1959 Mercury Country Cruiser

The Mercury Automobile Company was created in 1938 by Edsel Ford to help bridge the price gap between the Ford and Lincoln model lines. By the late 1950s, like many medium-price brands, Mercury was feeling the effects of a weak economy. Although they remained eighth in sales from 1957 to the end of the decade, sales dropped by approximately 60 percent. Ford introduced the Edsel marque in 1958 and its divisional structure was revised, with Mercury, Edsel, and Lincoln forming a combined division (M-E-L). Mercury outsold the heavily-marketed Edsel by over a two-to-one margin, yet it would take nearly 1958 and 1959 combined to match the 1957 sales total.

As the demise of the Edsel marque was nigh, the Mercury line received revisions to its body for 1959, expanding to a 126-inch wheelbase, and for the first time since 1940, Mercury produced its own body and chassis. During the late 1950s, in an effort to slow the hemorrhaging, slow-selling models were pared, including the Turnpike Cruise which became part of the Montclair series in 1958. The mid-priced Voyager wagon did not make it out of the 1950s, and the two-door Commuter's final year was also 1959.

Within the Ford hierarchy of marques for 1959, buyers were able to select the value-minded Ford Wagon that was priced from $2,570 to $3,075, the Edsel wagon at $2,970 to $3,050, and the Mercury wagons from $3,590 to $3,860. With a total output of 269,378 examples of the Ford station wagon built, it was by far the most popular, greatly exceeding the combined 32,448 examples of the Mercury and Edsel station wagons.

1959 was Mercury's 20th anniversary and in celebration and to pull customers away from Oldsmobile, Buick, and Rambler showrooms, the 1959 Mercury wagons were restyled and touted as the 'Newest of All Station Wagons' The top-of-the-line Mercury wagon was the Colony Park and its length of over 18 feet provided a canvas for Jet Age styling, quad headlamps, afterburner-inspired finned tail lights, and mid-century American splendor. The sculpted lines, pillarless hardtop body, and sleek appearance was topped off by simulated woodgrain trim in homage to its wood-bodied predecessors.

Mercury's 1959 station wagon lineup included the two-door Commuter priced at $3,035, the four-door Commuter at $3,100, the Colony Park at $3,930, and the Voyager at $3,800. The most popular was the four-door Commuter with 15,211 examples sold, followed by 5,959 of the Colony Park, 2,496 of the Voyager, and 1,051 of the two-door Commuter. Both the 2- and 4-door Commuter wagons shared trim styling with the Montereys, and the Voyager and Colony Park station wagon's trim was that of the Montclairs. The Colony Park also had simulated wood paneling.

The Commuter was powered by a 383 cubic-inch, overhead-valve V-8 engine that had 10.0:1 compression, a four-barrel carburetor, and delivered 280 horsepower at 4,400 RPM. The Voyager and Colony Park received a 383 CID V8 with a four-barrel carburetor and produced 322 horsepower at 4,600 RPM. Both engines were paired with a Merc-O-Matic three-speed automatic transmission. The previous keyboard control was discontinued and used a steering column gear selector lever.

A third-row seat option for the station wagons was a $90.70 option. This hideaway seat only took a few seconds to change from a 6- to a 9-passenger vehicle. The panoramic windshield surrounded the sides and a similarly styled wraparound window could be seen at the rear. Along with free-flow ventilation, the roll-down back windows extended the vehicle's cargo space. The liftgate was eliminated and the window could be power-operated via a control on the instrument panel. There was a hidden 'below-deck' compartment with an additional 4 cubic feet.

The power operation was optional on the Commuter, but standard equipment for both the Colony Park and the Voyager.

The interior featured an aircraft-type instrument panel, a safety steering wheel, while the exterior had safety-sweep electric powered windshield wipers, and a front-hinged hood.

'Mercury is the one car in its class which does not use a dressed-up body shared with a lower priced car,' noted the 1959 Mercury brochure. This would eventually change in 1961, when Mercury was demoted, becoming an upscale version of the standard Ford. With this move, FoMoCo's costly late Fifties assault on GM was unsuccessfully concluded.

by Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2008