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Two Doors And A Fastback Can't Save This Once-Sporty 1968 Mercury Monterey From The Crusher!

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that ain't the way to have fun, son
07/12/09

In reply to Two Doors And A Fastback Can't Save This Once-Sporty 1968 Mercury Monterey From The Crusher!
Makes a proper post-apocalyptic ride for the wide-open spaces of the NA continent.

Should be able to tuck a solid 300 liters of fuel without having to remove the trunk lid.
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Charles_Barrett - Now with Variable-Valve Timing
07/12/09

In reply to Two Doors And A Fastback Can't Save This Once-Sporty 1968 Mercury Monterey From The Crusher!
So big, just because that was the way of things back then. Who needs a coupe with a backlight on the scale of a ski slope...? Even as a kid, I'd bang my head on the window when I was in the backseat of the neighbor's fastback Galaxie...
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MushyHeirloom
07/12/09

In reply to Two Doors And A Fastback Can't Save This Once-Sporty 1968 Mercury Monterey From The Crusher!
Just like a larger Fairlane/Torino/Cyclone, but with a usable trunk opening!
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jdoubleh
07/12/09

@FP - pass the stars, please: pass the stars, please:I'm not going to ask you for clarification of the term "usable trunk opening", for fear of dredging up a stale meme. But the massive length of the rear end is so compelling. I mean just look at how far it is from the door opening to the rear chrome capped corner!
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Murilee Martin
07/12/09

@FP - pass the stars, please: Having owned a few fastback Torinos and Cyclones, I can say that the tiny trunk opening (coupled with an incredibly deep trunk) was a major headache. If some object in the trunk gets loose and rolls all the way up to the back seat, you have to get inside the trunk and crawl forward to retrieve it. This was particularly annoying when a grocery bag got loose and cans of frozen orange juice did this, because you can't just say "hell with it" and leave them there to melt. Eventually I started carrying a long pole with a hook to fish stuff out of the far reaches of the trunk.
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LostAmerica
07/12/09

In reply to Two Doors And A Fastback Can't Save This Once-Sporty 1968 Mercury Monterey From The Crusher!
Yeah, the fastback Fords for 1968 were sweet. Blocky and swoopy at the same time. This Torino's at Pearsonville.

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Novaload
07/12/09

In reply to Two Doors And A Fastback Can't Save This Once-Sporty 1968 Mercury Monterey From The Crusher!
OK, this one hits too close to home. My old man traded our 65 Country Sedan for a 68 Monterey--it cost all of $3,000--just your average 4 door family sedan--except for the 428 4-bbl under the hood. I was still in high school, barely had my permit, but I hooned it every weekend. I recall my old man pointing out that we were going through tires at an alarming rate. There were several extremely deserted long straight roads in the country; there was also a well know entry ramp to the interstate that, from the merge sign to the next road sign was exactly a quarter mile.

"Have you been racing?"

Well, obviously. "Yeah. A little."

Long pause. Me, increasingly nervous.

"Well, I have a question."

I was braced for "Who's going to pay for those tires? How would you like to not use that car anymore?"

Instead I heard, "Do you win?"

Goodbye, old Merc. I know you were hooned, too. Thanks for the memories and the introduction to big muscle.

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skitter
07/12/09

@Novaload Misses Murilee: It was truly a different world when people looked at a Monterey and thought 'racecar'. In my mind it takes the shape of desolate, beautiful sci-fi illustrations, before the darkness of the malaise swept over the land. The '90s brought the import revolution, where people look at a Civic and think 'racecar'; the world only changes to a different form of strangeness.
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Novaload
07/12/09

@skitter: Please allow me to buy you a drink. Also, you appear to have a star! Congratulations!
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