1960 Mercury Monterey

Another HUGE,  one-year body style from Mercury.  Similar to my 1960 Ford wagon, this car is incredibly wide and got Ford into trouble with the government due to its size.  This variant is the extra sleek 2-door hardtop Monterey model with huge wrap around front and rear windows and one of the coolest push-button dashboards I've seen.  The Montery was the "sportier" version of the Montclair pictured above, but they're basically the same other than trim.

I bought this as another abandoned project about 10 years ago and haven't touched it since.  It's all original and was in the middle of being restored when the owner decided he couldn't finish it.  I've got all the chrome and are you ready for this?  It has 35,000 original miles. 

You might think it would be a shame to modify it, but they're not that collectable and it's my nature to build things.  You know what they say...   anyone can restore a car, it takes a real man to cut one up! 

I keep thinking about making it one of the coolest cruisers ever with a lowered stance, bigger wheels, active ride suspension, digital dashboard and a new leather interior.  But what I really want to do is put an all-electric platform under it and make a truly unique, quiet, and innovative custom.

I'm sure to piss off both the purists and the hot rodders with an electric platform, but this thing is so big, quiet, and elegant, it would be ideal for a 21s century all-digital custom rod.

FYI - the gallery below shows pictures of the actual car in black with primer. However, I included some shots of other models and a bunch of original ads to give an idea of what it really looks like.  

ENGINE

Original 430.

DRIVETRAIN

Original 3-speed Automatic (actually might be a 2-speed).

CHASSIS

Original.

BODY & PAINT

Original. The current body is rock solid and rust free.  I also found a grill from a 1960 Canadian Mercury Monarch, which is basically the same car, but I think the grill has better styling.  Other than that, I'm keeping the body (mostly) original. 

INTERIOR

Original.

WHEELS & TIRES

Original.