1964 Mercury Monterey

The Mercury line of vehicles launched in 1939 was named after the mythological 'messenger of the gods.' The early Marauder was a large, V8-engined automobile, that started as a 1963.5 model as a two-door 'fastback' hardtop version of the full-size Mercury. Marauders were offered from 1963 1/2 to 1965 model years, then again from 1969 to 1970.

The 1963-1964 Mercury Marauder marked the first time the name Marauder was applied to a car - after Mercury used the Marauder moniker to denote its brawniest engines in the late 1950's.

The 1964 Mercury full-size vehicles had similar styling to their 1963 siblings with influences from both the Ford and Lincoln models. In the back were six rectangular taillights that were built into the rear deck panel. In the front was a recessed grille with bent vertical bars flanked by four chrome-rimmed headlights. The turn signal lights were built into the bumper.

Body styles included two- and 4-door examples and included a convertible, a 2- and 4-door Hardtop Fastback, a Hardtop Coupe, and a 2- and 4-door sedan. Pricing began at $3,910 for both the Hardtop Coupe and the 2-Door Hardtop Fastback. The convertible was the most expensive, selling for just over $4,000. A total of 2,592 examples of the convertible were built. The most popular body style was the 4-door sedan which saw production reach 20,234.

The base 390 cubic-inch overhead valve engine offered 250 horsepower with two-barrel carburetion. With four-barrels, horsepower rose around 300 horsepower. For those seeking even more performance, there was the 427 cubic-inch V8 that offered 410 horsepower with four-barrel carburetion or 425 hp with the dual four-barrel setup.

by Daniel Vaughan | Apr 2016