Photo: Jill N Israel Smith
The American Midwest is not a place that's kind to classic cars. Heck, even new cars can have trouble staying rust-free in a place lovingly nicknamed the Rust Belt. In spite of all of this, some TLC over the decades is almost as good of a rust protection as undercoating.
Take a look at this beautifully preserved but by no means unused 1961 Mercury Meteor 800 V8. This custom American sedan calls the great state of Ohio home. A place that makes mince meat out of cars an eighth as old as this hunk of old American steel. If cars are extensions of the souls of the people who drive them, this car has a metric ton of stories to tell.
This Meteor 800 tells these stories through the custom, two-tone orange-on-white paint, a matching fabric-covered interior, and a burbly exhaust note from the same 352-cubic inch (5.77-liter) Ford FE V8 engine the car left the factory with over 60 years ago. In the annals of automotive history, the first-gen Mercury Meteor was little more than a blip on the radar.
Though closely related to the Ford Fairlane and Ford Galaxie, the Meteor in both its 600 and 800 trim levels saw a fraction of the production of the Galaxie. Funnily enough, the Meteor was originally intended to be marketed under the doomed Edsel brand but wound up in the Mercury line slotted underneath the larger and more memorable Monterey. With goodies on offer like power brakes, a plush leather interior, and factory two-tone paint as options, the only way to get a fancier Ford in those days was to buy a Lincoln.
With 69,000 miles (111,045 kilometers) on the odometer, this 1961 Mercury Meteor 800's clearly been well taken care of its whole life. Where most Ford Escapes from 15 years ago have trouble passing state inspections because of how rusty they've become, the surface rust on this 60s Mercury is a welcome reprieve. You'll be happy to know almost every accessory on this car, from the a.m. Radio to the power brakes and even the cigarette lighters. Only the clock is slightly incorrect.
All in all, this classic Mercury tells the story of a scrappy, tough-as-nails group of people living in a state that's seen its fair share of difficulties over the years. For an extremely fair price of $6,100, this is one of the classic car deals of the year, just in time for Christmas.
This Meteor 800 tells these stories through the custom, two-tone orange-on-white paint, a matching fabric-covered interior, and a burbly exhaust note from the same 352-cubic inch (5.77-liter) Ford FE V8 engine the car left the factory with over 60 years ago. In the annals of automotive history, the first-gen Mercury Meteor was little more than a blip on the radar.
Though closely related to the Ford Fairlane and Ford Galaxie, the Meteor in both its 600 and 800 trim levels saw a fraction of the production of the Galaxie. Funnily enough, the Meteor was originally intended to be marketed under the doomed Edsel brand but wound up in the Mercury line slotted underneath the larger and more memorable Monterey. With goodies on offer like power brakes, a plush leather interior, and factory two-tone paint as options, the only way to get a fancier Ford in those days was to buy a Lincoln.
With 69,000 miles (111,045 kilometers) on the odometer, this 1961 Mercury Meteor 800's clearly been well taken care of its whole life. Where most Ford Escapes from 15 years ago have trouble passing state inspections because of how rusty they've become, the surface rust on this 60s Mercury is a welcome reprieve. You'll be happy to know almost every accessory on this car, from the a.m. Radio to the power brakes and even the cigarette lighters. Only the clock is slightly incorrect.
All in all, this classic Mercury tells the story of a scrappy, tough-as-nails group of people living in a state that's seen its fair share of difficulties over the years. For an extremely fair price of $6,100, this is one of the classic car deals of the year, just in time for Christmas.
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