There was a large outdoor car show in our area last Saturday, although I didn’t attend it was a fun day to drive around running errands because old cars were everywhere, including the grocery store parking lot.
It’s a 1964 Mercury, in what looks like the original color of Pink Frost. 64 is pretty much peak Mercury for me, there are just so many great details on these cars.
It’s a Montclair (please excuse the giant finger in the top of the photo). This car was in really nice shape, very straight, good paint and very straight well polished trim. I should know because my 1963 VW does NOT have straight well polished trim..
And it’s a Marauder, even better. That means it’s got an FE big block motor. Probably a 390 cubic inch plant, I’d imagine the odds of it having the optional 427 are very tiny indeed.
Here’s the crucial detail. Most 1963-1964 Mercurys had the reverse canted breezeway rear window (Like this 63 I shot five years ago) but Marauders have a more normal sloped roofline. And look at that raised crease on the break, kind of like a convertible top stretched over a frame. I’d guess this is the same metal stamping that 1964 Ford hardtops used.
This detail is also the one that enabled the Marauder to go NASCAR racing in 1964. One can only imagine the high speed drag and lift characteristics of the breezeway window, the fastback wasn’t called FASTback for nothing. The top Mercury in the 1964 Daytona 500 was Billy Wade in sixth place. Sadly Mercury is best known this year for being what Joe Weatherly was driving when he struck his head on the wall at Riverside and was killed.
Like the rest of the car, the interior is wide and low and spacious. I wonder what our console critic friend Jason thinks of this one? It’s pretty large but I doubt it would crowd his right knee much. Red and white interior goes better with pink frost than you’d think.
Here we are at the back. There’s a few interesting points here.
First of all, Mrs DougD was considerably more pleased with this car than her expression would indicate in the picture. I think there’s some sunny day squint going on with her. Second, look how big our 2013 Focus looks there at the right of the photo. Park a modern car next to this Mercury and it really accentuates how low and wide it is. Third, take in those great details: the fastback roofline, the vestigal fins, the trunk lid, the taillights, and the Birkenstocks.
For me 1964 marks the end of the classic Mercury period, ultimately Mercury did not survive as a marque but there are some great cars to show for it.
Further Reading:
I tend to agree, I think ’55-64 was the high water mark of Mercury.
Ahh, your post triggered a Merc memory of what could have been.
Personally, I consider ’66 the end of the classic Mercs. “67 & ’68 were transition years to the full brougham ’69 & later models.
As a teenager in ’68 with ink still wet on the driver license, my dad had a ’66 Marauder 2dr HT with the rare 410 engine on a weekend tryout from the local dealer. Being uncharacteristically generous with a borrowed car, he let me take it out by myself for a single Saturday night. It was a deep maroon color and looked so cool with all the windows rolled down on a warm evening. It also did the most impressive burnouts.
As was the custom for Saturday night cruising with the parents car in those days, I had disconnected the speedo cable for much of the evening to disguise how many miles I was really driving. The tank was full, the car fully detailed, a powerful V8 – I was in teenage driver heaven.
I probably took a few thousand miles of the back tires, but I carefully scrubbed the melted rubber off the rear quarter panels before parking the car for the evening. What I didn’t do was put in any gas. I figured my dad wouldn’t notice the gas as long as it wasn’t dead empty.
How wrong I was. My dad got the car dead empty, so he filled it himself that Friday afternoon planning to give it a good tryout after church.
When we got in the car Sunday morning for mass, my dad couldn’t believe how much gas the car had used to only drive the 20 miles I had let the odometer roll up before disconnecting the speedo cable.
Absolutely certain this Merc was the world’s biggest gas hog, back to the dealer it went on Monday. I can only blame myself for my own misfortune of having Rambler owning parents throughout high school.
It would have been so cool to have the occasional use of that Merc instead of our 1959 Rambler geekmobile. I’m convinced my whole high school life would have been completely different.
In what way, I’ll never know.
My uncle has one for sale it’s original peacock blue he bought it in 1964 original owner if interested in it contact me at satkins@sc.rr.com thanks
Regarding the size comparison between the Mercury and the Focus. The other day I saw a Mini Countryman parked next to a ‘64-66 Mustang. The “Mini” just dwarfed over the Mustang. Yeah, American cars after 1958 or so were long, and wide, but they don’t seem that big overall anymore. By the way, thanks for including the picture of the NASCAR “fastback”. I think I became aware of the fastback Ford’s and Mercuries around that time, and they seemed to look “just right” as racecars, which I don’t think holds true for today’s NASCAR spec cars.
I am in complete agreement with you on the Breezeway Mercurys – these rare Marauders with the fastback roofs (and whatever 4 door hardtops came with a normal roof too) were the only Mercs that appealed to me in the Breezeway era. I also agree that this 64 Marauder was a high mark. In truth I see a lot of 1965 Chrysler in this design, which should not be surprising given Elwood Engle moving from Ford to Chrysler in time to own the 1965 program.
I have to question the Pink Frost though – I am not picking up any pink at all in this one, and would peg it as Anniversary Silver instead. I also wonder, it that white interior with the red dash/trim authentic? I never spent time around these and would have guessed that the dash, etc would be black. But that is only a guess.
Yeah, funny the photos didn’t pick it up but it definitely had a pinkish purplish hue.
The pic of the Marauder badge shows it best, try staring at that one and think about pink..
This one’s a bit too pink….. 🙂
Agree that the non-breezeway ’64 Mercury hardtop is a favorite, certainly better than the same year Ford.
And, yeah, I always wonder how much Elwood Engel is in the Mercury’s styling, too, considering how similar the ’65-’68 Chrysler resembles it, particularly the concave fender stampings. After the ’62 downsizing debacle, Lynn Townsend played it safe by just copying the last model cycle GM products. It seemed like they did the same thing with the ’65 Chrysler, aping the last Mercury, but that seems to be an exception which, like I said, could be attributed to the Engel-Ford connection.
My dad had a ’64 4-DR Montclair Marauder in Pink Frost with the fastback roof. The car spotlighted is silver. No rose metallic hint. I prefer the 4-DR because of the chrome piece integrated at the rear door/window rather than the straight line roof into the body as if it were stuck on. I always thought the novelty of the Breezeway models were not popular.
I couldn’t find a photo of a non-Breezeway four door, but here’s one from a brochure. I see what you mean.
Yep, that’s the car. Just not the color. It’s my favorite Mercury year. Tweaked the ’63 in the right places. Here is my dad’s car with Chicago skyline. He bought in ’66.
That is a good looking Mercury! The right roof really made the design work well.
I guess it’s just a matter of taste. Personally, I’d have rather seen a ‘Hofmeister Kink’ (most commonly seen in BMWs) in the C-pillar instead of the curved chrome piece.
Me too. But pretty cheap to slap a chrome piece in there rather than a new roof stamping, I guess.
Awesome! 64 was one of the best looking years for Mercury. I love everything about this car: the body, the colors, the interior, the vestigial fins, the taillights, except maybe the steering wheel wrap and the birkenstocks.
Mercury’s use of the Marauder name is kind of confusing. Unless I am mistaken, they only used the name for four years: 63,64,69 and 70. There was the 63 S55 Marauder and the 69-70 Marauders, which were all sportier models with more standard power. For 64, though, Marauder only indicated the fastback roof in any of the full size models. The engines and interiors were the same whether you got the formal Breezeway or Marauder body style. For the Montclair, it was the 250hp 390 big block standard with the option of 3 power upgrades or 2 versions of the 427. To make things more confusing, Mercury called all their big block engines Marauders through 1966.
You don’t need to feel bad about missing the car show, you probably saw the coolest car there anyway!
“Mercury’s use of the Marauder name is kind of confusing”
Their use of Montclair was confusing too. It was the good Mercury in the mid 50s, seemed to go away in the late 50s, I know it was gone as late as 62, then it came back as a kind of stepchild middle line up through at least 1968. But all of the Mercurys I remember seeing were Montereys, with the occasional Park Lane or whatever else was occupying the top rung before the Marquis came along and nailed that segment down.
Just the long saga of US automakers taking a brand and diluting it in subsequent years and ultimately destroying it. Bel Air was originally the special two door hardtop Chevy and look what happened. Even today, every Chevy pickup is a Silverado, including the base work truck fleet model, when that was a special top-of-the line trim level at one time.
I find it a bit odd that there was no ’64 Marauder convertible. At least over at Chevy, the ’64 Impala SS was only a two door hardtop or convertible. Alas, no performance intentions with the standard Turbo-Thrift six.
6 years, you left out the 2003 and 2004 reincarnation.
I didn’t think anyone would call me out on that!
Well considering that is what is sitting in my driveway they are sort of top of mind to me when you say Marauder.
Yup. Non-Breezeway, it’s a Marauder. Odd they used that name – it’s clearly a name for a high performance model, except it’s not.
Looks like I misspoke a little. The 63, 69 and 70 Marauders were all also merely a body style alternative with no additional performance. You had to upgrade to the 1963 S-55 and 1969-70 X-100 to get the higher performance versions. Only the 64 didn’t offer a sportier version. It really is confusing…
This is one of those cars that didn’t really appeal to me when I was younger.
But now , I like it. The bladed, knife edged trim from front to back, that started on the ’60 Ford and continued on the ’61 and added to the ’61 T-Bird and Continental. The lower front bumper ends reminiscent of the ’61 Bird and the faux convertible roof creases borrowed from the ’63 Chevy Impala (whoops!). A rather nice blend of styling features.
Another neat detail is the race-car shaping of the package shelf, reminiscent of a D-Jag or a Fiat Abarth. Other sport coupes had a split rear seat with a medallion between, but none of them had the humps behind the seats. Obviously it didn’t affect the real streamlining, but it probably streamlined the driver’s ego.
All 1964 full-sized Mercurys were powered by a Marauder V8. Standard equipment in Monterey, Montclair, Commuter and Colony Park was the Marauder 390 2-barrel of 250 hp. Standard on Park Lane and optional on other models was the Super Marauder 390 2-barrel rated at 300 horsepower. Optional on all models was the police version of the 390 4-barrel set at 330 horsepower and two 427 Super Marauders of 410 hp (4-barrel) or 425 hp (2 4-barrel carbs).
When looking at the height of the console relative to the seat, there should be no console interference given my knee should be above the console.
It’s when the console is as tall as Jack’s Beanstalk is when problems arise. And Jack’s beanstalk height consoles have infected modern cars quicker than the flu bug works its way through a daycare facility.
These are great looking cars that, somehow, still had tail fins in 1964 that didn’t look out of place.
One of the peculiarities about the 1963-64 Mercury is that it shared its front doors and possibly the hood with the Ford Galaxie. They tacked on an upper-fender ridge to the doors and a lip to the bottom of the hood.
There were a number of tooling short-cuts in those Mercurys, like those you mentioned. My father had both ’63 Fords and a Mercury, I got to study those details that aren’t readily obvious to the casual observer.
Peak Mercury for me were the 1955-’60 years. The 1961 rationalization of Mercury back to essentially a restyled Ford including size was a travesty. Meteor 600, a six cylinder Mercury! “Better Low-Priced Car” my foot!
Mercury was developed to compete with Pontiac and Dodge, a step up from the low-priced three. As such, they had made an effort to give it a longer wheelbase, Mercury-specific style and power consist with that mission. Although the cowl-to-front-axle remained identical to Fords, they did give they a ridiculously long rear quarters beginning with 1963, along with more upscale styling for the year and 1964, the best of the lot.
Had the 1964 Mercury Park Lane received the correct proportions like a Pontiac Bonneville, it could have been a real contender.
The colour looks more silvery to me from these photos.
I had some passenger seat time in a Breezeway version of these. The thing was ten years old at the time, and it showed it. It was very well worn. I think it had been a Dad’s car, then was passed on to the daughter for school.
Nice shots. This car is nicely preserved. Did it have a historic, or a period correct license plate?
It had a historic plate, which in Ontario means limited use. (and they are serious about that, if you get pulled over and you’re not on your way to a car show or something you get trouble)
That was my thought – if you have to hesitate about whether there is any pink there, it’s not Pink Frost. Ford called it Rose Beige. It was not a big seller.
I’ve seen a ’65 Malibu in a similar color. An unusual offering but apparently trendy in the mid-60s.
Evening Orchid. Even in ’57 there was a similar color, Dusk Pearl.
It was an interesting color that all of the Big 3 offered on some (if not all) of their models.
Some color film of Riverside in January 1964 here; no sign of Mr. Weatherly and #15, but many shots of the red-white-blue Mercury cars:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=706LxcWZEkk
In addition to these Marauders, the field has plenty of 1963 and 1964 Fords with the same roofline.
BTW, it probably means nothing, but featured Pink Frost car has rear-view mirrors up on the fenders, rather than on the door(s). Do some drivers just prefer those?
Sharp eye for details there.
All the photos on Google show a rectangular mirror on the door (one or two round ones, probably replacements). Very few with passenger side mirrors. No one had thought of having a convex mirror over there like modern cars have, and a regular one was only of use for the passenger so they were rare. I checked the brochure – no outside mirrors on anything!
The round fender mirrors are no doubt a later addition. I wonder if there are two capped holes in the driver’s side door.
Michael Allen, I’m starting to notice how often brochure/ad photos and artwork back then had zero outside mirrors—I guess for a clean, sleek look.
Here’s a raw photo of a ’64 (not sure if ever used in FoMoCo ad/brochure), and sure enough there’s no mirror:
Here’s a new one:
I tried to edit a comment (the one with the models page) and I got a message that it my edit looked like spam so it wouldn’t work. When I tried again it said it had been marked as spam so couldn’t be edited.
I guess I should be thankful I wasn’t first told to slow down because I was commenting too fast – even though it was my THIRD comment in about 20 minutes. I usually get that one on my first comment in days. This is my FOURTH and I’m not signed in.
I don’t recall having to edit anything, but I do get the too fast thing often.
As a kid in 64 I remember seeing far more examples of the Comet Caliente coupe than the Marauder coupe and this picture confirms how closely its styling followed that of big brother. Both very handsome cars. Ford was doing very attractive interiors in these years. We had a new 64 Fairlane Sports Coupe in Guardsman Blue – bucket seat/console interior with high quality vinyl and lots of nice trim details.
Havent seen a two door like that its nice, theres a black fordor nearby hiding up a driveway thats very similar.
Nice car and you’re spot on to highlight details and how they make it work. It seems liek someone who knew what they were doing was allowed to finish it off properly, inside and out.
Well, that’s interesting. Looks like our subject car is for sale at $21,500 CDN in Toronto.
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-classic-cars/city-of-toronto/1964-mercury-montclair/1462556138?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true
Just ran across this site. I owned a ’64 Park Lane Marauder Conv. Bought it in early ’69. Kept it for the next 25 yrs. That was one classy cruiser especially in nice weather with the top down. In the early ’80’s took it off the road a while for restoration and repair of a quarter panel. It was only sparingly driven after that. Sold it in ’95 to it’s third owner. Who’s family still owns it. Saw it last summer at a local cruise in. Still looks great and got attention from those there.