Feature CarsFeatured

1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser

This two door 57 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser was found at the Gilmore Museum and is an iconic example of this desirable and rare car.

The 1957 Mercury was the first time the Ford Motor Company built a Mercury that wasn’t a dolled up Ford. In 1957 the Mercury had its own body and the best you could get was a Turnpike Cruiser. I have lusted after these cars since I was a small kid back in Iowa. When I first saw those antennas sticking out of the air intake on the roof above the windshield I thought it was the most futuristic thing I had ever seen on a factory produced car.

This is a vent with the antenna sticking out of it was very futuristic in 1957.
Just look at the detail of the design. It is not just the air vent but the chrome and the wan the windshield wraps up into the roof.

The futuristic design was not all this Turnpike Cruiser had to offer. It was considered the most heavily gadget laden car ever. Consider this, although the “Twin Jet” air vents were the most notable feature of the car, the rear window was power operated and actually dropped down into the trunk. This was called the Power Breezeway Ventilation.

This is the Breezeway rear window that disappears into the trunk at the touch of a button.
The brightwork of the car was everywhere and beautiful.

In addition to this remarkable design features, the Turnpike Cruiser also had the following as standard equipment: Power Steering, Power Brakes, Power Windows, plus power Seat-O-Matic, a Monitor Control Panel with Tachometer and average speed computer! Some of these features would not be seen in regular use for over 50 years!

The front end carries the theme of the Twin Jet Air Intakes with the twin headlights, turn signals and air intakes in the bumpers.

With all the chrome and unique parts plus the numerous power accessories, I suggest this is a car you want to buy restored and not one you want to restore!

Show More

Richard

I grew up and lived in Iowa for a good portion of my life before moving to Southern California. After 20+ years we now live outside Nashville Tennessee. I have been into cars since I was old enough to remember. I don't have a brand loyalty although I do prefer American Muscle especially the 1969/1970 NASCAR Aero Cars. (Check out our other web site at www.TalladegaSpoilerRegistry.com site) As long as it has four wheels and an engine I get excited. Few men are lucky enough to be able to share their passion for cars with the woman they love. Fortunately, my wife, Katriana, is also a gear head and many of our activities revolve around the cars. We have a small collection that includes at least one car from each of the Big Three. It includes a Best of Show winner, a survivor, a driver with lots of patina and several others. Katrina prefers all original cars while I like to modify them so we have a few of each. When we aren't playing with cars we are out working with or showing our miniature donkeys. You can see more about that part of our lives at http://www.LegendaryFarms.com.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button