The Mercury Medalist is an automobile which was produced by Mercury for the 1956 model year and was similar to the Ford Customline in market segment.
9-617: The Medalist was introduced as a two-door sedan only in September 1955 as Mercury's low-price model. It was positioned below the Custom , Monterey and Montclair models and replaced the entry-level status the Custom previously held. A four-door sedan, a two door hardtop and a four-door hardtop were added midyear at which time the Medalist was given full series status. It was offered only with
18-546: A 312 cubic inch V8 engine. The standard items included textured vinyl upholstery, rubber floor mats, and chrome front and rear window surround mouldings, and a rear quarter panel body side stainless steel trim. Optional items included a heater and windshield defroster, "Travel-Tuner" signal seeking AM radio , padded instrument panel, seat belts, power adjustable front seat, power windows, power steering, power brakes, white wall tires mounted on 15 in (381 mm) steel wheels and auxiliary road lamps. All Mercury's for 1955 offered
27-554: A canted hood over the headlights previously introduced on the Mercury XM-800 concept car from 1954. For 1956, Mercury introduced two types of two-tone paint combinations, offering the traditional approach of a roof color over a different body color, and "Flo-tone" where the roof and lower body were painted in one color and the upper body painted in another color. There were a total of thirty-one two-tone combinations and twenty-eight "Flo-tone" combinations. The listed retail price
36-412: A heater and windshield defroster, radio with antenna, and fog lamps. For 1953, the color choices expanded considerably to offer fifteen single choices and thirty nine two-tone selections. For 1954, production totals recorded that the Custom was losing ground to the more upscale Monterey, while being moderately more expensive, with continued lack of popularity of the Custom for 1955, as the introduction of
45-406: A listed price of US$ 2,040 ($ 23,406 in 2023 dollars ), followed by 25,812 2-door sedans for US$ 1,987 ($ 22,798 in 2023 dollars ). Color choices were extensive, listing 10 single selections and 17 two-tone choices, and the standard list of equipment included broadcloth upholstery, rubber floor mats, and electric clock, luggage compartment light and chrome window surroundings. Optional equipment included
54-415: A total of 18,732 2-door and 4-door sedans were manufactured with an average listed price of US$ 2,582 ($ 27,267 in 2023 dollars ), and was the last year the Medalist nameplate was used. Mercury Custom The Mercury Custom is an automobile which was produced by Mercury for the 1952 through 1956 model years. The Custom was introduced as the base model series in the 1952 Mercury range, replacing
63-433: The front and rear windows. Two engine choices and a choice of either a 3-speed manual or Merc-O-Matic automatic transmission with available Touch-O-Matic overdrive were available as extra cost options. Other optional equipment listed heater and defroster, air conditioning, AM-radio, tinted glass, 4-way power adjustable front seat, power windows, power steering, power brakes, and a padded instrument panel. Production records show
72-424: The original Mercury Eight that introduced the all-new Mercury marque. It was positioned below the upper trim package Monterey which was also introduced in 1952. The Mercury Medalist displaced the Custom as the base model for 1956, with both series discontinued for 1957 as Mercury was being repositioned as a luxury line above Edsel for 1958. For the first year, 83,475 4-door sedans were manufactured with
81-575: Was US$ 2,254 ($ 25,260 in 2023 dollars ) for the 2-Door Sedan and 20,582 were assembled. The Medalist was discontinued along with the Custom for the 1957 model year with the Monterey now the base model in that year's Mercury range. The Medalist returned in 1958 once again as the entry-level Mercury as either a 2-door or 4-door sedan and no hardtop roofline was offered. Sixteen standard colors were offered, along with cloth and vinyl upholstery, full carpeting, an electric clock, and chrome window surrounding on
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