1964 Mercury Park Lane Convertible

Edsel Ford conceived of the Mercury line in 1939 as a way to fill the market gab between Ford and Lincoln. Over the years, it has played several roles from a premium Ford to a baby Lincoln. In the 1960s, the Mercury had a persona of its own, which had models in three sizes that were priced from $2,000 to $3,500. At the top of the list was the Park Lane, with premium trim, a fastback hardtop called 'Marauder', and powertrain options of up to 425 brake horsepower.

The current owner of this Mercury Park Lane was purchased in 2006 and given a partial but thorough restoration over the following 18 months. It was originally a California car, but it came to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, from Los Angeles in the early 1980s. There, it was kept in dry storage until the restoration began.

The car is finished in Anniversary Silver in celebration of Mercury's 25th year on the market. It has new glass and rubber moldings; all of the chrome and stainless trim were re-done and the interior was replaced with white vinyl. Additional accessories on the car include air conditioning (a rare option for convertibles in 1964), dual mirror spotlights, and a modern CD stereo hidden in the glove box, with its original radio still in place. There are chrome wire wheels, roadster rims with Dennis Carpenter centers, and new radial tires. A matching spare is housed in the luggage compartment.

This car is one of 1,967 Park Lane Convertibles built for 1964. There is a 390 cubic-inch overhead valve V8 engine offering 300 horsepower, a three-speed Multi-Drive Merc-O-Matic transmission, front disc, and rear-drum power hydraulic brakes.

Ford introduced Mercury - a name borrowed from Roman mythology - in 1939 to compete with GM's higher-end Oldsmobile and Buick divisions. The Mercury was the first effort of Ford's new styling studio and was intended by its creator, Edsel Ford, to fill the gap between the Ford Deluxe and Lincoln Zephyr. Mercury was its own division until 1945, when it was combined with Lincoln to become the Lincoln-Mercury Division.

This car was built for the Walt Disney Magic Skyway ride at Ford's pavillion at the 1964 New York World's Fair, where over 40,000 people rode in it. It is a silver anniversary edition with options that include an electric clock, AM radio, whitewall tires, and power windows, brakes and steering. After the fair ended the car was brought to Dearborn and sold through what's affectionately known as the B lot - the company used car lot for employees. That's where Adolph Jedryczka bought it. He had driven it 90,000 miles by 1970 and then parked it in a shed on the family farm. That's where it sat for the next 40 years.

In 2010 his daughter, Virginia, decided it was time to restore the car while her parents could still enjoy it, and a thorough restoration was completed in 15 months. The car was originally built and painted at Ford's Wayne Assembly plant. In the restoration the painting was done by two gentlemen who were retired from the paint department at Wayne Assembly. This is the only 1964 World's Fair Mercury believed to still exist.