The day of the full-size sporty car was winding down by 1966, but Lincoln-Mercury thought there might still be a little more life in this segment and revived its sporty Mercury S-55 model for one more go-around, powered by the new Super Marauder 428 engine. Only 3,585 were sold, including 669 convertibles, and its popularity hasn’t improved much over the years: It took the previous owner of this well-equipped, relatively low-mileage corporate special order S-55 convertible five years and more than half a dozen attempts to resell it.
If the S-55 name doesn’t ring a lot of bells, there’s a reason for that: Mercury’s various sporty “S” models were mostly also-rans, not often seen even when they were new. Back in mid-1961, the compact Comet (not yet officially badged as a Mercury) added an S-22 model with sporty bucket seats, like the new Falcon Futura and the popular Chevrolet Corvair Monza. The S-22 was joined for 1962 by two more buckets-and-console models: the midsize Meteor S-33 and the full-size Monterey S-55, originally styled “S-Fifty-Five.”
The S-22 did okay, but neither the full-size Mercury models nor the new Meteor were selling well at that time, so the S-33 and S-55 didn’t either. Production of the 1962 Monterey S-55 totaled only 2,772 hardtops and 1,315 convertibles, and the S-33 didn’t fare much better. Lincoln-Mercury tried again for 1963, adding a four-door hardtop and Marauder fastback two-door hardtop to the S-55 line, but sales were still disappointing. The Meteor expired completely after 1963 and the S-55 was dropped, although full-size Mercury buyers could still order the buckets and console on two-door models in 1964 and 1965.
For 1966, Lincoln-Mercury decided to revive the S-55, now identified as a separate model rather than a Monterey sub-series. The 1966 Mercury salesmen’s product booklet declared, “This is the car you asked for. Its appeal is undeniable, for it has everything that sports-car enthusiasts want.”
Like the new-for-1966 Ford Galaxie 7 Litre, the latest S-55 boasted not only the usual buckets, console, and floor shifter, but also the new 428 cid Q-code engine, with a single four-barrel carburetor and 345 gross horsepower. Dual exhausts were also standard.
Unlike the 7 Litre, which had front disc brakes as standard equipment, the S-55 came with drum brakes, although front discs were optional. The S-55 was available only with either the C6 automatic (which Mercury called Multi-Drive Merc-O-Matic) or the 4-speed manual, but neither of those extra-cost transmissions was actually included in the base price; either choice cost an extra $226.79. The 4-speed was very rare — according to Automotive Industries, only 0.3 percent of ALL 1966 full-size Mercurys (not just the S-55) had the 4-speed, about 440 cars. The yellow convertible has the C6 with a 2.80 axle.
The yellow convertible is a very heavily optioned car: It has front disc brakes, power windows, power vent windows, power door locks, power seat, tilt steering wheel, speed control, automatic headlight dimmer, air conditioning, a pushbutton AM/FM radio, remote decklid release, and the Stereo-Sonic 8-track tape deck. The warranty plate has a DSO “84” code, indicating that the car was originally delivered to the home office reserve rather than a district sales office; that means it was probably ordered by a Ford executive and later released for resale. The car has a dealer badge on the rear deck indicating it was previously sold by Dave Hughes in Henderson, North Carolina.
As always, styling is a subjective question, but I have a feeling the blocky shape of the full-size Mercury line didn’t really work in the S-55’s favor. The big Mercury cars had been completely redesigned for 1965, with rectilinear styling that was intended to distinguish them from the full-size Ford and foster a greater resemblance to the Lincoln Continental. The 1965–1966 design did accomplish both of those goals, but it also made these cars look like they were styled with a T-square. On the hardtops and sedan, it kind of worked, but it’s awfully severe for a sporty convertible.
I think the hardtops and sedans wore this look better, and judging by the sales figures, contemporary buyers seemed to think so too. The Park Lane four-door hardtop was the bestselling 1966 full-size Mercury, followed closely by the Monterey two-door hardtop.
The S-55 interior was more successful, with the buckets-and-console interior nicely complementing the 1965–1966 Mercury dashboard, whose black-and-chrome ribbed instrument panel included a full set of gauges. These weren’t an S-55 exclusive, but they were appreciated, and they did look good. The main omission was a tachometer — you could order a tachometer on the S-55, but it was mounted on the leading edge of the console, so I don’t think it could be combined with the Stereo-Sonic system, whose tape deck sat in the same spot.
The brochure bragged that the all-vinyl interior had “the deluxe appearance and ‘touch’ of hand-rubbed leather,” which, somewhat surprisingly, I think it did. The trim on this car looks more leather-like than the actual leather upholstery on some more modern cars.
Although the 1965–1966 Mercury looked different than the contemporary full-size Ford, examining their specifications revealed that they were more alike than met the eye. The big Mercury was 10.4 inches longer than a full-size Ford, on a longer 123-inch wheelbase, but the track widths and cabin dimensions were almost identical. Much of the extra length was in the tail, an old trick that gave the Mercury lots of rear overhang. One unexpected side effect was nearly equal weight distribution, unusual for a big American car of the ’60s.
The long tail also provided a really mammoth trunk, although as Motor Trend complained at the time, its lack of padding seemed out of place on a mid-price car. With a base price of $3,614, the S-55 was in about the same price class as a Buick Wildcat Custom; this heavily optioned convertible would have stickered for close to $5,500 (a relative worth of over $61,000 in 2026), although if it was originally ordered by a Ford executive, it was probably heavily discounted.
The larger dimensions also affected how well the S-55 performed. Contemporary testers were not exactly blown away by the Ford 7 Litre, whose Q-code 428 V-8 was basically just a bored-out 390 rather than a true high-performance engine. The S-55 had the same powertrain and was somewhat heavier, which didn’t help. Motor Trend‘s 1966 S-55 test car managed 0 to 60 in 8.9 seconds and the quarter mile in 16.9 seconds at 85 mph, and that was with a hardtop — an S-55 convertible weighed 117 lb more. Such acceleration was more than adequate for brisk pickup around town and confident passing power on the highway, but it wasn’t very racy, and the 428 was the hottest engine available for 1966. (In some years, you could order the 425 hp R-code 427 engine on a full-size Mercury, but it was always expensive, restrictive, and rare, offered mainly for racing homologation.)
If Mercury salespeople had really asked for the return of the S-55, as the dealer guide suggested, they didn’t have much luck selling it. Full-size Mercury sales still weren’t what you’d call robust — 146,986 cars in all series for 1966, plus 25,741 station wagons — and demand for the S-55 was very low. What Lincoln-Mercury dealers probably REALLY wanted in 1966 was a version of the hot-selling Mustang, which would arrive for 1967 in the form of the stylish Mercury Cougar.
For 1967, the S-55 was reduced to an option package for the Mercury Monterey two-door hardtop and convertible. The $526 S-55 Sports Package included all of the previous S-55 equipment, the Super Marauder 428, and front disc brakes. It apparently still didn’t sell, so it was dropped after 1967. The 1968 Mercury brochure quietly indicated that even bucket seats were no longer available at all on full-size models.
With only about 41,000 miles and nearly every non-conflicting option, the yellow convertible pictured here is just about as desirable as a 1966 S-55 could possibly be. (An original 4-speed convertible would be even rarer, but a collector intending to actually drive the car at all might prefer the automatic.) This car was previously part of the Tom Gerrard Collection, and sold at Barrett-Jackson for $49,500 in March 2021. Since then, it hasn’t fared much better than the S-55 did originally in 1966. Between 2021 and 2024, there were at least six unsuccessful attempts to resell this car at auction, but the bidding always stalled out at less than what the seller originally paid.
It’s only very recently (in January 2026) that the car finally sold again, at a reported price of $59,000. That’s more than some 1966 Chevrolet Impala Super Sports have been commanding lately, but judging by the history, the S-55 buyer might need to hang onto the car for a while if they hope to get that money back.
Related Reading
1962 Mercury Monterey S-55: Big, Bold, Late Space-Age Luxury (by Stephen Pellegrino)
Curbside Classic: 1963 Mercury Marauder S-55 Convertible – Making Sense Of It All (by Jason Shafer)
Curbside Classic: 1966 Mercury Monterey and the Indian Summer of the Full Sized Convertible (by Laurence Jones)
Vintage Car Life Review: 1966 Ford Galaxie 7-Litre – “Tends To Confuse Bigger With Better” (by me)
What a sweet ride! All those options! A cam swap and the cast iron 427 exhaust manifolds would wake that 428 right up, and still look stock enough for me. I find it interesting how the Mercuries of this era have crossflow radiators, but Fords did not. My factory 1965 service manual is proof
The ’65-’66 Mercury’s and Chrysler’s had linear styling while GM rolled out the curvy look like the 2+2 Catalina we just saw. At the time I thought GM was way ahead and it appears that most buyers did too. Looking back I prefer the Mercury and Mopar look now, timeless and lean looking.
Ultimately the market for full size sporty cars was dwindling fast as was discussed. I wonder what would have happened if they made an S-55 (dumb name) 4-door with disc brakes and firmer suspension and bucket seats. A/C and automatic transmission. Sort of a full size Mercedes. Probably too ahead of it’s time. Jack Lord Hawaii 5-O approves.
Actually, Ford did make a 4 door hardtop version of the Galaxie 500 XL in 1963 and 1964. Sharp interior with bucket seats and console. Same performance options as the 2 door. Quite rare and never sold well. Gone for 1965.
I actually had a neighbor who bought a new ’64 Galaxie XL 4 door with bucket seats, it was a amazing to me as a kid to see that. Like I said, too far ahead of it’s time and the majority of 4 door buyers wanted the LTD brougham look.
You said what I was going to say – the 1966 Pontiacs where much better looking plus equal or better performance could be had in less expensive Catalinas all the up to similarly priced Bonnevilles.
While Chrysler under the Townsend/Engel regime mostly just copied previous model cycle GM cars, I always marvel at how much the mid-sixties Mercurys and Chryslers with their concave sheetmetal stampings resemble each other. I can only guess that it has to do with Engel coming from Ford and he had been privy to Mercury’s upcoming design language.
And, then, there’s the 1963 Chrysler Turbine Car which, for all the world, looks like a carbon copy of the 1964-66 Thunderbird ‘Flair Bird’.
I always found the 66 a big improvement over the 65, mainly for trim details I found better executed. And I am one of the small group who always loved big and sporty in the same car, so this is right up my alley!
Does this car have some kind of false bottom in the trunk? I remember big Ford’s having far deeper trunks than this, possible because the gas tanks were far forward, under that raised area in the trunk floor.
The trunk thing is interesting. I had to go and find a Ford version which I did. https://www.seven82motors.com.au/sold-cars/1966-ford-fairlane-convertible-2/ it does appear that the Ford is a bit deeper but only an inch or two. I guess since the tail was longer they couldn’t use the Ford stamping but that doesn’t explain why they would have raised the floor slightly on the Merc.
That raised area, in the back of the trunk, does house the gas tank. In 67 the spare tire was placed on top of that raised area instead of the right side of the trunk. The bottom of the trunk is just standard thickness sheet metal with a horizontal brace across to provide rigidity. Otherwise, without it, drop something in the trunk and dent the bottom. This car doesn’t have drains in the back, on top of that raised area, since it is a convertible without rear ventilation. Those rubbery drains, which look like 15″ inner tie rod boots, crack and leak water to the very bottom. Guess what, it ends up under the brace, and rusts right on through. Ask me how I know and now need to weld in some new sheet metal.
I’d say it didn’t sell because the buyer over paid for it in pandemic induced “collector car” bubble and kept setting the reserve at or above what he paid for it, which was too much in a softening market.
Even at $59K this year I’d still say someone way over paid for the car. I’d put book value on this at $40K for Grade 1-. What fools pay at BJ is a whole other matter. Ironically the Ford 7-liter would be around $50K. Poor Mercury always destined to play the poor second fiddle.
Yeah I think $59k is still pretty high for that car.
The S55 The Man’s Car, wonder how that would go over today?
When sporty versions of intermediate-size cars came into being, the full-size “sporty” convertibles were pretty well doomed. Even (arguably) the best selling sporty full-size convertible, the Impala SS, saw its numbers dwindle off.
Bit of trivia I remember from my mechanic days. The C6 transmission as introduced in 1966 was a one year only unicorn in that it was the only year the C6 used the old MX/FX green dot shift indicator pattern. In 1967, it adopted the more familiar PRND21 pattern that was used for the remainder of C6 production.
I didn’t know this as an apprentice mechanic. The 1st time I had to change a leaky transmission gasket on a ’66 C6 I ordered a pan gasket for a ’66 MX. Seeing the green dot indicator mislead me into believing the car had an MX transmission. The Parts clerk seeing no listing for a ’66 MX gave me a gasket for a ’65 MX. Naturally the gasket didn’t fit.
Hearing me cuss out the Parts Department, my master mechanic trainer came over to my bay to see what the problem was. He laughed at my mistake and reminded me of a lesson I should have remembered. While this particular change was a model year change, Ford had a habit of also making running production changes within model years. The only safe way to ensure you would have the right parts before starting a job was to let the Parts Department know year, make, model AND VIN – just in case.
I still prefer the curvy styling of the mid-60s GM cars (such as the ’65 Pontiac 2+2 featured yesterday) to the rectilinear style of this Mercury. It’s interesting how closely the rear end treatment of this S-55 mirrors the styling of the ’63 full-size Pontiacs.
Really over the top with the options. Stuff you wouldn’t really need if you were getting a convert, to use as a convert.
It’s a vast improvement over the white, early “60’s”, model pictured.Curious there is no “top up”, picture.
“59k” was to, too much.
At the time, we couldn’t figure out why for ’65 Mercury suddenly was ‘styled in the Lincoln Continental tradition’ but also included a hood plateau and prominent center grille which had no ‘tradition’ for either make. Then, for ’66 lost the hood plateau and prominent center grille though Lincoln’s was more prominent than ever. Finally, found the features again for 1967 onward.
What was more confusing in their marketing was dropping the Montclair ‘breezeway’ sedan for 1966, replacing it with the basic conventional sedan. For 1965 the Montclair ‘breezeway’ had sold within 645 units short of the popular Monterey counterpart, though the Montclair of $202 more expensive, clearly no price sales resistance and very popular with buyers.
For the first half of the 1960’s, had it not been for the Comet, half of the Lincoln-Mercury dealerships would have thrown in the towel, jumped ship.