Mike Hayes has found what has to be one of the rarest American-brand station wagons of the sixties. The Mercury Meteor, based heavily on the new mid-sized Fairlane, was only built in 1962 and 1963, but the station wagons didn’t appear until ’63. That makes them a one-year wonder to start with. And then there’s the low production numbers. Very, very low…
A grand total of 8,025 Meteor wagons were ever built. The Custom wagon, as the one Mike found, had the highest production, with 3,636. The Country Cruiser was built a total of 1,485 times, and the base wagon 2.904 times.
Needless to say, the Meteor overall was a bit of a flop, unlike the Fairlane. Why? The Comet, which had been quite successful since 1960, was just too close in size, given its 114″ wheelbase. The Meteor sedan managed to stretch the Fairlane’s 115.5″ wheelbase by an inch at the rear to 116.5″, but the wagon had to use the Fairlane body shell in unadulterated form, so its wheelbase was 115.5″. Of course the Comet wagon also used the Falcon wagon’s 109″ wheelbase shell, but in any case, the Meteor just didn’t click. Here’s our CC on it.
Power for the Meteor started with the Falcon 170 six, and then both the 221 and 260 V8s. I’m guessing this one has one of the latter, given its mag wheels, but nothing is a given.
Mike has been finding stellar CCs on his bike and posting them at the Cohort for years now, but this one ranks up there with the best. Take a good look; you probably won’t be seeing another anytime soon.
»zonk« Wow! First I’ve ever seen of such a one.
I do not ever remember seeing one of these before. Don’t anyone tell Jason Shafer, or he will have it in his garage faster than you can say “The Man’s Car.”
This is intriguing but just not enough. If it was a biggie that might be a different story.
How about this, Jason. I just saw this before coming over here:
https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2018/09/21/hemmings-find-of-the-day-1962-mercury-monterey-two-door-hardtop/
I don’t believe that I’ve ever seen a Meteor station wagon. At one of the Carlisle car shows a few years ago, someone was selling a very clean, all-original 1963 Meteor hardtop coupe. That was a very nice car…and one not seen often at car shows.
Nowadays, if a (mass-market) car isn’t projected to sell 50,000/year, no manufacturer will build it.
It’s difficult to remember a time when manufacturers would build dang near anything and THEN determine if it would sell.
Agreed, funny how many niche vehicles there used to be.
But, keep in mind that 7.7 million units sold in the US in 1963, versus 17.25 million in 2017. It was a smaller market.That, and the fact that they changed yearly, so a five year old car was almost always the last generation of that model and 4 style changes old.When people bought new cars more often, the OEMs had more leeway in trying out what they thought might sell.
When cars were body on frame, with little regard for crash safety, longevity or fuel economy, they could just sketch some new fenders and decorations, stamp them out and roll it out the door.
Easy and cheap, compared with today’s unit bodies, engineered crumple zones, safety stars and strict attention to weight. The barrier from sketch to market is far higher now.
Those fifties and sixties cars lasted half as long, had five times the deaths per mile and drank twice the gas with half the acceleration. So we’re way better off in today’s cars.
But the variety sure was wonderful.
Very true. A buddy has two ’56 BelAir convertibles. One is a high option stock version- right down to power windows, top, seat, etc. The other is functionally a stock appearing street rod. It’s basically a Monte Carlo mechanically with a LS motor and a modern transmission/braking/steering system.
Anyone who’s driven a ’56 knows what a shock it is to roll down the road in one.
It’s difficult to remember a time when manufacturers would build dang near anything and THEN determine if it would sell.
I’m really struggling to make sense of your comment. Are you suggesting manufacturers “determined” if a car would sell, after it went on the market (or before)?? How would they do that. Jeez, if someone could just determine what the sales were going to be, they could have cleaned up the market.
Actually, it wasn’t that different then than now, inasmuch as there were planners, etc. I can assure you that Mercury didn’t set out to build so few Meteors, it was just a dud. Given how well the Comet sold, and how well the Fairlane did, it’s a bit of a mystery, and I’m sure it was for Mercury’s execs.
Given that this Meteor was just a Fairlane with some sightly altered sheetmetal and trim, there was essentially little incremental cost in building it, even at low volumes.
Even today, many cars that are projected to sell at a certain level don’t meet that and fail on the market. Why do you think the Big Three have or are in the process of killing so many sedans? And there are duds in other areas of the market. Why aren’t they “determining” how many of them will sell?
The Meteor was squeezed out by the Comet and Fairlane.
Many reviewers at that time lumped the early 1960s Comet in with the Buick Special, Oldsmobile F-85 and Pontiac Tempest as a “senior compact.” Potential buyers probably saw the Comet as a nice step up from a Falcon, but they didn’t see the Meteor as a step up from the Comet. Or as a step that was worth the extra cost.
It was also hurt because potential buyers didn’t see it as a step up from a Ford Fairlane. Mercury’s full-size cars during these years had the same problem – sales were slow, and most likely because there wasn’t a compelling reason to buy one instead of a full-size Ford.
“….Or A step that was worth the extra cost.”
According to The Encyclopedia of American Cars, the step from a Comet to a Meteor was about $100. I guess when a car sells for nearly 3 grand, $100-$200 can be a jump for some customers?
Actually, Comet pretty much outsold Meteor no matter the bodystyle by about 2 to 1. And that was the case in 62 and 63.
This is a real question, do you suppose that potential customers saw the 62 and 63 Meteor as LESS car for the money? By that I mean in 1961 the Meteor was a full-size Mercury, but in 62 the name was shifted to a smaller car with little change in price (small car but at big car prices).
BTW, for true “unicorn” status, at least as a Meteor wagon, you want to try to find a wood sided Country Cruiser. But THE unicorn among 60s Mercury wagons would be a Comet 2 door wagon. In 63 there were 272 Comet Custom 2 door wagons produced.
It could be interesting to know what if Mercury used the Monterey nameplate for their mid-size/intermediate model instead of Meteor? Ford seemed to be lucky to use the Fairlane monicker and since the Galaxie was the new star of the full-size Ford line-up. The mid-size model allowed a 2nd life for the Fairlane nameplate in North America. Plymouth did something similar with the Belvedere monicker for 1965 while Dodge dusted-off Coronet in the same year as well for their new mid-size who was a recycled “plucked chicken” 1962-64 full-size.
I forgot to mention Meteor continued to soldier in Canada a decade longer. Here some scans of the 1973 Meteor brochure.
http://www.oldcarbrochures.org/index.php/Canada/Ford-Canada/Mercury/1973-Mercury-Meteor-Brochure
Meteor was Mercury’s equivalent to Fairlane in 61 though, it was downmarket from the Monterey just as the Fairlane was to the Galaxie, so I’m not sure I follow, as no example that transferred to intermediate was top of the totem pole on the full size ladder immediately prior(Belvedere was second fiddle to Fury for Plymouth).
I don’t think the name had anything to do with its flop in the market, it just offered little the Comet couldn’t provide, and despite its Falcon basis the Comet seemed to do a much better job at hiding the fact than the Meteor did from the Fairlane. People saw that car the way they saw a Milan 10 years ago.
It’s difficult to remember a time when manufacturers would build dang near anything and THEN determine if it would sell.
Every once and a while, they’ll still do something like that. The Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet comes to mind.
Anyone who has ever worked in the car business knows this is complete poppycock. It’s about moving metal-always will be, always has been. If a car doesn’t sell, it’s axed pronto. The Chrysler Airflow comes to mind.
In today’s market, 50k is a drop in the ocean and nowhere near enough volume for anything. Platforms such as VW’s MBQ underpin literally millions of vehicles each year.
Old cars are fun but I don’t want to drive one every day.
I find riding a bicycle is the ideal CC hunting vehicle.
With the colour, patina and wheels this is one attractive car.
TIL that the Meteor sedan/coupe was stretched from the Fairlane. That would make it the only midsize Merc to ever have a wheelbase stretch over the Ford version, no? The Montego and later midsizers just had different bodies on the same wheelbase, IIRC.
Saw a very similar one at a cruise in this July in Puyallup,
Mike’s shot is from NE Seattle 60 + Miles away
Why is it that when I look at these I think “Rambler”?
Can’t quite tell if this is the same car (CA car taken to WA recently). I remember these tailights, and how rarely I saw them in the day compared to Ford (all sizes), Comet, and the full-size Mercury cars: http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/garage/1963-mercury-meteor-wagon.1662/
I saw this same car about 4-5 years ago. Had slightly more paint then.
……. and more front springs …….
If you saw it 4 or 5 years ago with a Washington license plate, then presumably it isn’t the California car.
That’s an original 1963 Washington plate. In Washington, if a car is older than a certain age, you can use a plate (with stickers) from the year of the car, which is handy for telling what model year the car is. If you hadn’t seen the car 4 or 5 years ago, then it would be reasonable to guess that the car was brought from out of state more recently and given a vintage plate.
If I’d beaten Mike to it, I would have photographed the car on general principles, but I wouldn’t have guessed that it was so rare.
Why buy a Meteor instead of a Fairlane?
Back then there was a loyalty to a dealership. The places were much more personal and not at all corporate. The owners were neighbors, friends, family. There was a sense of community in many places. The extra $100 (probably zero when the trade and customer’s history were considered) over the Fairlane may have made little difference.
Buying a car from Fran Kral Mercury made perfect sense when there was a social connection to the owner of the business. Friends and neighbors when I was a kid did so; I knew Mercury wagons and Cougars. They were part of established business done at Fran Kral when a Country Sedan or Mustang would have been just fine.
There was also a prestige value and perceived quality upgrade in buying a more expensive car, even if they were mechanically identical like a Fairlane and Meteor. It was more apparent in the GM line, where B-O-P cars might have finely detailed diecast trim where Chevrolet used stamped bright metal, in addition to the different GM engines and transmissions.
Lincoln-Mercury dealers needed all the help they could get in the early ’60’s, the Meteor was Ford throwing them a bone so they felt included when the Fairlane was introduced. Granted it was pale effort and customers responded in kind, a Meteor was transparently a dolled-up Fairlane. The motivation to buy one was either a trusted dealer relationship or one just preferred the styling, made the $100 difference seem worthwhile.
I recall seeing these on a L-M dealer’s lot as new cars, rarely noticed them afterward. When The Andy Griffith Show reruns appeared on ME TV, I was reminded on them as Ford Motor Company who supplied the cars had one plying the streets of Mayberry. Maybe one still runs around Mayberry….
I like the look of this wagon. The sedans and coupes look frumpy and haphazardly styled, but the straight thru wagon lines terminating in a zippy tailfin with lighted tip is handsome.
Back in ‘63, all the snowflakes could Sparkle with a Meteor custom.