Find or Sell Used Cars, Trucks, and SUVs in USA

Mercury Colony Park Wagon Long Roof Shooting Brake Wood Grain Sides on 2040-cars

Year:1968 Mileage:74000
Location:

Hialeah, Florida, United States

Hialeah, Florida, United States
Advertising:

I have always liked wagons and purchased this one a few years back. I remember back in the day these were the cars that were used to pull race cars to meets. I still enjoy watching old movies like The Thomas Crown affair and The Get Away and seeing these old wagons cruising along. I searched for years before coming upon this one and I really never thought I would be selling it. However, my addiction to vintage VWs and family obligations simply don't afford me any more room or time. So here goes...

I purchased the car from the second owner here in Florida. He acquired the car from the original owner who kept the car inside of his warehouse. As far as I can tell, it is mostly original except for one re-spray in it's original color and a few things that I did after I purchased it. For example, the rear cargo area was pretty beat up when I got it so I reupholstered the rear panels and refinished the cargo area and also replaced the headliner. I then installed new shocks, springs, brakes, white wall tires, and performed a full tune up. The mileage on the car is original, the drivetrain is original, the carpet, seats and door panels are all original.

MECHANICAL - The car drives very well and has lots of power with it's original 390 and automatic transmission. The choke system on the carb works with heat from the manifold that comes up through some steel tubes. Those tubes were missing when I bought the car so I made some and the choke works as expected. However, I am not a fan of this system and would recommend changing to an electric choke. White wall tires, springs, shocks and brakes are all new.

BODY- The paint is old and faded, but I have waxed it in the past and it looks fairly decent then. However, the paint on the hood is badly "checked". The body of the car has some rust, but nothing structural (see photographs). There is rust on the bottom of both rear doors, the tailgate, the left rear window and the cargo belly area. This is something that should be taken care of soon before it gets worse, even if the car isn't repainted. Someone "fixed" a dent in the lower part of the rear left fender and the repair leaves a lot to be desired. The Nidoc (wood grain) is original and faded. I tried using a bunch of different products to try and make it look better and the best results were with Liquid Gold furniture polish. The first two photographs show the car after applying this product to the wood grain and the results are night and day. However, it eventually does wear off. But here in the wonderful South Florida heat and humidity it holds up for about two weeks. All the chrome looks nice, but is not perfect and has it's share of dings and scratches. The rubber door and window seals are old and should be replaced.

INTERIOR - The interior looks good overall and is original except for the rear cargo area which I refinished. There are no rips or tears in the seats. The door panels look nice, but there are some areas that are a bit faded and some of the trim shows wear. The front power seat works well. The rear seat folds down and locks in the upright position as designed. I made a carpeted mat for the cargo area that can extend out to cover the whole area when the seats are folded down. The carpeting is faded and worn in places, but original. All of the windows roll up and down as intended and all doors open and close properly. The dash is nice and clean, and everything works except the clock. The dash pad top is severely cracked from the sun. The glove box contains the original owner's manual and some old maps. Some of the plastic coverings and buttons on the buckles of the seat belts are broken and/or missing. The rear view mirror recently came unglued but will be installed prior to delivery.

OTHER - The rear tail gate is what Ford called the "magic door", as it can be either folded down tailgate style or swung open. A switch on the dash controls opening and closing of the power rear window.

I have a box of extra parts for it which include mechanical parts, reflectors, name plates, and even an original "tear-drop" antenna which I had planned on installing after painting.

I have provided numerous photographs in order to allow prospective buyers to make their own assessment as to the overall condition of the car. I highly recommend seeing the car in person due to the subjective nature of condition assessments of vehicle, particularly vintage and antique cars.

Now on a more personal note: If you like the car, please feel free to bid. The worst thing that can happen is that you don't win. The best thing that can happen is that you do win and then you will have one very cool wagon. With that said, I humbly ask that if you intend to buy this car and do what those folks at Gas Monkey Garage did to that Chevy wagon, please don't tell me. I have had more heart breaks than I can bare and just can't stand any more.

Oh, and one more thing....

I am on eBay a lot. Probably too much actually. I buy. I sell. But I also see all sorts of strange things on here, like cars that don't sell for $10k and then get relisted for $20k. Other times I see cars that "sell", and then some time later the same car pops up again. Then, it "sells" again, but then pops up again, and again, and again, and again. I see this plenty and I really don't understand why. I have sold items on eBay where the buyer has not kept up with his end of the bargain and ended up having to relist the item, but not 10 times. My point is this: I am listing the car for sale because I want to sell it, not because I have to. The reason I don't have to is because I live in what I believe to be the greatest country on earth, where I don't have to do anything. I don't like playing games with this sort of thing, so if the car doesn't sell within the allotted time, you very likely won't see it here again.

Auto Services in Florida

Yokley`s Acdelco Car Care Ctr ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service, Automobile Parts & Supplies, Automobile Electric Service
Address: 230 Hatteras Ave, Clarcona
Phone: (352) 241-0686

Wing Motors Inc ★★★★★

Used Car Dealers, Wholesale Used Car Dealers
Address: 125 NW 27th Ave, Coral-Gables
Phone: (305) 642-4455

Whitt Rentals ★★★★★

New Car Dealers, Car Rental
Address: 1807 N Nova Rd, Barberville
Phone: (386) 252-0011

Weston Towing Co ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service, Towing, Truck Wrecking
Address: 2850 Glades Cir, Tamarac
Phone: (954) 349-4827

VIP Car Wash ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service, Car Wash, Automobile Detailing
Address: 5910 S Military Trl, Briny-Breezes
Phone: (561) 965-6000

Vargas Tire Super Center ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service, Automobile Parts & Supplies
Address: 2995 NW 79th St, Indian-Creek-Village
Phone: (305) 218-6503

Auto blog

2023 Grand National Roadster Show Mega Photo Gallery | Hot rod heaven

Wed, Feb 8 2023

POMONA, Calif. — From an outsider's perspective, it would be easy to assume that the Grand National Roadster Show has always been a Southern California institution. After all, it celebrates the diverse postwar car culture of the region — hot rods, lead sleds, lowriders, and more. However, the show had its roots in NorCal in 1950 when Al Slonaker and his hot rod club showed their custom cars at the Oakland Expo. The GNRS moved to Pomona, California, in 2004. By then it had grown exponentially and seen about a dozen more car customization trends come and go. However, the show and its centerpiece award, the America's Most Beautiful Roadster prize, celebrate what is perhaps the first of those trends: the American hot rod in its purest form. Today, in its 73rd year, the GNRS is the oldest indoor car show in America. Annually it welcomes 500-800 cars, gathered into special themes like Tri-Five Chevys or Volkswagen Bugs. At this year's show, which was last weekend, a special hall was dedicated to pickup trucks built between 1948-98, including mini-trucks, groovy camper bed conversions, and resto-mods.  However, of all the vehicles presented, only nine are eligible for the America's Most Beautiful Roadster award. Winners get their names engraved on a 9-foot-tall perpetual trophy that was, according to The Ultimate Hot Rod Dictionary, the largest in the world when it debuted in 1950. Slonaker chose the word "roadster" initially because "hot rod" bore slightly negative outlaw connotations in 1950. Only American cars built before 1937 of certain body styles — roadsters, roadster pickups, phaetons, touring cars — are eligible, and they cannot have roll-down side windows.  Cars in the running for the cup cannot have been shown anywhere else before their debut at the GNRS.  Contestants for this accolade essentially build their cars to the a platonic ideal of a hot rod. This year the honors went to Jack Chisenhall of San Antonio, Texas, for his "Champ Deuce," a 1932 Ford Roadster. It's exactly what you picture when you think of a hot rod, but distilled to its absolute essence.  Other standouts included "Green Eyes," a two-tone green 1959 Chevy El Camino  with a heavily metal-flaked bed, "Blue Monday," a 1964 Buick Riviera lowrider, and a personal favorite, "Purple Reign," a purple and black 1951 Mercury. Cars may have started out as tools, but there aren't shows like this filled with custom refrigerators.

NHTSA investigating 725k Ford, Mercury vehicles for stalling issue

Mon, 25 Feb 2013

Owners of Ford Escape, Mercury Mariner, Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan models, listen up. According to a report on Automotive News, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into these four vehicles totaling an estimated 725,000 units. The investigation appears to center around a malfunctioning throttle body on non-hybrid models of the 2005-2012 Escape and 2011-2012 Fusion. With Mercury dying off after the 2011 model year, this probe will also apply to the 2005 through 2011 Mariner and the 2011 Milan. There has been some discussion around the Escape stalling issue for some time now, but this investigation appears to be larger in scope than before.
Though not a recall yet, NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has received 123 complaints of stalling or surging vehicles, while Ford itself has logged 1,472 complaints. The investigation report, which is posted below, seems to indicate that a faulty circuit board for the throttle body could cause the vehicle to go into limp mode, which, according to NHTSA, could cause complaints of both stalling and surging.

NHTSA advances investigation of Ford Crown Victoria headlights

Sat, Aug 15 2015

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is opening a preliminary evaluation into reports of suddenly failing headlights on 517,945 examples of the 2003-2005 Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis. The government started looking into this problem in April when the North Carolina Consumers Council filed a defect petition with the agency. Now, the inquiry has moved to the next step. According to NHTSA's documentation (as a PDF), it examined its own database and worked with Ford to come up with a total of 3,609 complaints of the front lighting control module suddenly failing. When this happens, drivers lose the low-beam headlights, but the high-beams can be used by holding the stalk. Sometimes turning the switch off and on fixes the issue. Additionally, there are 15 allegations of crashes, and one reported shoulder injury. NHTSA's preliminary evaluations "evaluate the scope, frequency, and consequence of the alleged defect" and don't necessarily lead to a recall. NHTSA looked into this problem once before in 2008 and 2009 and decided that a recall wasn't necessary. Ford also extended the warranty on the front lighting control module for these vehicles. INVESTIGATION Subject : Loss of headlights Date Investigation Opened: AUG 10, 2015 Date Investigation Closed: Open NHTSA Action Number: PE15028 Component(s): EXTERIOR LIGHTING All Products Associated with this Investigation Vehicle Make Model Model Year(s) FORD CROWN VICTORIA 2003-2005 MERCURY GRAND MARQUIS 2003-2005 Details Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company SUMMARY: After receiving a defect petition (DP15002) concerning the loss of headlights and other exterior lighting in model year (MY) 2003-2005 Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis vehicles, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) analyzed Vehicle Owner Questionnaire (VOQ) complaints received from consumers and identified a total of 605 reports (for all submission dates) alleging headlight failure. The complaints indicate failures of both low beam headlights typically while driving, a defect condition that was evaluated under a prior ODI investigation (PE08066). Most consumer VOQs indicate that the headlights failed suddenly and without warning leaving the driver with no forward lighting, however some report the headlights flickered or dimmed prior to turning off. In some cases drivers were able to turn the headlights back on after a period of time while others reported the headlights would not come back on at all.