So Lohnes has been gawking big drop-top cruisers lately. Can’t say I blame him any…I think we all are looking forward to Spring with a vengeance, but in his case I’m also willing to bet that the memory of snowdrifts and plow piles bigger than most houses from a couple of years past still ring clear in his head. Or maybe it’s the trip to Florida that got him in the mood. Either way, now seemed like a good time to help the boss’s current car-listing addiction right along. Finding a big convertible is a bit easier than finding some lumbering work beast of yesteryear for him to drool over, at least!
Before Marquis, there was Park Lane. This was the top of the line trim for Mercury’s big boats, and they did their best to maintain the grace and charm of the later 1950s and 1960s…you weren’t going to find race stripes, chambered exhaust or scoops here, no sir. In fact, the console and floor shift automatic in this car was a rare option, and that’s for a run of just over 2,500 Park Lane convertibles, period. Care to hazard a guess as to how many still exist in any form, let alone like this car? Not many, we’d reckon.
With the “Marauder 410” V8 under the hood, power won’t be an issue, and the automatic is the perfect choice for loping around on some winding backroad. Following Ford’s Elwood Engel-styled slab-sided and taut, crisp-angled designs, the Park Lane comes across as neat and tidy, with good proportions. It might be a rectangle with headlights, but Engel knew how to make a brick handsome. For a dead-stocker, this Park Lane is right on the money for what we’d like to see in a cruiser. Only one problem we see: all of the snow in the photos.
eBay Link: 1966 Mercury Park Lane convertible
Another option was the S55 with 427 and 4 speed..rare as hens teeth.
What’s with you and Brian on the barf barge convertibles? The Polara, the Bonnevile and this Park Lane. Never card for the big boxes when I was a kid and still don’t.
Now show me a Galaxie, Impala, Cadillac, Lincoln, or Wildcat from that era and now you’re talking.
Sucks to be you. Bring on more oddball barges!
Where do I start? This looks to be a nice car…. from 25′ away. Upon closer inspection it has many cosmetic issues and who know what is going on mechanically. In my years of everything Mercury I have never seen a red interior (very shiny and fake looking) with a maroon dash pad and steering column. The repaint looks like an Earl Schibe quality job. And why would you take a photo of the engine with the air cleaner lid installed crooked?
I could go on about details but I will stop here. I Hope whoever considers this rare Mercury inspects it personally or has a knowledgeable person spend some time going over it.
” and who know what is going on mechanically.” You could say that about any vehicle ,Beautiful Automobile ,worth a “gamble ” sure the reserve is at least 25 K