It’s not hard to find Detroit sedans of the early to mid 1970s in California self-service wrecking yards, and so I usually don’t photograph stuff like ’73 Olds 88s or ’76 Chrysler New Yorkers unless they’re in pretty decent condition. However, the 1970-71 Mercury Montego is special because these cars (and their Cyclone cousins) have the craziest snouts of just about any vehicle from Detroit during the second half of the 20th century, thus I felt compelled to photograph this very battered example. It also pleases me to make Lincoln-Mercury loyalist Sajeev Mehta taste his own bitter tears, so here we go!
As was the case with nearly every Mercury-badged car, the Montego was sibling to a slightly less expensive Ford product. For the 1968 through 1976 model years, that Ford product was the Torino, and the Mercury Division decided to make the 1970 and 1971 Montegos look much different from their Torino counterparts.
Since the grille of the Torino was already quite distant from the front of the engine, thanks to the long-hood styling that was popular in that era, the Montego had room for this. How many luckless pedestrians were grabbed and trapped by those big pockets between the Montego’s huge nose and the leading edges of the fenders?
Like most midsize Detroit sedans of this era, the typical Montego had a big cushy bench seat and automatic column shifter.
This Montego had some serious fiberglass-and-body-filler repair work done on its right rear door, probably when the car was still new enough to be worth OK money.
When you see a vinyl roof on a Detroit car of this era in California, you can assume there’s scary rust beneath. The sun and smog disintegrate the vinyl, and then water builds up next to the metal during those wet California winters. Still, a Cyclone in this condition would well worth be restoring.
Here’s how Lincoln-Mercury dealers pitched this generation of cars.
[Images: © 2016 Murilee Martin/The Truth About Cars; Brochure from automaker]
I never wondered what the Mach Five would look like with four doors and a bench seat, but now I know.
When I see cars like this I have a mixed reaction. Part of me misses the extra room to work on the engine when necessary. Part of me recoils at all that wasted space. No wonder the Big 3 were able to knock almost a foot off the length and up to 1,000 pounds of excess weight. And still have the same interior room.
the problem was that it was necessary to work on the engine a lot of the time.
This thing would be unstoppable in a demolition derby!
Think again. Ford products of this era were notorious rustbuckets.
My first car was a 71 Montego sedan. After a family apparently lived in it for a while, a local dirt-track racer ended up with it. He took it to second place in two demo derbies before retiring it after a third.
Back when these were new, we joked about how the grill gave us access to a fast and easy cam swap.
My parents bought a new 1976 Montego while we were still stationed in Germany (how that thing fit on some of the roads over there still amazes me to this day). We owned it for 13 years (it made the trip from Germany to the U.S., back to Germany and finally to the U.S. again). Other than the A/C switch going out in the last year which only required manually moving over a line (and then we only had one speed/setting…fast!), there was never an issue with the car. And the large bench seat up front was a teen-age boy’s dream when I started dating and driving…:)
Yep, I had an Olds wagon with a bench seat too. Very handy on dates.
Fun to butt-surf on the vinyl ones while cornering.
*Wheeee!*
man, that Cleveland looks tiny in that engine bay.
My Dad had a ’71 Montego sedan in a disgusting middle green color. It proved to be no more reliable that the ’68 Montego which it replaced. It got my Dad, who was a life long “Ford” man to move to a Chevy Nova in ’76.
68 Montego was a whole lot better looking, too. That’s for sure…
I liked mine in “seafoam green” that everyone thought was a subdued yellow, with a mechanic’s swap of the 302 for the 351 before he sold it to me. I notice the fuel filler got moved from above the left rear wheel to the back of the car after just two years. I wonder what that was for, since full sized cars of the ’60s had fuel fillers behind the rear license plate, a dangerous place. The placement here is higher, between the tail lights, but still.
Is that a Lumina Z34 to the left of the Montego?
I think so. The rear wing and side skirts appear to be Z34 pieces.
I don’t think so. The spoiler looks like the Euro version. I had a Z34 and the spoiler was different.
It’s a Z34. Murilee saved this one for his Autoblog post.
http://www.autoblog.com/2016/07/08/junkyard-gem-1992-chevrolet-lumina-z34/
Ugh. Hopefully this thing has been crushed by now.
Then there’s the Gunsight Grill version:
http://www.classicnation.com/this-1971-mercury-cyclone-gt-has-really-nice-muscular-lines-why-arent-these-more-sought-after/
I liked the Cyclone at the time. Pretty muscular looking. Wonder why that one doesn’t have the rear spoiler? Clone car?
Are the taillights that same as Comet ? .
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The bumpers end turn up looks like the Maverick/Mustang one .
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Not an overly good looking car .
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-Nate
Yes, those were the same taillights that were used on the 71-77 Comet. The Maverick used the Pinto taillights.
Here are some Bitter Tears to go with the above bitter tears.
Yes, I DO think this entire generation of Cyclone was an exercise INXS. Thought so when they were new…
I assume this is inspired by the “Bunkie Beak” on the contemporary Thunderbirds?
When Bunkie Knudsen left GM for Ford, he brought the Pontiac front end design styling with him.
What happened to the speedo/gauges? Looks like either the clear plastic was painted over or replaced… check out this picture for comparison:
http://www.fordmuscleforums.com/attachments/torino-pages/18939d1313127499-1970-torino-1970-cyclone-dash-pad-cluster-dash3.jpg
That’s an unusual car. Cyclone, 4-speed, air conditioning.
I would expect that once the dash padding / overhang was removed, the sun yellowed the gauge covers very quickly.
I think they’re just covered with dust, like everything on or around the car.
Murilee is a terrible, terrible person.
Enjoyed the old ads.. punt your 70’s barge with cali staccato narrative.