Costs of Selling a Home: 7 Hidden Expenses Sellers Can’t Afford to Ignore
Indeed, buying a condo in bangkok volume went up substantially for 1960 — to over 271,000 — though that was owed mainly to the new compact Comet. Model choices were mostly as before: Cruiser two- and four-door hardtops in each series, four-door Monterey/Montclair sedans, Monterey two-door sedan, Park Lane convertible and, still a distinct series, four-door Commuter and wood-sided Colony Park hardtop wagons. Mercury offered three V-8s for 1960, all with lower compression for the sake of economy (such as it was). The four-series big-car line (which might have been Edsels had things gone better there) remained two-ton heavyweights with huge compound-curve windshields, but a handsome facelift removed a little chrome while adding a tidy concave grille and more-discreet “gullwing” rear fenders.
A 2002 redesign improved both versions with standard antilock brakes, class-first independent rear suspension, and new options including curtain side airbags and a 240-bhp 4.6-liter overhead-cam V-8 with five-speed automatic. Mountaineer finally got real visual distinction (mostly up front), plus standard three-row seating for seven (optional on the Ford) and available all-wheel drive instead of dual-range four-wheel drive. But Mountaineer’s differences weren’t that compelling, and sales oozed along at between 40,000 and 50,000 a year. Offered a bit later was an antiskid system with rollover sensors, shared with Explorer.
The lone convertible shifted to the Custom series. A similar array on the same 120-inch wheelbase returned for 1963, when a heavy reskin introduced “Breezeway Styling” for nonwagon closed models: reverse-slant rear windows that dropped down for ventilation as on the old Turnpike Cruiser (and 1958-60 Continental Marks). Joining the S-55 subseries at midyear was a handsome “slantback” two-door like Ford’s Galaxie Sports Hardtop. All V-8s returned, as did the faithful “big six” as standard power for base Montereys and Commuter wagons. Joining Mercury’s bucket-seat brigade at midyear were the S-55 hardtop coupe and convertible. Wagons were pared to a pair of Colony Parks. Styling was busier on all the big ’62s, with tunneled taillights and a complex convex grille.
The higher output version was also available as an option for lesser models with the optional Merc-O-Matic. To stay competitive in the face of rising prices, Mercury fielded a cut-rate group of Medalist two- and four-door hardtops and sedans at the bottom end of the medium-price ladder. But inflation made these “low-price” Mercs more expensive than 1955 Customs ($2250-$2460) — and not that much cheaper than the better-trimmed ’56 Customs ($2350-$2800). Four-door Phaeton hardtops arrived for 1956’s “Big M” line, which represented an ambitious expansion into somewhat uncharted territory.
