A friend of mine has a '54 glasstop in white over yellow with a green and white interior - bought it in '72 for $500.00 and last I heard he still had it. The PO had installed a '54 or so Merc engine, trans and rearend so the rear wheels had a different bolt pattern, and the Ford speedometer cable wouldn't hook up. It had the Ford valve covers so it looked stock. Best thing was the original plastic roof was in perfect shape. It was in a TV movie called Pink Lightning a long time ago - here are a few images (first one's a screen grab, others were shot on location to show the '62 plates I loaned him instead of the fakes the movie company used):
I had a '56 Crown Vic, bought it in '65. (Had a '53 Cad with dual range hydro in it!) After removing the engine/trans, making new mounts, and re-designing the steering cross link, it was a nice, quiet 'sleeper'... 3.90 rear got it out of the hole quick with the low 1st range of that hydro... Cruising speed was 55, anything faster and it sounded like it was in 3rd! Never a problem with the sunroof, all the rubber was like new; the doors adjusted to perfection. Nice car, forest green with all the factory tinted windows and plexi top. Upholstery was green, too.
My first car was a Model A Tudor in 1959--it wasn't much but it was PURPLE! My second car was a 1954 Mercury Monterey 2 dr hardtop, Not a Sun Valley but still really neat. It was White over Bittersweet with a black & orange interior--kind of a Halloween car! Later I had a Lincoln Zephyr coupe-I put a 265" Chevy v-8 in that. They were all fun but I wish I still had that Merc!!!
I just pictured a family of zombies cruisin' around in their yellow Merc....hahahaha...thank you, that was great.
Great story! In '82 I was an apprentice for a resto shop here in town, and in need of some transpo... My boss had a genuine little old lady fresh '56 Vicky glass top car that I could have cheap, so I did... Two problems, this is Phoenix, AZ in the middle of summer, and the bigger problem, The sea of green in the car literally made me sea sick! I couldn't even drive it the ten miles to work after a couple of weeks! The things still do it to me if I stand next to them at car shows... Not sure why.
Geez, if I had that problem I'd just stock up on Dramamine! Ya know, I wonder if you were getting a healthy dose of carbon monoxide poisoning in the car. Maybe it wasn't the color at all?
Nope, I have the same problem with something tinted amber... A doctor bubby of mine (who thinks I'm just flat weird most of the time) Says that it is a genuine problem that somehow effects the equilibrium. But, beyond that, damn that thing was hot to ride around in on a 100 degree day!
'56 Ford Crown Victoria glasstops were (and are) strangely common in Sweden. Rumour says they were unsellable in the states, so hundreds were shipped over here and sold at reduced prices in late 56/57. The best car to use for picking up chicks among the rebellious youngsters called raggare during the 60's, dozens of surviving examples has been restored since the 70's.
Here 's my old mild custom glass top... http://s90.photobucket.com/albums/k250/RonBurnco/Cars/54 Merc/
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