1956 Mercury Monterey

The 1956 Mercury Monterey was similar in appearance to the prior year's model, and body styles included a sedan, station wagon, 4-door hardtop sedan, 4-door sport sedan, and a hardtop coupe. The most popular body style was the hardtop coupe with a total of 42,863 examples built. Power was from an overhead valve V8 engine displacing 312 cubic inches and offering 210 horsepower. A three-speed manual transmission was standard with an Overdrive and Merc-O-Matic Drive automatic optional.

The Monterey line came with a fair amount of chrome trim around the side windows, rocker panels, and the side body molding. Above the front wheels was the word 'Monterey.'

The 'Big M,' as it was nicknamed in 1956, began showing greater attention to the station wagon market. Up to this point, Mercury had never really pursued the station wagon market to the same extent as its sibling Ford. In the lower-mid-level Custom series there were six- and eight-passenger models; in the upper-middle Monterey trim level had a wood-trimmed eight-passenger style. The bulk of the sales was Customs with around 17,800 examples built. A total of 13,280 examples were sold in the Monterey line.

by Daniel Vaughan | Jul 2019