Photo: Craigslist (Pataskala, Ohio) [edited by autoevolution]
When we tell you that American automakers used to be able to design and build whatever the hell they fancied, it wouldn't be hyperbole. Without federal regulations for safety or emissions to deal with yet, Ford, Chrysler, GM, and AMC could design as many pedestrian-unfriendly and downright funky-looking styling cues as their little hearts could conjure up. Just take a look at this 1963 Mercury Monterey Breezeway.
Somehow, we can't foresee the aggressive rear windscreen notch as a styling cue that returns to modern styling practices. But this only works to make this Monterey and those styled along the same lines feel like trademarks of their time, never to be replicated again. The Monterey Breezeway wouldn't be the only Ford vehicle of the period to feature this aggressive rear notch. The 105E-series Ford Anglia of UK fame also featured this notorious design feature, as did a few other Mercury and Lincoln models of the late 1950s and early 1960s.
As for the Monterey Breezeway, its notchback rear window served a particularly interesting purpose. With a retractable window hatch mechanism borrowed from a Ford/Mercury station wagon, the rear hatch of this Breezeway swings out and allows for an increase in the airflow in the passenger compartment. Available on all variants of the Monterey that weren't a convertible for 1963, such arrangements became an iconic design cue of Ford/Mercury during the late 50s and early 60s.
Under the hoods of these fifth-generation Montereys would've been one of four different Ford V8s, including an old-school 292-cubic inch (4.8-L) Ford Y-block engine until its discontinuation in 1964, as well as three options from Ford's then relatively new FE-series V8s ranging from 352-cubic inches (5.8-L) to 406-cubic inches (6.7-L). A 3.7-liter straight-six was also in the mix but hardly worth talking about compared to the V8s. All we know about this particular 1963 Monterey Breezeway for sale on Craigslist in Pataskala, Ohio, is that it sports one of the four V8 options. Its 1963 model year denotes it could be a Y-Block. Otherwise, the particulars are a bit vague in this case.
What was explained, however, was that the current owner bought this Mercury from a neighbor of theirs, the original owner, who garage-kept the car like a member of the family for the last 60-ish years. Since then, the new owners have made sure little maintenance items under the engine bay and underneath the car are taken care of before putting it up for sale online. With only 52,000 original miles and a 600-mile road trip behind it to validate the parking, so to speak, an asking price of $23,000 cash might not be the worst investment in the world, far from it in fact.
As for the Monterey Breezeway, its notchback rear window served a particularly interesting purpose. With a retractable window hatch mechanism borrowed from a Ford/Mercury station wagon, the rear hatch of this Breezeway swings out and allows for an increase in the airflow in the passenger compartment. Available on all variants of the Monterey that weren't a convertible for 1963, such arrangements became an iconic design cue of Ford/Mercury during the late 50s and early 60s.
Under the hoods of these fifth-generation Montereys would've been one of four different Ford V8s, including an old-school 292-cubic inch (4.8-L) Ford Y-block engine until its discontinuation in 1964, as well as three options from Ford's then relatively new FE-series V8s ranging from 352-cubic inches (5.8-L) to 406-cubic inches (6.7-L). A 3.7-liter straight-six was also in the mix but hardly worth talking about compared to the V8s. All we know about this particular 1963 Monterey Breezeway for sale on Craigslist in Pataskala, Ohio, is that it sports one of the four V8 options. Its 1963 model year denotes it could be a Y-Block. Otherwise, the particulars are a bit vague in this case.
What was explained, however, was that the current owner bought this Mercury from a neighbor of theirs, the original owner, who garage-kept the car like a member of the family for the last 60-ish years. Since then, the new owners have made sure little maintenance items under the engine bay and underneath the car are taken care of before putting it up for sale online. With only 52,000 original miles and a 600-mile road trip behind it to validate the parking, so to speak, an asking price of $23,000 cash might not be the worst investment in the world, far from it in fact.
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