The Magic Year of 1957 must have been a wonderful time to shop for a car! Chrysler had its dynamic Forward Look; Ford was all-new and graceful; Chevy had a smart restyle of its successful 1955-56 models (all three of those “Tri-Five” model years would later become iconic); and over at Mercury–well, the Space Age had definitely arrived in the form of the all-new, top-of-the-line Turnpike Cruiser: “The Dream Car You Can Own!”
Quadri-Beam headlights provided a radical new appearance that most people weren’t used to.
I’m very glad I found this eBay listing because it has a lot of close-up, high quality photographs that show details that you rarely get to see unless you see the car in person. And let me tell you, this car is dripping with fascinating details!
And because of its setting, it kind of gives you some idea of what it was like to see it new in the Mercury showroom back in ’57. This car was so radically new that I’m sure many showroom prospects were in awe seeing this long, low, glitzy “car of the future”. “The most advanced car you could buy at any price” according to Mercury advertising. “The world’s first production dream car!”
So now I want to focus on close-up shots of all the little fascinating details that you may have never seen before:
Let’s start with that windshield. Not only does it wrap around to the sides, but it also extends up into the roof! And then there are these projecting “pods” which house–wait for it–fake radio antennae! Who came up with that idea? It does look futuristic, in a “War of the Worlds” kind of way.
The rear window, in three sections, is a real masterpiece of Mid-Century Modern design. Then there’s this chrome trunk medallion, floating as it were on the sculpted indentation which visually extends into the passenger compartment. This sculpted style element continues onto the roof itself.
Here’s a close-up of the medallion. The rear window goes up and down and is power operated.
This car is not “cute”, but rather exudes a kind of otherworldly, violent aggression. You have to wonder where these ideas came from.
The experimental XM Turnpike Cruiser dream car of 1956 (not offered to the public).
Here it is from the front.
Lines that say fleet motion and speed. Lots of gold anodized trim.
This appears to be an upholstery restoration, and the purist in me is fine with it. Looks like it was done with high quality materials, and it follows the swoopy original pattern.
This is the “Monitor Control Panel” (dashboard). That steering wheel is very familiar to me because I guided the same one on my 1962 Mercury Comet S-22! (Except the Comet version was round, not flat on top).
The instrument panel with its engine-turned silver appliques was unique to the Turnpike Cruiser. One of the most beautiful dash designs of the era.
Tachometer–standard equipment. This is the first postwar American sedan with a standard tachometer.
This is the “Average Speed Computer Clock”. Refer to the owner’s manual to figure out how to use it.
“Keyboard Control” for the Mercomatic transmission.
Deluxe signal-seeking Town and County radio lets you search for strong or weak stations. Round button above may be a place to insert a key to open the trunk. Or is it a glove box lock?
Safety padding on the dash. The originals tended to warp and split after a few years.
Back seat. This is the longest, lowest, roomiest Mercury ever. Chrome roof bows were a deluxe feature of top-of-the-line cars of this period.
Turnpike Cruiser engine: 368 cubic inches; 290 horsepower. This would be the final year for the Lincoln Y-block V8. The rubber hose on the air cleaner extension is for the “Thermo-Matic” carburetor. It has a thermostatic valve which provides exhaust manifold-heated air when the engine is cold, and cool outside air when the engine warms up. There was also a “Power Booster” radiator fan available which this car lacks. It disconnected when the car was moving forward at highway speeds. If this car had the Power-Booster, there would be a little gauge on the dash indicating whether the Power Booster was OFF or ON.
Power Booster fan gauge, from the brochure.
Consumer Reports gave the Turnpike Cruiser some high marks:
Alas and alack, the Turnpike Cruiser, despite all its unique innovations and good driving qualities, didn’t sell particularly well. Many people may have been “wowed”, but not that many bought. Only 16,861 were sold, out of total Mercury production of 286,163. Part of the reason may have been the Cruiser’s relatively high price ($3849, just below cars in the high-priced group (Cadillac, Lincoln, Imperial). I still think it was a good value, because it had luxury features as standard equipment that cost extra or were not available on other models.
I have seen exactly one of these Turnpike Cruisers in my lifetime. I photographed it in 1986 at the Lead East car show in Parsippany NJ. The car was a Sun Glitter (yellow) and white two-tone. I actually got to ride in this car. It was a long way to where my car was parked, and the Mercury’s owner was leaving and offered me a lift. I would love to know whether this car still exists or not.
To me, the little-known Turnpike Cruiser story is kind of sad. Mercury went all out to build a fantastic new car “straight out of tomorrow”, and yet the buying public did not respond in great numbers. Ironically, the “futuristic” styling quickly became dated. The cars were not known for their longevity, suffering early rust-out (especially around the headlights) and a lot of the gee-whiz features eventually broke. The cars were generally unloved as they aged, and most were fed into the shredder or creamed in demolition derbies. Growing up, I remember seeing 1957 Chevys and Fords, but none of these oddball Mercs. Which makes any surviving examples all the more special. They represent an age of unbridled optimism and imagination in design that didn’t last very long. The industry discovered that the public will prefer the mediocre, especially if it’s cheap, and it may not be profitable to try so hard to build a car that’s “out of this world”.
Related CC reading:
Cold Comfort: 1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser Factory Air Conditioning Tom Halter
CC For Sale: Unrestored 1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser – Battered Spaceship S.Pellegrino
1957 Mercury Montclair: Reaching For The Stars Only To Hit A Moon Jason Shafer
1957 Mercury Monterey: Does Anyone Know Who’s Running This Place? Aaron65
1959 Mercury Monterey: A Little More Chrome Please? Longrooffan
1959 Mercury Monterey 2-Door Hardtop: Mercury Retrograde Laurence Jones
1959 Mercury Monterey Cruiser Hardtop Coupe: Mercury Spreads Its Wings And Crashes Paul N
I’m sure those “ideas” were born via the liquor cabinet in some execs office. This car is over the top!
Splendid piece of writing. I’m certain I can say I have never seen a car with a medallion behind the rear window, or fake radio antennae at the top of the windshield. They turned the artful designers loose on this one.
Back in the days before most cars had AC this would have been perfect. Now I never put the windows down when driving. Hard to believe people drove with windows down. AC has certainly spoiled us.
Just the opposite for me. Windows down quite often.
I drive with the windows down every chance I get. It is rarely hot where I live so windows down motoring is great! That said, most cars I see have the windows firmly shut.
Great job, Steve! I have always loved these cars. They have panache a la mid-century. Plus, if your dad owned one, think of all the girls who would want to talk to you when you drove up to the ice cream stand! My cousin who is much older than I, had the convertible. This was the Indianapolis Pace Car, of which one hundred were built. Ralph’s was light yellow with a cream color leather interior and the standard-for-the-Turnpike Cruiser Convertible continental spare. Overall length was twenty feet! My brother and my cousin John had driver’s licenses. So, when Ralph showed up on weekends with the car in Luzerne, NY, we younger cousins were privileged to borrow the tank and drive to lake George Village where, I assure you, the pedestrians and drivers gawked at the car.
In the early sixties, you probably saw more Montereys than Cruisers still on the road. Somewhere in my neck of the woods I recall seeing an Orchid/black two tone TP coupe. Being such a young kid at the time it captured my interest in cars before I even entered Kindergarten. By the mid 60’s, most `57 Mercurys had met their date with the crusher as tastes changed.
They were ruster’s.
One of my scoutmasters, a corporate attorney, had a ’58, and at age eleven going on twelve, I once accompanied him and his wife on a one-hundred mile plus journey. For whatever reason, I got to sit upfront with them seated by the passenger door, and since my scoutmaster’s wife was a sophisticated and stylish lady who also happened to be also drop-dead gorgeous, I found that particular trip to be quite wonderful. As a side note, the speedometer was quite fascinating. Quite honestly, I’ll never forget that trip.
I became enthralled by these after reading an article in a borrowed copy of Special Interest Autos in the early 70s. I had never seen one before, and have only rarely seen them since.
In hindsight, trying to move Mercury up into a substantially higher price class was doomed from the first.
I bet they didn’t sell well because people outside the Northeast US didn’t know what a turnpike was. If they had called it the Freeway Cruiser maybe Californians would have snapped them up.
The fresh air intakes at the top of the windshield, the shape of the “C”-pillar and the “breezeway” window can be credited to James Nance who came to Lincoln-Mercury after Packard closed. These features were on the 1956 Packard Predictor show car and were slated to be on the production all-new but sadly still-born ’57 Senior Packards.
Hmmm. Never knew that!
Never saw one in person. Yet, if one is to go over the top this was it for a Mercury. Lots of chrome all over. Then lots of over the top chrome showed up in the GM line for 1958. I miss chrome!
The engine-turned silver applique did show up later but should we say plasticized instead of metal. The 1965-66 F100 Custom Cab dash face.
As a child I remember seeing a black & yellow TPC on the highway during one of my families cross country road trips. And yes, to the eyes of a six year old, these were space age wonders. I have been a fan ever since and have three different Danbury Mint precision diecast models in 1:24 scale. Prefer mine more “plain” without the continental wart on the rear end and without the skirts. Love the Canadian version, Monarch Cruiser, with single headlights of which fewer than 850 made. Twenty-five years ago I had been in contact with an older gentleman in Vancouver who had three restored and learned much about the subtle differences between the US and Canada Cruisers.
57 morphed into the larger, longer 59 mercurys. learned on a 59 colony park black woody on red. stunning. meckomatic was back to a stalk arrangement with amazing expansive dash and a forward facing 3rd seat. family had the 57 colony park which was shorter wheelbase based in the country squire.
All the quirky, techy, ((for the time)) would have swayed buyers to other models/makes. Too many opportunities for things to quit working.
Where the Japanese “Thalidomide School” of auto design took root.
Never seen the Turnpike cruiser model, one 57 Mecury was imported to NZ new it was the regular version without the bizzare add ons and resided in my home town, metallic blue it looked quite smart, it still exists but was sold out of the original ownership many years ago.
I have seen one of these in the wild, and what a wild thing it is! I wonder what car publications of the time said about a car like this? Perhaps Bruce McCall’s “Bulgemobile” was patterned off this Mercury. I kind of looks like it!
I have been facinated by this car ever since l found the Danbury Mint model about 15 years ago at a antiques market. Its red and white, but l removed the ugly cont.kit and glued the bumper back on and it looks much better now. This is one of my favorite Mercurys. I have never seen one in person either.
So far over the top I like it .
I can only ever remember seeing one, at an auction thirty years ago, it had rusted badly from top to bottom yet still was an attention grabber .
-Nate