Who says they don't make cars like they used to? Certainly not this serious Mercury spokesman. According to this vintage ad 1959's best selling six passenger car (it's a Ford) and the 1971 Mercury Montego were around the same size and the same price.
The similarities ended there though—the '71 Mercury was wider, steadier and had a more powerful "cleaner burning" engine.
Perhaps most importantly, according to the serious spokesman the galvanized steel in the Montego's vital body parts resisted corrosion twice as long as the 1959 "Car".
From our experience cars of the late 50s and early 70s, we estimate this probably meant you got a solid two years before the "made better" Mercury started rusting. Sometimes we're glad they don't make cars like they used to.