This was the cheapest way to get a Breezeway Mercury in 1964, if your heart was really set on one. It started at $$2819, or $355 more than a stripper Ford custom two-door. But that did get you a standard 250 hp 390 V8, compared to the six in the Ford.
Nice pic. Looks like the Scott Fountain on Belle Isle in Detroit in the background.
Super cool car! I always thought of the Breezeway being so upmarket that I never imagined a stripper spec. Too cool! I wonder how many they made and also just how few there have to be today…
Jack Nicholson drove a ’63 Breezeway in Five Easy Pieces, until he left it at a gas station, hitched a ride with a trucker, while Karen Black had gone inside.
Despite hiding it well, ’64 Merc sheet metal was a budget build, cleverly disguising the reuse of mostly existing tooling. Bolt-on “adapters” for extensions, style lines, etc.
Interesting. I think it was done well…to me, the ‘64 is much more attractive than the ‘63.
And all of it trying to disguise a 1960 body on a 1957 frame. The 1965 Ford/Mercury was a huge step forward, jumping from behind to ahead of the competition.
Was carbon monoxide a problem with the back window down ?
It was. When I was like six years old, my friend’s mom had one. She wouldn’t roll down the back window because of exhaust fumes getting in. I thought the Breezeway was about the coolest thing on earth, so I was quite disappointed!
Reminds me of when I was a kid and would ride in the back of my dads 57 Ford Ranch Wagon, with the rear window open. You could smell that exhaust!
I think rolling down the side windows helped with ventilation. If you rolled down the rear windows and kept the others closed you would have problems. My folks always drove our wagons on nice Summer days with the rear window down. But we didn’t have A/C, so the side windows were down too. It really wasn’t a problem then.
It looks a lot less stripper-y to me than those Ford Customs do—-maybe the bright window & body moldings? The $355 doesn’t sound like all that much to move from the Six, past the 289 and 352 to the 390, and get that power-operated breezeway window—but I realize that is about 15% of the car’s cost.
Thank you, JB, for picking up the locale—-I always wonder whether FoMoCo photos were shot in greater Detroit, or somewhere else…
That $355 also got you more bright trim than was on the Ford, particularly around the window glass. I still find these challenging after all these years. An acquired taste that I keep feeling I’m on the verge of acquiring, but am not quite there.
Do these have less of a problem with rust around the back window compared to “normal” cars?
Here’s one from the junkyard, the bottoms of the rear fenders are rusty and there’s a decent amount of weathering rust just from exposure but the pic about five or six from the end shows the rear window area in detail and it looks great. Of course, one example does not a definitive conclusion make, but…
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/junkyard-classic-1965-mercury-park-lane-the-interrogation/
I had a 64 Mercury Monterey Breezeway. I bought in high school and drove it all through college. I always opened the vents in the front kick panels whenever I opened the Breezeway window. On the highway the breeze coming through the car was great. No need for A/C.
Some of you may have seen this picture in other comments of mine.
Weird that they didn’t put some full wheel covers on it with the usual fine print disclaimer about optional equipment. Dog dishes just say cheap model for skinflint buyer to me and did then.
Add wheel covers and you have a nice looking ride. Opt for power steering and brakes, radio, and maybe an automatic and that’s a nice car – far from a penalty box. Always liked the breezeway design.
Other than being parked, at a stop light or in crawling traffic I can’t Imagine having to worry about exhaust. I guess some people thought it was OK to drive with only the rear window down. Common sense would tell me that having the front vents open would be the bare minimum required and putting both front windows down would give the best “breezeway” effect.
Looks ok to me lose the white walls and I’d nearly buy one it looks like an overinflated 105E Ford Anglia from the back.
Very cool. Just the right amount of chrome.