I've stumbled across a number of odd old cars in airport parking lots over the years but perhaps none odder than this. Honestly, at first I had no idea what it was. I thought it was one of those far out Chryslers from the early sixties but as a I got closer I saw that it was a Mercury Monterey. After some due diligence I've found it to be a 1962.
Save for these funky jet age, post tail fin tail lamps, there isn't anything note worthy about this car. I'd love to just cut this fender section out and hang in my basement. I think it that cool. Too bad the rest of the car isn't. It's just an old, boring Ford. Poor thing isn't even a Breezeway.
My all too forgiving iphone 4S camera doesn't do the patina of this old bomb justice; it's awful. Although it's too bad this vomit green Ford Escape is blocking my view of that delicate and all chromed metal finned grill. It's another styling detail worth mentioning but not nearly as neat as the tail lamps.
A little history. The '62 Monterey was part of a four year production cycle for this vintage of full size Ford. It shared most if not everything under its sheet metal with the Ford Galaxie - which outsold it 10 zillion to 1. Ford always struggled with what to do with Mercury. Fancy Ford or a dumbed down Lincoln? Being it's own separate line out of the question considering costs. Sure, there were a couple of stand outs but for the most part, Mercury suffered from every middle child lament you can think of. The Monterey just a symptom of it all.
Still, running into a fifty two year old car is a treat. Like running into a celebrity or walking onto a movie set. It's just so surreal. Having had several old cars, none this old mind you, you don't see the specialness in your old car as much as someone does who just happens by it. To the owner of this car, probably, it's just an old car. There is something very interesting about this car though. See those tags? They're Oklahoma tags.
What is a 1962 Mercury Monterey with Okie plates doing in an airport parking lot in Cleveland? If I had the time I'd do a stake out and wait day and night for the owner to return. It would be time well spent when I find the story behind this car to be stranger than fiction.
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