Mercury Park Lane
The Mercury Park Lane was a fullsize automobile produced by the Mercury division of the Ford Motor Company from 1958 to 1960 and by the Lincoln-Mercury Division from 1964 to 1968. During this time, the Park Lane resembled the Monterey, but with a higher trim level.
The Park Lane was introduced in 1958 and was applied to Mercury's premium automobile line. The Park Lane name had first been used for a 1956 Ford two door station wagon model that was supposed to compete with the Chevrolet Nomad. 1958 Park Lane's wheelbase was 125 inches, 3 inches longer than other Mercury models, length was 220.2 inches and other models 213.2 inches. For the 1959 model year the Park Lane's wheelbase was increased to 128 inches (3,300 mm), two inches longer than the rest of the Mercury line. In 1960, its wheelbase was reduced to 126 inches (3,200 mm), matching the rest of the Mercury line, overall length was 219.2 inches for all full size Mercuries. 1960 Park Lanes were available as a two door hardtop, four door hardtop or convertible. 1960 Park Lane standard features were a 430 cubic inch 310 hp V8 with 460 foot pounds of torque, Multi-Drive Merc-O-Matic automatic transmission, power steering and brakes, fender skirts, wide rocker panel moldings, 5 chrome accent bars ahead of the rear wheel openings, rear backup lights, padded dash and windshield washers. The Park Lane name was dropped in the 1961 model year as Mercury focused its production efforts on the lower-end Monterey and Meteor 800 models.
The name was reinstated in 1964 as Mercury again attempted to retrench its models in the price gap between Ford and Lincoln. Most Park Lanes had a "Breezeway" window, a powered reverse slanted rear window that could be lowered into the body, first used on the Mercury Turnpike Cruiser and the 1958-60 Lincoln Continental. Park Lanes were available with the Marauder package (as were all full-size '64 Mercurys) which featured the "fastback" roof design in place of the Breezeway, and which were also used on the popular full-size Ford line.
For 1967 and 1968, the Park Lane was offered with an even more luxurious trim level called the Brougham, a.k.a. the Park Lane Brougham. These were Mercury's flagship products during these years.
Mercury completely redesigned its full-size offerings for 1969, and the Park Lane name was retired at the end of the 1968 model year. However some Grand Marquis have been known to carry a revival of the Park Lane badge since the late 1990s.