I'VE GOT MAIL! #7 January 19, 2021

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George Schire

(@georgeschire)

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Joined: 5 years ago

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Topic starter 19/01/2021 8:58 am

To make this "I'VE GOT MAIL" feature seem real, I didn't post one yesterday as there was no mail delivery in honor of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

But really, on the day this DANBURY MINT Brochure featuring the 1957 MERCURY TURNPIKE CRUISER did arrive in my mailbox some years back, I was all but knocked off my feet. Not a favorite REAL car by any stretch, but for 1957 a sure sign of the excessive times going on. There was chrome on top of chrome with weird little appendages everywhere on the car. And skirts? They weren't traditional looking at all, but for some reason they too, expressed the excessiveness. Lest we forget about the state-of-the-art rear power window! And we certainly must mention, the two-tone Lavender and Black color match-up making this a "Must Have" model.

Some REAL 1957 MERCURY FACTS:

Debuting with their series designations somewhat changed and the Medalist and Custom names were dropped. The new lowest priced series was the Monterey selling for $2,576 as a 2-door Sedan. The Montclair line offered up four models, followed by the Turnpike Cruisers designated as the top of the line models for the year. The Turnpike Cruiser Convertible was the most expensive model selling for $4,103. It was also selected as the Pace Car for the Indianapolis 500 Race.

The Station Wagons came in six models and were classed as a series by themselves for the year. The Commuters were the lowest priced wagons coming in both a 2-door and 4-door version. Three types of Commuters were available listed as 6-passenger or 8-passenger style. The middle series was the Voyager, produced in a 6 or 8-passenger. And the senior wagons were called Colony Park and were only 4-door, 8-passenger models with 7,386 built.

A push-button transmission selector was introduced for the first time on Mercury. Other new features were the air-cushion suspension on the rear, power tailgate window lifts on the wagon, and the Turnpike Cruisers had quad headlights to distinguish it from the other two series.