I remember walking around this care with my uncle at the 1956 Auto Show in Cleveland, Ohio. I remeber being dumbstruck and in awe of this streamlined vehicle. It was very impressive to me at 11 years old. Thanks for the memories !
It's a pleasant surprise that the '57 Turnpike Cruiser production car was very close in looks & style to this dream car. My uncle bought a loaded cream puff '57 with only 8,000 original miles in '59 for $1,600. He bought it from a Ford exec's wife in Dearborn Michigan. She was appalled at the offer from the dealer while waiting for delivery of her new Lincoln convertible & decided to sell it on her own. It was a pastel light green and white with matching interior 2-door that had the power drop down back window. The car stood out and considering it was the late 50s with fins and chrome on everything was quite an accomplishment.
If I had the money I'll tell you what I'd do. I would buy this gorgeous machine, give it to a museum and make Charles Phoenix the caretaker of it. (I know!!!)
I love it! That car is so exuberantly overdesigned that it's beautiful. American cars from the second half of the 1950s are among the most hilarious-looking automotive monstrosities ever made, and I love that about them...they had such character! Even the luxury makes like Cadillacs, Imperials and Lincolns were shamelessly vulgar. Not to mention how colorful they were; you won't see a creamsickle-colored car like this in the local mall's parking lot these days, will you? My hat's off to such a fine restoration of a truly unique automobile that deserves to be preserved. Thank you for sharing this fantastic piece of automotive history; I wish that more of the 1950s concept cars had survived to be restored and turned into functional vehicles like this one.
With the uniqueness and presence of this car, consigned with Barrett-Jackson would command a 7-figure price to the right avid collector of iconic 1950s american classics...
Muruska I believe,had a customer in line to purchase this incredible piece of craftsmanship. If the presentation showed what this actual car looked like when it was first found you wouldn't think it was the same car. If Tom has it in him to do this to some other worthy historic artifact I'll be watching!!
This is a very beautiful car! I wished except for cleaning up the front bumper and adding a rear one, that much of the car went into production ! Its one of my favorite concept cars. There's a lot of styling cues and features that would still look good today!!
Tom, outstanding ! A credit to all your time , work , and money put into this piece of glorious history. I've been following in Q.S. club magazine, but this video is great !
My grandpop worked on the design of this car. He was an Advanced Stylist for Ford Mercury Company back in 55, 56, 57. My grandpops name was Thomas J. Heigh and he worked under Alex Tremulis and George Walker at Ford Mercury. My grandpops job was to design future cars in their Advanced Styling Division. He was also WWll combat veteran in the 69th Infantry Division Engineers Battalion and was a SPEC 5 Engineer and he and the famous pop artist Roy Lichtenstein worked side by side on maps and construction drawings for bridges to move troops through 1944. They helped break the Seigfreid Line and later in 1945 were located in Leipzig, Germany as the 69th occupied Leipzig. He went onto be the design director for several companies in his career. He made it to 94 years old and passed away in 2017.
You’re rightly proud of your Grampa. If you have old photos of him at work, I hope you’ll catalog them carefully…names, dates, places, projects…if you haven’t already. He really did contribute to “The Greatest Generation” and deserves to be remembered. Thanks for posting!
This guy does dam good work restoring this car looked like a basket case it just proves old cars can be restored with the technology out there with the tools and craftsmen who know how to do it" what a work of art beautiful car""!
“Crazy ‘bout a Mercury”. Even the music is perfect for your video. Literally unique…one of a kind…it really seems a shame Mercury didn’t start building and selling these Turnpike Cruisers. I’m thinking this one wears the two colors extremely well. Born in 1949 and raised in the center of California, I grew up with a soft spot in my heart for Mercurys. This could have been their “Crown Jewel”.
I don't every remember seeing this car. Of course in 1956, I was 11 years old. You can see where the 1957 Mercury came from. The Turnpike Cruiser was an eyeful, even back then. No other car looked like it. I've been a car buff ever since I was about 10. I have a nice collection of new car Brochures from almost every car dealer in town up and beyond 1978. My best friend and I would once a year go to every Showroom in town and collect the Brochures. It was such a cool thing to do when you were a kid.i have Mercury, Ford, Falcon,Comet, Corvette, Chevrolet, Chevy II, Chevy Nova, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Monte Carlo, Grand Prix, Toronado, Cadillac, Seville, Cimmaron, Lincoln,Continental,Mark (all of them), Chrysler, Imperial, Dodge, Plymouth, Barracuda, Corvair,Eldorado,Thunderbird, Riviera and Mercedes Benz. Like I said, almost all of them !
Tom, how can you part with this car? After a restoration like you did, I would live in the car before I'd put it up for auction. Even by today's standards, that interior is so cool... love the thin front seats, the entire interior design, and so much more to be awe struck about this car. You really should take it to Pebble Beach Tom, get a hold of Jay Leno, and live a little bit before you part with this incredible car. Who cares if it would win anything at Pebble Beach; you know darn well that people will look this car over and be in awe, though there will be some who will hide their emotions. I hope you Tom, will post a video of your own on this car. You deserve to be heard from.
I don't understand car manufacturers. This was a great car design to put into mass production. Why wasn't it? Instead, they make only the one and mass produce other inferior designs for the public. Go figure. Also, who the hell would let this ONE OF A KIND car sit out and rot to ruin? The amount of work, time and money to restore it was incredible. Thanks for saving part of car history.
The production Mercurys of 1957 did in fact adopt many of the styling cues, and even some of the features of this car.It certainly took lots of time, patience,money,skill, and talent to completely restore this one of a kind concept car...
Quite advanced for 1956. but a lot of the design features would come out the following year for Mercury. I'd almost say the Mercury jumped ahead of the Lincoln until 1958.
When I was only like 4 years old, we had a 57. Not with the glass roof though. I didn’t know that existed. But I remember ours. Red with white trim and fender skirts.
Was that special edition model or " experimental future car". I see future themes, ventless front door glass, mercury Lincoln retractable rear window, the glass roof like that Ford Victoria with heavily tinted glass roof. With that clear glass roof you would be " baked turkey" if in Florida.. Quad Dagmar's . Front of Ford rear of Mercury. I especially like the " M" Mercury hood ornament. Very classy should have used that
That is what it is!...but I can remember those later 50s Mercs...they were very "space age" in design, as the country was obsessed with the space race mentality...I had hoped that my dad would buy one, bvut hew went "upscale" and bought a used, but beautiful 1959 Buick Le Sabre convertible!...That car was also very "swoopy", with the huge fins, etc...it was gorgeous, and the neighborhood girls wanted to ride to High School in it!...I soon realized, that they loved the car--not me!
I must have said 39 times during this video, 'oh, that is so f**king cool!" I realize this is a prototype, but what happened to America's daring style?
Safety regulations, emission stuff, etc. and I believe it was a good thing, in the long run, for the country. But yeah, styling really went downhill after the 60s!
@@curbozerboomer1773 Yeah, we all want a cleaner environment. However, I had heard years ago it costs the same to make an ugly car as it does a beautiful car.
Can you imagine the fun the stylists had designing this rolling work of art? They must have had a blast!
That has to be one of the most impressive automobiles I have ever seen. WOW!
I remember walking around this care with my uncle at the 1956 Auto Show in Cleveland, Ohio. I remeber being dumbstruck and in awe of this streamlined vehicle. It was very impressive to me at 11 years old. Thanks for the memories !
Crazy about THAT Mercury!!! Stunning
Surprised the hood wasn’t front hinged. Excellent video. This car truly was a dream car. The imagination the designers had back then.
It's a pleasant surprise that the '57 Turnpike Cruiser production car was very close in looks & style to this dream car. My uncle bought a loaded cream puff '57 with only 8,000 original miles in '59 for $1,600. He bought it from a Ford exec's wife in Dearborn Michigan. She was appalled at the offer from the dealer while waiting for delivery of her new Lincoln convertible & decided to sell it on her own. It was a pastel light green and white with matching interior 2-door that had the power drop down back window. The car stood out and considering it was the late 50s with fins and chrome on everything was quite an accomplishment.
Beautifully done, stunning, exquisite and what a show car of the era was and never will be again. 👍❤️
Oh How I wish#......Love the colors and everything about this Beauty. Look at that steering wheel! Gorgeous!
The ultimate Charles Phoenix machine. Spellbinding…mesmerizing…out of this world 🌎 😎👍🏆❤️
Stunning color combination. Absolutely beautiful.
A truly impressive restoration of a unique and beautiful car from the pinnacle of autos as art and expression era. Just stunning
Absolutely gorgeous car! I’d rather have that than a modern Ferrari
I remember the 1958 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser and was enamored by it's styling.
An absolute impeccable restoration, thanks for posting
A work of art .
If I had the money I'll tell you what I'd do. I would buy this gorgeous machine, give it to a museum and make Charles Phoenix the caretaker of it. (I know!!!)
Beautiful and special!
Wow wow so very beautiful amazing perfect looking car just love it perfect thanks friend have a very nice day
Back in 1965 I bought a 1957 or 8 for $150. A very good and good looking convertible and fun car for a teenager. Many good memories
Wow!! Mercury Blues background music of course.
I love it! That car is so exuberantly overdesigned that it's beautiful.
American cars from the second half of the 1950s are among the most hilarious-looking automotive monstrosities ever made, and I love that about them...they had such character! Even the luxury makes like Cadillacs, Imperials and Lincolns were shamelessly vulgar. Not to mention how colorful they were; you won't see a creamsickle-colored car like this in the local mall's parking lot these days, will you?
My hat's off to such a fine restoration of a truly unique automobile that deserves to be preserved.
Thank you for sharing this fantastic piece of automotive history; I wish that more of the 1950s concept cars had survived to be restored and turned into functional vehicles like this one.
Tom, I followed your journey with this car and I am stunned at the amazing job you did.
Is this a concept car?
@@richardmorris7063 It was a concept car by Mercury.
@@chrishoyt6127 can't believe I never seen this.Pretty cool & everything appears to work also.Bet it gets hot in there w/ the glass roof.
@@richardmorris7063 I would have no problem sweating it out in this car. I'm guessing the back window rolls down like it does in other TP cruisers.
STUNNING! Didn't know this car still existed! The 57 Turnpike Cruiser was inspired by this car.
With the uniqueness and presence of this car, consigned with Barrett-Jackson would command a 7-figure price to the right avid collector of iconic 1950s american classics...
Literally one of the coolest cars to ever exist
Man that's 1 GORGEOUS ride I would love to own it 😍, thanks for making this video.
What a gorgeous car. The cars these days are plastic. The Art Deco on these cars is just incredible.
Wow! What a beautiful car.👍
Suddenly it’s 1960! Never knew this concept car existed!Amazing.
Muruska I believe,had a customer in line to purchase this incredible piece of craftsmanship. If the presentation showed what this actual car looked like when it was first found you wouldn't think it was the same car. If Tom has it in him to do this to some other worthy historic artifact I'll be watching!!
Yes, beautifully done, pure steel, and wil never be again. Thank You.
An Incredibly Beauuutiful Car!💕
This is a very beautiful car! I wished except for cleaning up the front bumper and adding a rear one, that much of the car went into production ! Its one of my favorite concept cars. There's a lot of styling cues and features that would still look good today!!
Check out the 57 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser and you will see almost all of the styling cues, just toned down a little.
Tom, outstanding ! A credit to all your time , work , and money put into this piece of glorious history. I've been following in Q.S. club magazine, but this video is great !
Just amazing!
My grandpop worked on the design of this car. He was an Advanced Stylist for Ford Mercury Company back in 55, 56, 57. My grandpops name was Thomas J. Heigh and he worked under Alex Tremulis and George Walker at Ford Mercury. My grandpops job was to design future cars in their Advanced Styling Division. He was also WWll combat veteran in the 69th Infantry Division Engineers Battalion and was a SPEC 5 Engineer and he and the famous pop artist Roy Lichtenstein worked side by side on maps and construction drawings for bridges to move troops through 1944. They helped break the Seigfreid Line and later in 1945 were located in Leipzig, Germany as the 69th occupied Leipzig. He went onto be the design director for several companies in his career. He made it to 94 years old and passed away in 2017.
You’re rightly proud of your Grampa.
If you have old photos of him at work, I hope you’ll catalog them carefully…names, dates, places, projects…if you haven’t already.
He really did contribute to “The Greatest Generation” and deserves to be remembered.
Thanks for posting!
This guy does dam good work restoring this car looked like a basket case it just proves old cars can be restored with the technology out there with the tools and craftsmen who know how to do it" what a work of art beautiful car""!
“Crazy ‘bout a Mercury”. Even the music is perfect for your video.
Literally unique…one of a kind…it really seems a shame Mercury didn’t start building and selling these Turnpike Cruisers.
I’m thinking this one wears the two colors extremely well.
Born in 1949 and raised in the center of California, I grew up with a soft spot in my heart for Mercurys.
This could have been their “Crown Jewel”.
Beautiful car. Just amazing. Love your video--very well done. Thank you for showing us this amazing car.
Love it.
Now that's a million dollar car
I don't every remember seeing this car. Of course in 1956, I was 11 years old. You can see where the 1957 Mercury came from. The Turnpike Cruiser was an eyeful, even back then. No other car looked like it. I've been a car buff ever since I was about 10. I have a nice collection of new car Brochures from almost every car dealer in town up and beyond 1978. My best friend and I would once a year go to every Showroom in town and collect the Brochures. It was such a cool thing to do when you were a kid.i have Mercury, Ford, Falcon,Comet, Corvette, Chevrolet, Chevy II, Chevy Nova, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Monte Carlo, Grand Prix, Toronado, Cadillac, Seville, Cimmaron, Lincoln,Continental,Mark (all of them), Chrysler, Imperial, Dodge, Plymouth, Barracuda, Corvair,Eldorado,Thunderbird, Riviera and Mercedes Benz. Like I said, almost all of them !
Tom, how can you part with this car? After a restoration like you did, I would live in the car before I'd put it up for auction. Even by today's standards, that interior is so cool... love the thin front seats, the entire interior design, and so much more to be awe struck about this car. You really should take it to Pebble Beach Tom, get a hold of Jay Leno, and live a little bit before you part with this incredible car. Who cares if it would win anything at Pebble Beach; you know darn well that people will look this car over and be in awe, though there will be some who will hide their emotions. I hope you Tom, will post a video of your own on this car. You deserve to be heard from.
The car is delish,and now I have an ear worm,😊
I didn't know this dream existed, thanks for sharing. Love it ///
Beautiful job, love to hear it run watch it drive around.
So many cool details I've never seen in other LME cars. Thanks for the vid!
Awesome, Tom!
Just amazing and so futuristic even in the 21st century. So cool !
What a blast from the past. First one I've ever seen oh so cool.
It's the only one. 1 of 1. A concept car from the 50s
I don't understand car manufacturers. This was a great car design to put into mass production. Why wasn't it? Instead, they make only the one and mass produce other inferior designs for the public. Go figure. Also, who the hell would let this ONE OF A KIND car sit out and rot to ruin? The amount of work, time and money to restore it was incredible. Thanks for saving part of car history.
Absolutely beautiful!!!!!!!
Awesome how much of the styling actually made it into production
"actually"
I see some tbird and Edsel styling cues and most obviously the 57 styling
The production Mercurys of 1957 did in fact adopt many of the styling cues, and even some of the features of this car.It certainly took lots of time, patience,money,skill, and talent to completely restore this one of a kind concept car...
I was wondering how the door glass interacted with the "butterfly" panels?
Quite advanced for 1956. but a lot of the design features would come out the following year for Mercury. I'd almost say the Mercury jumped ahead of the Lincoln until 1958.
Nice!!!!!
SO "FUTURISTIC"❣️
When I was only like 4 years old, we had a 57. Not with the glass roof though. I didn’t know that existed. But I remember ours. Red with white trim and fender skirts.
Superior!!!!!!!!
Thank you for saving this car.
Futuramic as all hell😳I love it.
When cars of this era was and is art and fun
Now you only need the matching 1956 Ford tow truck and display case trailer to showcase this gem.
Soooo..... they knew how make cool stuff....... and then?
The color is very close to my Dad's 1959 Ford Galaxy: Geranium and White.
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻I’m having a ❤️ attack 👍
Looks like the interior was the inspiration for the 1958 thunderbird.
I'll take that back priceless
Any chance you could loan that beauty to the Henry Ford museum so I could go see it in person
Far out! To the Max! lol
I want it!
I'm 65 & a car nut for most of that,, never seen or heard of it.
👀...👍🔥😎🔥👍
Was that special edition model or " experimental future car". I see future themes, ventless front door glass, mercury Lincoln retractable rear window, the glass roof like that Ford Victoria with heavily tinted glass roof. With that clear glass roof you would be " baked turkey" if in Florida.. Quad Dagmar's . Front of Ford rear of Mercury. I especially like the " M" Mercury hood ornament. Very classy should have used that
The "music" made me feel like I just watched an episode of "Hee Haw"! (HAW, HAW! E-he-e-he!)
please leave a link to the music track!
great arrangement!
Mercury Blues is the song. Various versions. Steve Miller does an excellent version ✌🎸
What's the name of that paint color? It's so beautiful inside and out!
W O W ! the year I was born.
That looks like a 57 to me. Nice car!!!
Just imagine if they had spent all that Edsel development money on this instead.
1 KNEW A LOT ABOUT TH1S CAR!!!!;---BUT UNT1LL TH1S V1DEO D1D NOT KNOW; FORD NEVER CRUSHFD 1T!!!!!!!!!----THANKS!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah i'd rock one of these
You can’t get the “Cream of Tomato” (Persimmon) color anymore, yet………..👍
Mandarin Orange Pearl.
You see on this Merc concept car where the side treatment of the '58 Edsel came from.
Lovely car! If I had money, I'd buy and drive it!👍😁⚒️🛠️
Looks a lot like a 1957
So futuristic
This is my idea of the future! Not the new minimalism rubbish.
Beautiful car! Was this a production model? It looks like a show car/styling exercise
That is what it is!...but I can remember those later 50s Mercs...they were very "space age" in design, as the country was obsessed with the space race mentality...I had hoped that my dad would buy one, bvut hew went "upscale" and bought a used, but beautiful 1959 Buick Le Sabre convertible!...That car was also very "swoopy", with the huge fins, etc...it was gorgeous, and the neighborhood girls wanted to ride to High School in it!...I soon realized, that they loved the car--not me!
Concept/Dream car
Who owns the car?
Tom does...for now
One of the freakiest cars ever built. 😊
I must have said 39 times during this video, 'oh, that is so f**king cool!" I realize this is a prototype, but what happened to America's daring style?
Safety regulations, emission stuff, etc. and I believe it was a good thing, in the long run, for the country. But yeah, styling really went downhill after the 60s!
@@curbozerboomer1773 Yeah, we all want a cleaner environment. However, I had heard years ago it costs the same to make an ugly car as it does a beautiful car.
That’s got to be worth mega bucks!
Orange Julius sounds good right about now.
I would pay 5 million for this car.
Compare this rolling art to the Ho hum junk we drive today
IT IS AN X CONCEPT CAR !
We the people could DEMAND a return a return to this design philosophy, as WE, not corporations, not beaurocrats, not Japan, are the ultimate boss.
music - Mercury Blues
All of that and no air conditioning.
Why do I keep imagining this car to look perfect parked in front of a Whataburger?