlass and formal-roof Cutlass Supreme. The Supreme roofline proved to be far more popular in the long run, and helped vault the Cutlass over its GM stablemates in sales.
So, in essense, Ford and Mercury had the right idea in offering two different hardtop rooflines to intermediate buyers. Oldsmobile simply executed it better.
You’re right (as almost always!) about the rooflines. But the Supreme was really a way to keep up with the Pontiac GP and Monte Carlo, in the new mid-sized formal coupe market. And the 1970 Torino and Montego abandoned that strategy in 1970!
As I recall, Oldsmobile wanted their own version of the GP/Monte Carlo on the 116 inch sedan wheelbase, with the longer hood. GM said no, but they were allowed to put a formal roof on the Cutlass as a compromise.
The Cereal was Honey Comb IIRC, I was Hoping for a Maurauder… I got the Marquis Which was Blue… I think I felt Only the Montego was I less Interested in Getting…
The Blue plastic did NOT do the Brougham Vinyl top justice. I May Still Have it.
Perhaps a good Project for Me in The Coming Weeks/months would be to Itemize and Catalog My CAR Collections… as I have previously done for 45s & 33 Vinyl recordings… yeah 33 years ago when I was a restless bored Teen at Home during the breaks from College.
I Would like to know what I have… So I Could Possible Raise Some Money, selling Those Items I have which dont SPECIFICALLY Fit my interests….
I Have a 50 year collection of Matchbox, Hot Wheel and other die cast cars, I really dont know if I have 3000 or 5000… and they are in no real order…. Stickers, ID #s would Help before I catalog them…
Same With a 35 year collection Car Brochures – I know I MUst have Well over a 1000 but How many of which…. I Could Sell The Duplicates at the very least.
Is There much money in any of this?
~““`
I also have well over 3000 issues of various car Magazine, Automotive News, Many going back over 20 years. Are These Worth anything
More $ selling them individually or in Groupings?
If anyone can give me any insight I’d Love to hear What you know.
Thanks.
I’ve got to get creative to make ends meet this days…
I should learn to build cabinets to display these as well.
I Stapled The Matchbox cars to the dining room in my apt back in the 90s.
I Could do the stairwell to the basement this time, but I feel Im a bit old for so much clutter on the walls loosy goosy these days.
LAx, all the stuff you collect is definitely has value and is collectible to a lot of folks. I have a similar Hot Wheels, Matchbox and Corgi collection, as well as a car brochures from probably 1958-present, car magazines and books too. You might want to check completed auctions on ebay, they may give you an idea of what they are selling for lately. There are also several guides for diecast cars with current values that could help, I’ve seen them in bookstores. I have similar space limitations too, so I don’t get too many model cars any more. I should probably put in some shelves too!
If you could haul that stuff to a swap meet, a lot of it would disappear very quickly.
Alpha-Bits cereal. I was 9 and pissed off my Mom when I tore into a brand new box of Alpha-Bits, dumped the contents out into a spaghetti pan to retrieve the new little Mercury that was in the bottom of the cereal, now resting on top of the heap of Alpha-Bits in the spaghetti pan!
All Post cereals, come to think of it. Yes, Honey Comb had ’em too. I collected two Cougars (the cars!), a Maurader and I believe a Marquis.
Didn’t even know they made a Comet cheapie version of the Montego like the 701/2 Falcon, so I learned something there.
No, the 71 Comet was based off the Maverick, not the Montego/Torino/Fairlane/Falcon. Like the Fairlane in 68-70, the Comet was the base version. There wasn’t a 70 1/2 Comet like the Falcon.
I really liked the 70-71 Cyclones with the gun sight grill. If I had one I’d have a laser light in there! It didn’t look so good on the regular Montego however. Also the formal roof Mercury was more aero that the “sportsroof” Torino.
I didn’t know there was a Comet for 1969 at all. [yikes] In the ad above, it’s not a strippo like the 70.5 Falcon.
I know, I said like the 701/2 Faclon, it was the re-application of a compact nameplate to a low end midsizer.
@timmm: that’s a frickin’, laser, buddy… 😉
The 70-71 Montegos make the 68-69 models look stunning in comparison! A face only a mother could love..
I know of a 70 (I think) Montego MX that’s been sitting in a front yard for as far back as I can remember. Sometimes I wonder why, then I go look at it..
Can you imagine the 70-71 Montego with a 5 mph bumper? Wow. Actually, I kind of liked the super-aggressive snout on those later Montegos. But then I was 11 or 12 years old at the time.
Supposedly, the “Bunkie beaks” on the 1970-71 Thunderbird and 1970-71 Mercury Montego were a major impetus in the enactment of the federal 5-mph bumper standards.
That, and the real thin ‘bumper-ettes’ of some 60’s cars. i.e The loop bumper on the ’69 big Chevy seemed ornamental, not functional.
in 1969 my father was ready to replace our 62 Comet sedan with something a little nicer. I lobbied for him to consider a 69 Cyclone (yeah right).
When the new 70 Montego models showed up I suggested the Cyclone of course, but quickly realized that wasn’t going to happen. He wouldn’t even consider a Montego four door hardtop. He hated the nose on those models, I didn’t. In fact I still like the front end of the 70-71 Cyclones. Oh, he bought a Cutlass Supreme four door hardtop. Good looking, fast, but early on had a number of little issues.
Trying to put a 5mph bumper on that, you’d wind up with two nice ‘bucket-seat’ bumpers with a little occasional table in between!
The accessory division could’ve made optional cushions to put there so you could use it as a proper seat for camping, car shows or whatever.
My brother in law has owned a 70 Montego for at least 35 years. It was, (and I mean was) a very cheap run of the mill 4 door sedan. 70’s mint green with a equally plain interior. I’ve only seen it a couple of times through the years, he lives in Florida, I live in PA. I saw it last in 1987, and the car shown above looked like new in comparison.
Anyhow, in the last ten years or so, my brother in law has done a magnificent ground up restoration of the car. Work that he could not do, was farmed out. He had this car totally stripped from the frame. The car is now a dazzling white, with a new dark blue leather interior that looks like it graced a Lincoln from that era. A new V8 (maybe a Cleveland 351) engine adorns the engine compartment. The car is virtually new.
The last time I saw him, I asked him how much he had invested in the car. He replied at least $ 20,000. He said it’s not worth any where near that much. I agree, but whatever it’s worth, it is the nicest 70 Mercury I’ve ever seen.
I plan to restore my 1995 Taurus similarly (have already started). If you look around at what he could buy new for that $20k (stripped down Mitsubishi Mirage or similar), that Mercury will be the clear winner. It has more style and character than all the sub-$20k new cars you’ll find, combined.
Even though I owned a 68 Nova I disagree with the statement above that GM out designed everyone in that period. I think the plymouth roadrunner and it’s dodge counterpart (coronet) were begger looking and certainly lit up the pavement. I’ve owned a number of cars from that era (I must love pain) and I will give the honors to Mopar on just about evry model.
The Road Runner was an option package on the Belvedere/Satellite, not a model with its own unique styling as Chargers. The RR’s “looks” were Warner Bros cartoon stickers, but with power to back it up.
The boxy 68-70 Mopar B bodies looked average to me at the time. The ‘go fast’ image of these, however, overcame the plain looks. When the swoopy fuselage 71’s came out, they didnt go well with average mid size car buyers, who preferred luxurious Gran Torinos, Maibu Classics, Cutlasses, and Gran Prixs. So, the muscley B’s morphed into Monte Carlo clone Cordobas.
They were usually a generation behind the 1968 Mopars look like 1966 GM cars, by the time they did the re-did their midsize cars in 1971, they looked like the GM cars from 1968.
IIRC, the 1968-69 Cutlasses had a dash similar to the Torino’s, with individually tunneled openings for the gauges.
For the past several months some guy here in California’s Inland Empire has been trying to unload a pale yellow ’71 Montego two-door with a 351C, C6, and 9″ rear.
He says he’s gonna crush it soon if there’s no takers.
I bet if it was a 71 Torino, it would sell easy.
The first car I can remember in detail is my father’s 1968 Mercury Montego. Being all of 5 when we got it, I thought it was the best thing ever. Even as an adult, I still rather like the styling of the car, but I tend to like slab sided cars.
What I wasn’t aware of at that time was my father had his first of three heart attacks. He’d been taken off the road by the doctor, and forced to work the dock instead of driving. This meant smaller paychecks. This also meant smaller Mercurys.
That Montego was one of what I consider the ideal sized car. Decent space utilization in and out, easy to park but big enough to haul your friends and several cases of beer. In order to save money, he ordered the lime green metallic 2 door hardtop with the trusty (meaning lame) 250 I-6. In the parlance of the times, it was a stone. A big ol rock.
Back at that time, Fords were pretty biodegradable, and in the ferrous-rich environment of Northeast Ohio, it rusted to a pile in about 4 years. Strangely, I was really sad when we traded the 1968 Montego for the 1972 version.
As luck would have it, I bought a 1969 Ford Torino from my older brother in 1979. Again, the ideal sized car, but with the 390 it was very hard on fuel. This became a large problem later that year and going forward. I started work at the same warehouse where my father worked by early 1980 and later that year I had enough money to buy a 1980 Mercury Capri Turbo RS, which was a huge mistake.
By then, I’d sold off the Torino and since the Capri was turning out to be unreliable, I ended up looking for another cheap car to drive. I ended up with a 1974 Ford Maverick. When I say I’m real familiar with these cars, I’m not kidding…
There was a guy down the road from me that had a 1968 Comet that he resto modded. It looked great! Imagine my surprise when I finally got close enough to get a good look at it, it turned out to be a Comet and not a Montego. I would have loved to have bought that car from him, but he gave it to his oldest son. I haven’t seen the car in two years, I have no idea what happened to it.
Again, in my MM Garage, there’s a spot for a 1968 or 69 Mercury Montego 2 door. But there’s an even bigger spot for a 1970 or 71 Cyclone…
Know the mistake well, I owned a 79 Capri RS Turbo, It really soured me on Ford products for years.
Mentioned before, but I assumed there were no Comets for 68-69, but I’ve learned many new things from CC!!
I think Paul is a little hard on the Montego. For example, I’d agree that Ford’s 1968-69 mid-sized fastbacks weren’t very well proportioned, but the automaker was ahead of the pack in offering a more luxury-oriented notchback. By 1969 GM began to follow suit with the downsized Grand Prix, followed later by the Monte Carlo and Cutlass Supreme.
The top-of-the-line Montego anticipated the “brougham” look of the Cutlass Supreme, which became one of the standout successes of the 1970s. No, the Montego didn’t make a very competitive muscle car, but that wasn’t the nameplate’s prime focus. Notice that the Montego mimics the lines of the Continental Mark III.
Part of the Montego’s problem is that Mercury was the last American brand to upgrade its compact to mid-sized status. The transition was thus more jarring. There’s much less continuity between the 1968-69 Montego and prior-years Comets than, say, a Skylark versus Specials of yore.
And it didn’t help then Mercury dropped some interesting nameplates used in 1967 for their “mid-size” offering like Caliente and Capri (re-used later for a Fox-body Mustang variant and the ill-fated early 1990s roadster). Strange they didn’t taught of dusting off Meteor for ’68 (“Meteor Cyclone” would had ring well to my ears) or even “downgrade” the Monterey monicker from the full-size line to the mid-size line like Ford did with Fairlane for their “senior-compact”/intermediate in ’62 or Plymouth with the Belvedere in ’65.
i owned a 1969 Mercury Montego while in college. I found it in 1976 in Baldwin, NY. I thought it was one of the sharpest looking cars of the1960’s. I had a 302 2 door coupe and had fun with this car. It had sleeker lines than the Ford, Torino but I also liked that car as well. The 1968 MM looked good. The 1969 with a cast grille and slight changes was the best looking Montegos. The 1970’s Montegos became run of the mill non nondescript plane Jane cars. The mid 2000 model was not even worthy of the name. My 1969 still remains my favorite car. My 25 year old son says I should have kept it. Wouda, coulda shoulda…..
me and my older brother bought a ’69 montego in 1977.it was our first car.it was a montego mx 2-door with the 351 windsor engine.it was a nice looking car,white with a black vinyl roof.we paid 650.00 plus interest so it was about 690.after we made our last payment.unfortuntly it wasn’t too good.the odometer read 58,000 miles i believe it was 158,000.we was always working on it.but i still have fond memories of it though.
I bought a 1969 Mercury Montego MX Brougham hardtop coupe in Fire Engine Red with the black vinyl top. I bought it in 1983 for $1000. It was completely stock from the original owner with 49,000 miles on it. After two years I bent the front end on a guardrail when it spun on an oily wet road. I sold it for $300 to a guy who had the front body panels to fix it. After I sold it my father and I were at a swap meet when my dad jokingly pointed out a Mercury book with my car on it. He stopped laughing when he saw they only made 1,266 of that trim level. I don’t know how many red one’s were made but it still makes me sick to think about selling it. After serving 20 years in the military I still wish I could get it back. Man I loved that car. I guess when you are a teenager you don’t think about things like that.
Here’s my 69 mercury montego 351 Cleveland and Its a bitchin car. Sure there’s prettier cars but this thing fucking rules. Better then your played out cars that you se everyday.
Your Montego is almost like the one my father bought in 1968. Ours was the same color but we had the painted black roof, not vinyl.
Nice car! I’m a little bit jealous… 😉
Ya the vinyl is a pain in the ass lol. Than. Man I appreciate it
Its all in the vision this car has massive potential here is some of my restomod 68 montego mx
What kind of rims are on that car?
front
and here is the rear, has alot of customizations all HID set up, led interior gauges, interior redone, steering, suspension exhaust paint etc etc. Fun to work on
Here is my 69.
Looking for a carburetor for a 1969 Mercury Montego 6 cyl 250 4.l1 lbl
chester_houston@msn.com
I have a 1969 mercury montego mx cyclone coupe,390 big block, 4speed, 3:00 rearend,although im sporting a 4:11 posi right now,still have the 3:00.,air conditioning,power steering,and it has a vinyl top.gt interior with console.would love to know howmany were made and how many still exist.does anyone know?
Looking at the white Montego, looks like the factory pinstripe on the side.
I use to own a 69 Montego which had the factory pinstripe, a red reflective center stripe with a black stripe on either side of the red stripe.
Nice!
A good part of your article seems to be devoted to talking down on the neutral styling. Sure it wasn’t a flashy car, but it wasn’t supposed to be. Ford and Mercury had several other models for that. And with the performance engine options they actually make for some nice understated muscle cars, and I like that.
Nice but not as nice as a fastback.I could very easily put up with a coupe though.long time Mercury fan here
My first car (not handed down from a family member) was a 68 Montego MX / Cyclone GT. It said Montego MX on the glovebox but was a Cyclone GT “outside”. I had been looking for a Cougar…preferably an XR7 but couldn’t find a Cougar or Mustang I liked.
I do prefer the Montego, inside and out, but those fastback Ford/Mercurys had a ridiculous trunk with a mail slot trunk opening. You could….maybe get 1 set of golf clubs in there, if it was smallish.
Saw a turquoise sedan this past summer, not sure if it was a factory color or not. Also notable was that it was being driven by a woman that was not 800 years old. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen it since
There’s one of these Mercuries in a driveway that I see sometimes, walking the dog. It might be a convertible. I can’t remember. Your diligence in actually photographing this is to be praised. I just can’t work up the enthusiasm to order the dog to sit down through a photo session.
I liked the Torino’s weird multi-tunnel dash, simply because your right front passenger couldn’t see how (much too) fast you were going.
My grandmother had the 4 door Montego , same color as the one on top. It was really too big a car for her, as she was only a bit over 5 ft. tall. She could barely see over the wheel , and had trouble seeing behind while reversing. My uncle, who was one that believed that large cars were the only way to go for safety, picked the car for her.It had the 302, which seemed like a reliable engine, but we always knew she was coming , because the power steering made that squeal , when turned sharply. She preferred one of us to drive her car whenever we went somewhere with her, and I had a few opportunities. It was a nice smooth driving car, very comfortable. But I preferred my dad’s VW Squareback at the time, for easy handling.It’s hard to believe that Montego was an intermediate. An intermediate during the early 60s would have been a Comet , or Rambler Classic size.
Another pic of #21, now with the fancy nose and 429:
This car was owned by a gentleman named Dennis Wolf who you will see earlier in the comments .. He built this car over 10 years .. Im proud to say im the new owner
Thanks Dennis
1969 montego mx built 351 w aod transmission full custom , paint , interior , undercarriage all new . this car is a beautiful example of what can be done with these gorgeous classic vehicles .. Mr Dennis Wolf of Oregon spent over 10 years on this awesome car .. I have just purchased it from him .. NOT FOR SALE
thank YOU FOR LOOKING
There still out there. Bought my 68, July 2016. Still working on getting it the way it should have been.
This is a very nice looking car, but also very generic looking. It was not catch one’s eye. The notch back was handsome. I prefer the Ford version over the Mercury, but I don’t think I’d pass one up either.
Nice and Vanilla!
I think the 1968 and 1969 Fairlane/Torino and Comet/Montego were Ford’s most attractive mid-size cars ever. All loosely based on the 1960 Falcon, per CC’s landmark article on the 1960 Falcon and its derivatives.
A friend’s parents had a Montego MX wagon. I think the MX name was a misnomer as it didn’t do well on dirt let alone any whoops or ruts. But it’s best trick was being able to flip one of the rear spring shackles if you took a turn just right. Of course this hugely increased rear roll stiffness, which instantly cured its otherwise terminal understeer. Their other car was far more enjoyable to drive, a Peugeot 505.
A neighbour had a Cyclone. He would start it on cold mornings outside our houses, and let the friggin thing run for half an hour. It sounded like it had open pipes, more likely just a poor exhaust system. It would rattle the pane glass windows. It was painted matte black, before matte paint was a thing for cars. Not my favourite car ever.
I liked the styling of these Montegos. While I also liked the Fairlanes and Torinos of this time, the Montego was just a little nicer. A buddy’s mom had one in dark green with a white interior, and I quite liked it – much better than the ugly Matador coupe she replaced it with in the mid ‘70’s.
We had a similar Torino with the 250 six and an automatic transmission and liked it very much. The fairly light engine didn’t hurt the handling one bit and the car was at the same time economical and reasonably sprightly. I never once longed for a 302 or 351. For my purposes and taste, if it had had a four speed behind that 6 it would have been nearly perfect (for what it was.) I couldn’t really fault the automatic, but a standard would have made it a fun car akin to an early sixties Falcon with the 170 and the seldom seen four speed an acquaintance had. Smooth 6’s with 4 or 5 speeds appeal to me, I guess. Though I’ll never own one, I believe BMW was really on to something!
I think from today’s vantage this is a pretty handsome design, I like the Montego front end quite a bit more than the Torino’s and I even like the wheel openings(very Lincoln Mark III like). Dash, meh, taillights I like close up with the little details but from afar reminds me more of a Chevy II than a Continental, and I don’t really like either roofline design. For 1969 though, compared with GMs A bodies, Chrysler’s B bodies, and even AMCs Rebel, the 68-69 Ford intermediates looked like they were designed for the mid 60s, and indeed they were a fairly modest refresh of the 66 Fairlane/Comet.
This one looks really cool with the seasoned aesthetic aftermarket wheels with matching patina and the black cyclone like hood stripe. A DIY muscle car you don’t have to pamper or worry about originality
I bought this 1969 Mercury Montego MX a couple of years ago off of Craigslist. I have been slowly fixing her up. Lots of positive comments about it driving around town in the summertime. There were 1700+convertibles produced this year. This is 1 of 363 that had the bucket seats and center console. 351 Windsor four barrel Holley double pumper with automatic transmission.