1959 Mercury Park Lane

After nearly two decades of sharing body styles with Lincoln and Ford, Mercury finally wore its own sheet metal for 1957. For most of the 1950s, Mercury was a two-model marque, but for 1957 it doubled its offerings to a four-model lineup with 18 body styles; four more body styles were added in 1958.

Mercury introduced the Park Lane in 1958 and positioned it as the top-of-the-line, premium model available in two and four-door hardtop versions, and a convertible. For 1959, the chassis grew to 128 inches, two inches longer than other Mercurys and 1.7 inches longer than the new for 1959 Buick Electra 225. The styling was adopted after the flop of the Turnpike Cruiser. In the front was a wide grille that extended the entire width of the car, resting above a wraparound bumper. The Panoramic Skylight windshield was uniquely framed and large, with the basic form mirrored in the rear windshield. The convertibles had a wraparound Plexiglas rear window, the only one of its kind. The rear panel trim was identical to the Montclair, aluminum gravel guards were on the lower rear quarter panels, and brightwork included the chrome-plated projectiles on the rear fender coves, roof moldings, and front fender ornamentation.

Body styles on the 1959 Mercury Park Lane included a hardtop sedan with a factory base price of $4,030, a two-door hardtop at $3,960, and a convertible at $4,200. 7,206 examples of the hardtop sedan were produced in 1959, 4,060 of the hardtop coupe, and 1,257 of the convertible.

Power was from an overhead valve V8 Marauder engine displacing 430 cubic inches and featured five main bearings, a cast-iron block, and a four-barrel carburetor. It was the largest passenger-car engine in the industry, and delivered 345 horsepower at 4,400 RPM, and was backed by a Multi-Drive Merc-O-Matic dual-range 3-speed automatic transmission with a flexible 2.91 rear axle ratio. Among the list of optional equipment included a push-button radio, signal-seeking radio, back-up lights, safety speed monitor, dual exhaust, tinted glass, windshield washer, air conditioner with heater, a four-way power seat, Seat-O-Matic power seat, and seat belts (among others).

by Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2020