I've had this 1964 Mercury Park Lane convertible a few years now. It's a really solid, almost-totally-rust-free car. The Park Lane shares a lot of body parts, interior design, and mechanical parts with the 1964 Ford Galaxie convertible, and the interior also looks a bit like the interior of an early 1960s Thunderbird.
Built on January 10, 1964, this triple-white Park Lane convertible spent most of its life in Gillette, Wyoming. The seller said it appeared in a low budget movie, but I have not been able to find anything out about that.
I bought it in December 2005 from a dealer in North Dakota and had it delivered here to Virginia. The car has a 390 cubic inch engine with a four barrel carburetor and a floor shift automatic transmission.
I've been accumulating parts to restore it and gradually smoothing out the dings in the body. Before I started removing trim to do the body work, we used it for occasional pleasure rides with the top down in warm weather.
Taking in the annual Washington, DC Cherry Blossom Festival is a lot of fun in a huge drop-top Merc.
She who must be obeyed says "finish this car!" Yes Ma'm.
When I finish it, I'll also drive it in parades and take it to some shows. My dream is to give it modern disc brakes, improve the engine and transmission for a combination of power and smooth running, add air conditioning, and give it some wide whitewalls and astro supreme wheels.
Then I want to put a hitch on it and tow our 1962 Shasta camper across the country for a long road trip.
Here's some data on my Park Lane:
Door codes 76C M 87 10A 51 1 4
76C = convertible with bucket seats (one of only
M = Polar White
87 = Trim Scheme
Ostrich Vinyl and Crush Vinyl (Crinkle) (Bucket-Biscuit)
W/Turq.) White Pearl and White Pearl
10A = Date (January 10)
51 = DSO Denver
1 = Axle code 3.00 non-locking
4 = Transmission - Automatic (Multi-Drive)
Of the 1,967 Park Lane convertibles made in 1964, only 885 had the optional Sports Package with the Bucket seats like the Marauder.
It's hard to see in the photos, but the inserts in the seats have a funny circular texture that's called Ostrich vinyl. The seats are in decent shape, but the foam is dried out and there a splits along many seams. I believe the original vinyl material is still available, and I intend to have the seats redone so they'll look original.
There's room to mount a speaker behind this grill, but no evidence there ever was one in this spot.
