The Mercury Turnpike Cruiser has always been a car that has been on my list of unique and futuristic car designs. A Turnpike Cruiser was one that I would like to have in my car collection so I could drive in on tours and on weekends.

Well my dream came true around September 2015 when I found this car in Florida. The car has been well taken care of and was recently repainted. The interior is all original and in excellent shape. The engine is the optional 430 small Lincoln engine coupled with a push button transmission selector. General information about the Mercury Turnpike Cruiser is listed below.

The Mercury Turnpike Cruiser is a full-size automobile that was Mercury’s flagship model in 1957 and 1958. The Turnpike Cruiser was produced in two body styles: a two-door and four-door hardtop were offered. In 1957 a convertible was produced, serving as the pace car for the Indianapolis 500 of that year. The name was inspired by the creation of the United States Interstate Highway System that was begun in 1956.

At introduction of the 1957 line up the Turnpike Cruiser series offered two- and four-door hardtop body styles. They are best known for the unique styling cues and wide array of gadgets including a “Breezeway” power rear window that could be lowered to improve ventilation, “twin jet” air intakes at upper corners of car’s windshield, “seat-o-matic” automatically adjusting seat, and an average speed “computer” (that would tell your average speed at any point along a trip). A convertible version served as the pace car of the 1957 Indianapolis 500

In 1958 the Turnpike Cruiser joined the mid-range Mercury Montclair line with only minor trim changes to the car from the previous year, but the convertible version was not offered this year. A further upgrade of luxury equipment and appearance of the Turnpike Cruiser became the Mercury Park Lane which replaced it soon after. Standard engine became the 383-c.i.d. “Marauder” V8 engine, with the 430-c.i.d., 360 horsepower (270 kW) version available as an option. A triple-carburetor “Super Marauder” 400 horsepower version was available across the Mercury line. Self-adjusting brakes were added. The steep sticker price for these cars was $3,597. Production was just 16,861 for 1957 and slowed to a trickle of 6,404 in 1958. The Turnpike Cruiser was discontinued for 1959.