#Mercury XM-Turnpike Cruiser

[carsthatnevermadeitetc]

Mercury XM-Turnpike Cruiser Concept, 1956. A a luxury coupe show car with twin transparent roof panels that flipped up when the doors were opened. Inspired of the Interstate Highway System, the Turnpike Cruiser Concept was designed with fast, long distance driving in mind. The series production Turnpike Cruiser of 1957 toned down all of the concepts styling features

[les-belles-mecaniques]

1956 Mercury XM Turnpike Cruiser

[frenchcurious]

Mercury XM Turnpike Cruiser Concept 1956. - source Amazing Classic Cars.

[alightinthelantern]

The 1956 Chrysler Norseman was a concept car designed by Chrysler stylists and built overseas in Italy by Carrozzeria Ghia, a coachbuilding (carbody building) firm who famously did the styling for the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia models. Intended for the 1957 circuit, the car was completed in 1956 and sent from Italy to America on the Italian ocean liner Andrea Doria in July.

The car was a four-seat fastback coupe with hidden headlights and a cantilevered roof supported only at its rear-end, allowing for an all-glass front windshield with no metal supports. The car was state-of-the-art, and it’s unknown how many of its daring concepts would have made it into production models, as the car never entered production. On the evening of July 25, amid heavy fog, the Andrea Doria collided with the Swedish ocean liner Stockholm fifty miles south of Nantucket Island, and sank late the next morning. Forty-six people were killed in the initial collision when the Stockholm’s bow pierced the Andrea Doria’s side, but as the ship stayed afloat for eleven hours after the collision and many ships arrived to take on survivors, the remaining 1,660 passengers and crew were evacuated safely, in what became known as one of the greatest rescue operations of the 20th century. With photographers and television crews in airplanes on hand to watch the final moments, the Andrea Doria slipped beneath the waves at 11:00 AM. The Chrysler Norseman, located deep in the Andrea Doria’s garage, was lost as well, and never recovered.

Although it’s tempting to mourn the loss of such a gorgeous and daring car, I think that the daring concept elements which give the car some of its charm would have been toned down in production. A similar car from 1956, the Mercury XM-Turnpike Cruiser, was a radical car in its concept, with radical styling and glass roof panels above the doors that opened vertically like gullwing doors to allow for easier entrance and exit from the car’s low roof. These elements were toned down in production, with the glass panels replaced by a plain hardbody roof and the styling simplified on the carbody. Doubtless the same would have happened the the Chrysler Norseman had it entered production.

[optimabatteries]

Comprehensive restoration completed in 2022

Designed by Mercury and Constructed in Italy by Ghia in 1955 utilizing a 1954 Ford F250 chassis

Finished in 1956 factory color Persimmon with Pearlescent topcoat

Double fin coves that wrap around the taillights are painted Pearl White over brushed chrome

The car toured the country in a custom trailer with a turntable and glass paneling

Shown at the 1956 Cleveland auto show followed by the Detroit, Chicago and New York auto shows

Used as the pace car at the Daytona Beach Grand National Race on February 17, 1957

After it was shown the car was parked outside Ford and passed through several owners falling into disrepair before being acquired and restored by the seller from 2017 to 2022

Transparent butterfly roof panels that open and close automatically with the doors

Unique exhaust ports on lower rear quarter panels

Stoplights mounted under the rear roof corners

Front turn signals mounted behind the grille under the headlights

Unique 'Big-M' hood ornament

Concealed outside door handles

Split front bumper with twin jet pods

Leather interior including headliner and dash

Four individual bucket seats with seatbelts and dual center consoles

Space age instrument cluster with tachometer

Power windows, as this was a concept vehicle the unique design of the windows do not seal weather-tight

Unique Turnpike Cruiser valve covers

Power brakes and steering

Estimated 6,000 hours invested in restoration back to original condition

1956 Mercury XM Turnpike Cruiser concept car at the Mecum Auction in Kissimmee 2023

[missrainmaker87]

mercury xm-turnpike cruiser, 1956

[erdoro1]

1956 Mercury XM Turnpike Cruiser, concept

[woodywoodworld]

1956 C600 Ford Cab Over Haulin A 1956 Mercury XM Turnpike Cruiser

Click for more vintage cars, hot rods, and kustoms

[wheelsgoroundincircles]

1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser

1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser and 1956 XM Turnpike Cruiser concept car

[vintageclassiccars]

Mercury XM-Turnpike Cruiser, 1956.

[danismm]

Mercury XM-Turnpike Cruiser, 1956

[ubazone]

Neglected 1956 Mercury XM Turnpike Cruiser restored to mint condition - Detroit Free Press http://dlvr.it/SVNQ88

[frenchcurious]

Mercury XM-Turnpike Cruiser 1956. - source Roland Richter.

[automotorvideo-blog]

1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser and 1956 XM Turnpike Cruiser concept car #Uncategorized #automotorvideo #followme

[oldmotors]

It’s been a long time since the highway breezes flowed through this old Mercury, off the road since the 1980s. 1966 marked the end of the road for Mercury’s “Breezeway” sedans, and by in large the end of reverse-rake roofs, which first appeared on a variety of concepts in the early 1950s but faded away after the mid-1960s. The design idea really came from Packard, but it was Ford who put it into production and stuck with it. On small cars like Ford’s own 105e Anglia and Consul Classic, it offered distinct packaging advantages, but on domestic Lincolns and Mercuries, it was mostly about style and ventilation in an era before standard A/C. So what’s a “Breezeway?” In architectural terms, it’s a passage that allows wind currents to pass between buildings. In cars, the idea started with Dick Teague, later of AMC fame, who styled 1953’s Packard Balboa X show car. Built atop the Packard Caribbean convertible, it featured a formal roof with a reverse rake backlight. Similar ideas were developed around the same time by Alex Tremuilis (of Tucker and Ford), but according to William F. Mitchell, president of body supplier Mitchell-Bentley, which built the Balboa X, that car’s rear window was designed to retract into the body. Packard couldn’t develop it and sold the rights to Ford. One more Packard with the concept appeared, 1956’s Packard Predictor, also by Teague, but it would be Ford that developed it. 1956’s Mercury XM-Cruiser concept previewed Ford’s interpretation, and reverse-rake backlights debuted on the 1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser, followed by the 1958 Lincolns and then 1959’s Ford Anglia. But the big cars were poorly received thanks to the Eisenhower recession, and the U.S. Breezway went on hiatus. After Mercury’s time as a stand-alone division cratered, the 1961-62 Mercs were very conservative. 1963 brought a bold restyle and the return of the Breezeway as a differentiator and premium feature. The retracting rear window drew in fresh air and expelled it. It looked interesting, too, but was never hugely popular, and once modern flow-through ventilation happened, it was outmoded. 14,174 1966 Monterey Breezeways were built in the car’s final outing. https://www.instagram.com/p/CKKDFOiF-AX/?igshid=1v7119ej0cghg

[carsthatnevermadeitetc]

Clay vs Metal Mercury XM5300 concept model, 1955. A model for what became Mercury’s XM Turnpike Cruiser show car of 1956