Mercury Montclair
The Mercury XM-800 concept car was designed by John Najjar and first exhibited at the 1954 Chicago Auto Show. The design of the XM-800 heavily influenced Lincoln and Mercury's 1955 and 1956 models. The 1955 Mercury used a 119-inch wheelbase body and the Lincoln Capri and Premiere used a 126-inch body. The name 'Montclair' was new for 1955 and possibly comes from a new Jersey Community. Ford's new Y-block V8 was given to the Montclair in 4,778cc (292) for 1955 and 5,115cc (312) for 1956. The Montclair was launched as a 4-door sedan, 2-door hardtop and convertible and in 1956 the 4-door Phaeton hardtop was added. There was briefly a 'Sun Valley' hardtop with plexiglass roof but this proved too hot in the summer and few were sold. Almost one third of all Mercurys sold were the entry level Montclair and the majority of those were the 2-door coupe; 104,000 Montclair were sold in 1955, and 91,000 in 1956.
aa Mercury Montclair 1955 hardtop badge
aa Mercury Montclair 1955 hardtop badge
Mercury Montclair 1955 hardtop - badge on wing
aa Mercury Montclair 1956 badgea
aa Mercury Montclair 1956 badgea
Mercury Montclair 1956 2-door hardtop - badge on front wing. It is assumed that the name came from the 'Montclair' community of New Jersey.
aa Mercury Montclair 1956 badgem
aa Mercury Montclair 1956 badgem
Mercury Montclair 1956 2-door hardtop. - badge on bonnet, M is for 'Mercury'
ac Mercury Montclair 1956 2-door hardtop head
ac Mercury Montclair 1956 2-door hardtop head
Mercury Montclair 1956 2-door hardtop. For 1956 Mercury gave the Montclair a larger 5,115cc (312) version of its Y-block V* engine.
Mercury Montclair 1955 hardtop front
Mercury Montclair 1955 hardtop front
Mercury Montclair 1955 hardtop, powered by a 4,778cc (292) V8 engine.
Mercury Montclair 1955 hardtop rear
Mercury Montclair 1955 hardtop rear
Mercury Montclair 1955 hardtop, was built on a 119-inch wheelbase the same as the 4-door sedan and the 2-door convertible. But there was also another hardtop, the Sun Valley. Only 1,787 Sun Valley coupes were produced in 1955, priced the same as the convertible; they came with a plexiglass roof over the front seats and this was a bit too much greenhouse to be popular.
Mercury Montclair 1955 hardtop side
Mercury Montclair 1955 hardtop side
Mercury Montclair 1955 hardtop, It was built on a 119-inch wheelbase the same as the sedans, but was two-inches lower in overall hieght
Mercury Montclair 1956 2-door hardtop frontb
Mercury Montclair 1956 2-door hardtop frontb
Mercury Montclair 1956 2-door hardtop. The 1956 Montclair had modesr changes to the grille from 1955 when the letters 'M E R C U R Y' were spelled out on the bonnet instead of on the grille. The side stripe was also in two pieces for 1955 and both were horizontal to the pavement
Mercury Montclair 1956 2-door hardtop frontg
Mercury Montclair 1956 2-door hardtop frontg
Mercury Montclair 1956 2-door hardtop. The 1955 and 56 Mercury cars shared their bodies and much of their styling with the Lincoln cars of that period, albeit the Lincolns were built on longer platforms.
Mercury Montclair 1956 2-door hardtop rear
Mercury Montclair 1956 2-door hardtop rear
Mercury Montclair 1956 2-door hardtop. The Montclair supplanted the Monterey in 1955 to become the top Mercury model, although both were built on the same 119-inch wheelbase and shared styling with other Mercury and Lincoln cars
Mercury Montclair 1956 2-door hardtop side
Mercury Montclair 1956 2-door hardtop side
Mercury Montclair 1956 2-door hardtop. The Montclair shared its 119-inch wheelbase with the lower price Custom and Monterey, body styling was very similar on the Lincoln Premiere which was built on a 126-inch wheelbase.
p Mercury Montclair 1956 lamps
p Mercury Montclair 1956 lamps
Mercury Montclair 1956 2-door hardtop. - rear lamps. Only modest changes were made to the rear lamps for the 1956 models.
w Mercury Montclair 1956 2-door hardtop wheel
w Mercury Montclair 1956 2-door hardtop wheel
Mercury Montclair 1956 2-door hardtop - wheel. The rear wheel arch was a direct lift from the 1954 XM-800 project car.
Mercury Custom Station Wagon 1955 front
Mercury Custom Station Wagon 1955 front
Click here to go to an album on: Mercury 1955. Mercury Custom Station Wagon 1955. Mercury gave its Custom and Monterey a longer wheelbase and a new body for 1955, with a new Montclair topping the range. The V8 engine was enlarged to 4.8-litre giving 188bhp in the Custom models
Mercury Montclair Marauder 1963 fastback
Mercury Montclair Marauder 1963 fastback
Click here to go to an album on: Mercury Marauder. Mercury Montclair Marauder 1963 hardtop. The Marauder option included the 383 MEL 6.3-litre V8 engine, but larger engines were an option
Lincoln Premiere 1956 2-door hardtop front
Lincoln Premiere 1956 2-door hardtop front
Click here to go to an album on: Lincoln Premiere. . Lincoln Premiere 1956 2-door hardtop, selling just below the Lincoln Continental, the Premiere offered size, power, and equipment.