Mercury Park Lane
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The Mercury Park Lane is a full-sized automobile that was produced by the
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 ...
division of
Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
. While not officially introduced as the replacement of the
Mercury Turnpike Cruiser The Mercury Turnpike Cruiser is a series of automobiles that were produced by the Mercury division of Ford for the 1957 and 1958 model years. Named to commemorate the creation of the Interstate Highway System, the Turnpike Cruiser was marketed as ...
, the Park Lane became the flagship of the Mercury model line upon its introduction. The second-generation Park Lane was positioned above the
Mercury Montclair The Mercury Montclair is a series of full-size sedans that were manufactured and marketed by the Mercury division of Ford. The nameplate was used by the division twice, from the 1955 to the 1960 model years and from the 1964 to the 1968 model yea ...
. In 1969, the
Mercury Marquis The Mercury Marquis is a model line of automobiles that was marketed by the Mercury division of Ford Motor Company from the 1967 to 1986 model years. Deriving its name from a French nobility title, the Marquis was introduced as a rebadged counte ...
was expanded to a full model line and replaced the Park Lane in the Mercury range.


First use of name

In 1956, the Park Lane name was used by the Ford Division as it created a two-door station wagon intended as a competitor for the
Chevrolet Nomad Chevrolet Nomad is a nameplate used by Chevrolet in North America from the 1950s to the 1970s, applied largely to Station wagon, station wagons. Three different Nomads were produced as a distinct model line, with Chevrolet subsequently using the n ...
. Based on the Ford Fairlane, the
Ford Parklane The Ford Parklane is a station wagon that was produced by Ford for the 1956 model year. In line with the Chevrolet Nomad, the Parklane was a premium two-door station wagon, combining the body of the two-door Ford Ranch Wagon with trim elements o ...
(spelled as a single word) outsold the Nomad nearly two-to-one, though Ford marketers felt the vehicle had missed its target market; it was discontinued after its only year of production.


First generation (1958–1960)

The Mercury Park Lane was introduced for the 1958 model year as a premium model line for the division. In design, it was conceptualized as a Super Mercury that would compete with
General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
'
Buick Super The Buick Super is a full-sized automobile produced by Buick from 1940 through the 1958 model years, with a brief hiatus from 1943 through 1945. The first generation shared the longer wheelbase with the top level Roadmaster while offering the sma ...
and Chrysler 300D. Available in two-door and four-door hardtops and two-door convertibles, the Park Lane offered the same body styles as the Turnpike Cruiser which it replaced, though its distinctive "breezeway" rear window was adopted by the Continental Mark line. The Park Lane was offered as the flagship Mercury model line with a similar approach to luxury shared with the updated four passenger
Ford Thunderbird The Ford Thunderbird (colloquially called the T-Bird) is a personal luxury car produced by Ford from model years 1955 until 1997 and 2002 until 2005 across 11 distinct generations. Introduced as a two-seat convertible, the Thunderbird was pro ...
with a listed retail price of US$3,867 for the coupe ($ in dollars ) and US$4,118 for the convertible ($ in dollars ). As before, the Park Lane was a body on frame chassis while the Thunderbird had unibody construction. Sharing its chassis with the Colony Park station wagon (and Edsel Citation/Corsair), the Park Lane had a 125-inch wheelbase (3 inches longer than the standard Mercury chassis). In 1959, the Park Lane wheelbase was stretched to 128 inches (two inches longer than other Mercurys). For 1960, the Park Lane wheelbase was again changed, matching the 126 inches of the standard Mercury line. The Park Lane was powered by a single engine: a 430 cubic-inch Ford MEL V8. Initially rated at 360 hp for 1958, the Super Marauder engine option package allowed any Mercury with the 430 to increase its output to 400 hp (the first mass-production engine in an American automobile to be so rated). For 1959, the Super Marauder was discontinued, with the standard engine rated at 345 hp, retuned to 310 hp in 1960. All Park Lanes were equipped with a three-speed
Merc-O-Matic Ford-O-Matic was the first automatic transmission widely used by Ford Motor Company. It was designed by the Warner Gear division of Borg Warner Corporation and introduced in 1951 model year cars, and was called the Merc-O-Matic when installed ...
automatic transmission; the 1958 offered the "Multi-Matic" transmission controls and was changed to the steering column mounted gear selector starting in 1959. For 1960, the Park Lane had a minor styling update distinguished by new taillamps, rear fender skirts, five chrome-accent bars ahead of the rear wheel openings, wide rocker panel moldings, and a padded dashboard. In 1961, the Park Lane name was dropped (along with the Montclair) as the division reorganized its marketing efforts towards the better-selling
Monterey Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under both ...
alongside the introduction of the
Mercury Comet The Mercury Comet is an automobile that was produced by Mercury from 1960–1969 and 1971–1977 — variously as either a compact or an intermediate car. In its first two years, it was marketed as the "Comet" and from 1962 as the "Mercury Comet" ...
compact. File:USA Autó 2008 - 008.jpg, 1958 Mercury Park Lane Phaeton Sedan File:Mercury Park Lane, 1958 cockpit (6980144112).jpg, 1958 Mercury Park Lane interior File:Mercury Park Lane, 1959.png, 1959 Mercury Park Lane convertible File:1959 Mercury Park Lane.jpg, 1959 Mercury Park Lane two-door hardtop cruiser File:1960 Mercury Park Lane (4054477087).jpg, 1960 Mercury Park Lane two-door hardtop cruiser


Second generation (1964–1968)

For the 1964 model year, the Mercury Park Lane made its return as the Mercury Division expanded its model line. Coinciding with Mercury's 25th Anniversary, the Park Lane again topped the Mercury line above the Monterey and newly reintroduced Montclair. In contrast to the previous generation, the Park Lane used the same wheelbase as other Mercury lines, differing primarily in trim. The listed retail price for the four-door hardtop or four-door hardtop fastback was US$3,413 ($ in dollars ) and a combined total of 6,060 were sold. As the highest-priced, premium trim, many Park Lanes were fitted with the option of a "breezeway" retractable rear window that was first used on the Turnpike Cruiser and the 1958-1960 Continental. For 1964 the retractable rear window was installed in hardtop sedans with a reverse-slant configuration as in previous versions. In addition, Mercury offered the Park Lane with a fastback roofline as part of Marauder option package (seen on any full-sized Mercury); the fastback design proved popular on its Ford Galaxie 500 counterpart. The
Mercury Colony Park The Mercury Colony Park is an American Luxury car, luxury full-size station wagon that was marketed by the Mercury (automobile), Mercury division of Ford Motor Company between 1957 and 1991. Distinguished by its Woodie (car body style), simulated ...
station wagon was now aligned with the Park Lane model line. For 1965, the chassis of full-sized Ford and Mercury cars were redesigned; the Mercury line was given a much more slab-sided appearance due to the popularity of the 1965
Lincoln Continental The Lincoln Continental is a series of mid-sized and full-sized luxury cars produced by Lincoln, a division of the American automaker Ford Motor Company. The model line was introduced following the construction of a personal vehicle for Edse ...
. The front grille continued to offer twin headlights in a recessed part of the grille. The retractable rear window was no longer available on the hardtop body and were now only available on the sedan body style across all Mercury vehicles. For 1967, to complement the Mercury Marquis, which was only available as a two-door hardtop, the Park Lane Brougham was introduced as an exclusive trim package of the already luxurious Park Lane on the sedan only. For an option on the Park Lane hardtop coupe and convertible models, the sedan and convertible introduced "yacht deck paneling" body trim which was essentially the same simulated woodgrain
DI-NOC 3M (originally the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company) is an American multinational conglomerate operating in the fields of industry, worker safety, U.S. health care, and consumer goods. The company produces over 60,000 products under ...
used for the Colony Park station wagon; "yacht deck paneling" was a rarely ordered option. As the division redesigned its full-sized line for 1969, the Marquis was expanded to a full model range, taking over the place of the Park Lane (the Brougham was largely replaced by the later Grand Marquis). File:'64 Mercury Park Lane Sedan (Orange Julep '07).jpg, 1964 Mercury Park Lane four-door hardtop ("Marauder" fastback roofline) File:64 Mercury Park Lane (9122287636).jpg, 1964 Mercury Park Lane four-door hardtop ("Breezeway" roofline) File:1965 Mercury Park Lane (5125290361).jpg, 1965 Mercury Park Lane two-door hardtop File:Mercury 1965 Park Lane 4-Door Breezeway Sedan -exfordy.jpg, 1965 Mercury Park Lane four-door sedan ("Breezeway" roofline) File:1965 Mercury Park Lane (6089370281).jpg, 1965 Mercury Park Lane convertible File:1966 Mercury Park Lane 2-Door Hardtop.JPG, 1966 Mercury Park Lane two-door hardtop File:1966 Mercury Park Lane Breezeway.jpg, 1966 Mercury Park Lane four-door sedan ("Breezeway" roofline) File:Merc (23934418803).jpg, 1967 Mercury Park Lane two-door hardtop File:1968 Mercury Park Lane Brougham Convertible (34488051960).jpg, 1968 Mercury Park Lane convertible with "yacht deck paneling" body trim


Mercury Park Lane Brougham

The Park Lane Brougham was the flagship Mercury model for 1967. Powerful and luxurious, it was offered as a four-door sedan, or four-door hardtop and was replaced by the Marquis as a two-door hardtop coupe only for 1968 followed by the sedan in later years. The Brougham differentiated itself from the standard Park Lane by featuring "Twin Comfort Lounge" 50–50 split bench seats with deep foam padding and a unique thick box-style cloth upholstery pleating, with matching upscale door panels with higher trim levels and pull straps, and unique ornamentation. The term "brougham" was traditionally used for horse drawn carriages then luxury sedans which accommodated a driver in a separate compartment from the passenger, also related to a
town car The Lincoln Town Car is a model line of luxury vehicle#High-end luxury/full-size luxury cars, full-size luxury sedans that was marketed by the Lincoln Motor Company, Lincoln division of the American automaker Ford Motor Company. Deriving its na ...
. The Park Lane Brougham was the first Mercury to introduce a combination of front turn signals and parking lights that wrapped around the front edge of the fender that illuminated to the front and the side, expanding from an appearance introduced in 1966, and it was a feature that would be used by Ford products for several decades to follow. The Mercury "Breezeway" retractable rear window was available but was installed in the four-door sedan only and not the four-door hardtop, a distinction shared with the entry-level Monterey and mid-level Montclair. The 1967 sedan was listed at US$3,986 ($ in dollars ) and 3,325 were made while the hardtop was US$3,896 ($ in dollars ) and 4,189 were manufactured. In comparison to the 1967
Lincoln Continental The Lincoln Continental is a series of mid-sized and full-sized luxury cars produced by Lincoln, a division of the American automaker Ford Motor Company. The model line was introduced following the construction of a personal vehicle for Edse ...
it was listed at US$5,795 ($ in dollars ) and 32,331 found buyers.


Use in media

In the 1968-1980
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
crime drama ''
Hawaii Five-O Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to: * ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series * ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productio ...
'',
Jack Lord John Joseph Patrick Ryan (December 30, 1920 – January 21, 1998), best known by his stage name, Jack Lord, was an American television, film and Broadway actor, director and producer. He starred as Steve McGarrett in the CBS television progra ...
's character
Steve McGarrett Steve McGarrett is a fictional character who is the protagonist of CBS' ''Hawaii Five-O (1968 TV series), Hawaii Five-O''. McGarrett is a former United States Navy officer and the leader of a special state police task force, which is called Five- ...
frequently drove a triple-black 1967 Mercury Park Lane Brougham four-door hardtop. Alan Arkin's character "Gunny" Rafferty drives a run-down edition in
Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins ''Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins'' is a 1975 American comedy-drama film directed by Dick Richards and written by John Kaye. The film was the second film credit for Jerry Bruckheimer, who was an associate producer. The film features the song "H ...


References

{{Mercury historic timeline
Park Lane Park Lane is a dual carriageway road in the City of Westminster in Central London. It is part of the London Inner Ring Road and runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north. It separates Hyde Park to the west from May ...
Full-size vehicles Motor vehicles manufactured in the United States Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Hawaii Five-O