Real-wood station wagons were falling out of favor by the early 1950s. The extra care and maintenance needed to keep the bodies in decent shape were traded in for the relative simplicity of all-metal wagons painted to evoke the look of wood.
The Pick of the Day is a luxurious, nine-passenger faux woody, a 1954 Mercury Monterey station wagon with painted wood-grain trim on the rear flanks and tailgate, a style that became popular for family haulers. The front-facing third row of seats makes it seem like the minivan of its day, only much more attractive.
“While Ford Woodies of this vintage are rare in themselves, the Mercury version is rarer still, and very few survive,” the Farmingdale, New York, dealer says in the ad on ClassicCars.com. “This stunning Woody has been cosmetically restored in its original black paint and completely restored metal-wood siding.”
While the mileage is listed as 39,384, there is not confirmation in the ad that the figure is accurate. The interior is said to be original and in good condition, so the car very well could have fewer than 40K miles on its odometer.
The dealer extols the virtues of metal-wood trim over genuine wood.
“While this car has the classic look of earlier woody wagons, the trim on this car will not be subject to rot and deterioration typical of wood-bodied cars as these cars have a wood finish over metal,” the dealer says.
The Mercury is powered by its correct 162-horsepower, 256cid V8 with Merc-O-Matic automatic transmission.
“This car runs and drives very well,” according to the ad, which also notes that, “It belonged to the same family for many years.”
The wagon is priced at $49,900, which seems fair enough for its rarity and condition.
“This Mercury is among the most prestigious and luxurious wagons available in period,” the seller adds, “and it has huge presence today.”
To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day
Great car. I remember my dad’s cousin had a car just like this. He got a new Mercury wagon every two years in the 1950’s. We would take it to Friday night football games. His was always red inside & outside. bill in CA.
It’s a Mercury Monterey, not a Monarch.
Thanks, Andy. That’s fixed
Information is rare but I’ve read that 322 to 377 of these cars were built with maple trim instead of the fiberglass trim. I’ve also read that the fiberglass trim was covered with decals and not faux painted. I have a set of the fiberglass trim in my barn and I’m quite sure it was a decal instead of faux. I own two 1954 Mercury Monterey 8-passenger wagon with maple trim, both from Canada. I’m beginning to believe that all wood trimmed version of this car were exported to Canada. Perhaps FORD just wanted to use up some leftover trim from the 1953 cars before switching to fiberglass. It would be interesting to find some information buried in someone’s archives.
I also have a 54 wagon with maple rails. I was built in Los Angeles CA.