On The 7’s: Celebrating The Anniversary Of The Mercury Colony Park

The nine passenger 1957 Mercury Colony Park station wagon. Photo from wikipedia.org.

The 2017 year gives us a reason to celebrate some historic cars that were debuted in years ending in a 7. For example, the legendary 1957 Chevy Bel Air, 1937 Ford Coupe, or 1927 Ford Track T Roadster. Today’s look back goes to the 1957 Mercury Colony Park wagon, a workhorse that started a model line that ran from 1957 through 1991. Any car model should be proud of a 34-year-run.

Photo from www.hemmings.com.

Mercury shook up their model lineup in 1957 with major revisions from top to bottom. For years Mercury had shared bodies with the top of the line Lincoln division of Ford, but that would change in 1957. Welcoming the Edsel division to the family, Ford wedged the new Edsel line between the Mercury division and the entry level Ford division. Mercury would now share bodies with Edsel.

As part of the preparation for the new lineup, Mercury would discontinue the semi-popular Monterey wagon, and create a line of wagons that shared chassis with sedans instead of having a separate chassis of their own. This helped with cost and replacement parts for consumers.

Ford and Mercury would offer three different wagon versions in 1957 with Ford’s Country Sedan, Del Rio, and Ranch Wagon models, and Mercury’s Commuter, Voyager, and the Colony Park wagons. The first two models from each manufacturer were offered in two- and four-door options, but the Ford Country Sedan and Mercury’s Colony Park were only sold in the four-door variety. The Mercury wagons were all pillar-less hardtops, which separated them from the Ford versions.

The 386ci Lincoln Y-Block was the standard engine for the year. Photo from www.hemmings.com.

The Mercury Colony Park nine passenger, four-door wagon remains the most coveted of the group. The flagship of Mercury’s station wagon line, the 386ci Lincoln Y-Block (290 hp) was the standard engine for the year. The infamous NASCAR M335 engine was available as an option, but few chose this as the engine was underperforming at the racetrack. It was a street monster in many other vehicles however, and finding an original Colony Park wagon with an M335 engine can be a valuable piece. The 383 ci Marauder V8 would be the stock engine in 1958.

This interior is complete with optional padded dash and radio. Photo from www.hemmings.com.

A padded dash was optional but an electric clock was standard. Among the many options available in the wagon was the Mer-O-Matic push button controlled automatic transmission, Seat-O-Matic memory seat, and the Multi-Luber auto lube system that would distribute grease to front end components while you drove down the street with a push of the button. Other, more conventional options included Quandra-Beam headlights, fender skirts, power windows, radio, and air conditioning.

Despite the high price tag of $3,677, it was the second highest selling wagon behind its stablemate the Mercury Commuter.