The Mercury Medalist is an automobile which was produced by

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

for the 1956 model year and was similar to the

Ford Customline The Ford Customline is an automobile model that was sold between 1952 and 1956 by Ford in North America. First generation (1952–1954) 1952 The Ford Customline was introduced in 1952 as the mid-range model in that year’s US Ford range, p ...

in market segment.John Gunnell, Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946-1975, Revised 4th Edition, pages 515 and 516 The Medalist was introduced as a two-door sedan only in September 1955 as Mercury's low-price model. It was positioned below the

Custom Custom, customary, or consuetudinary may refer to: Traditions, laws, and religion * Convention (norm), a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted rules, norms, standards or criteria, often taking the form of a custom * Norm (social), a r ...

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and Montclair models and replaced the entry-level status the Custom previously held. A four-door sedan, a two door hardtop and a four-door hardtop were added midyear at which time the Medalist was given full series status. It was offered only with a 312 cubic inch V8 engine. The standard items included textured vinyl upholstery, rubber floor mats, and chrome front and rear window surround mouldings, and a rear quarter panel body side stainless steel trim. Optional items included a heater and windshield defroster, "Travel-Tuner" signal seeking

AM radio AM broadcasting is radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions. It was the first method developed for making audio radio transmissions, and is still used worldwide, primarily for medium wave (also known as "AM band") transm ...

, padded instrument panel, seat belts, power adjustable front seat, power windows, power steering, power brakes, white wall tires mounted on steel wheels and auxiliary road lamps. All Mercury's for 1955 offered a canted hood over the headlights previously introduced on the

Mercury XM-800 The Mercury XM-800 is a concept car created by Mercury and first introduced at the 1954 Chicago Auto Show. In newspaper publicity at its 1954 debut, in Chicago and elsewhere, it was presented with its full name, Mercury Monterey XM-800. The ...

concept car from 1954. For 1956, Mercury introduced two types of two-tone paint combinations, offering the traditional approach of a roof color over a different body color, and "Flo-tone" where the roof and lower body were painted in one color and the upper body painted in another color. There were a total of thirty-one two-tone combinations and twenty-eight "Flo-tone" combinations. The listed retail price was US$2,254 ($ in dollars ) for the 2-Door Sedan and 20,582 were assembled. The Medalist was discontinued along with the Custom for the 1957 model year with the Monterey now the base model in that year's Mercury range.J P Cavanaugh, January 28, 2019, Curbside Classic: 1956 Mercury Medalist – The Big M, www.curbsideclassic.com
Retrieved 20 March 2022 The Medalist returned in 1958 once again as the entry-level Mercury as either a 2-door or 4-door sedan and no hardtop roofline was offered. Sixteen standard colors were offered, along with cloth and vinyl upholstery, full carpeting, an electric clock, and chrome window surrounding on the front and rear windows. Two engine choices and a choice of either a 3-speed manual or Merc-O-Matic automatic transmission with available Touch-O-Matic overdrive were available as extra cost options. Other optional equipment listed heater and defroster, air conditioning, AM-radio, tinted glass, 4-way power adjustable front seat, power windows, power steering, power brakes, and a padded instrument panel. Production records show a total of 18,732 2-door and 4-door sedans were manufactured with an average listed price of US$2,582 ($ in dollars ), and was the last year the Medalist nameplate was used.

References

External links

1956 Mercury Medalist Brochure (side two of two), i.ebayimg.com, via web.archive.org
{{Mercury historic timeline

Medalist A medalist (or medallist) is an artist who designs medals, plaquettes, badges, metal medallions, coins and similar small works in relief in metal. Historically, medalists were typically also involved in producing their designs, and were usually e ...