1965 Mercury Parklane Sedan (LHD)

Description

The Park Lane series of 1964-1968 was the full-size flagship of Mercury's model line-up, with crisp styling characterised by the rear wheel skirts. Positioned between Ford and Lincoln, the Mercury brand appealed to aspirational middle class buyers who wanted a little more dash and perhaps just a touch of luxury in their motoring. The Mercury's look for 1965 was certainly closely aligned to the bigger Lincolns and the Park Lane came choice of three body style, including the ?Marauder? hardtop (in two and four door guises), the two-door convertible, but it's the ?Breezeway? sedan, with its novel (and fully retractable) reverse-raked rear window, that car enthusiasts will most remember. All rode on a 123-inch wheelbase platform, newly redesigned around a perimeter frame replacing the previous coil/leaf spring suspension set-up with coils acting on all four wheels, providing sharper handling and a smoother ride. Under the bonnet, all 1965 Park Lanes came equipped with a 390-cid big-block V8 rated at 300 horsepower thanks to a higher 10:1 compression ratio and four barrel carburettor (with a 427-cid unit optional) and a three-speed manual transmission was standard - a few were made with a four-speed manual box but most customers opted for the smooth-shifting Merc-O-Matic automatic. Brakes were hydraulic drums all round, with power-assist optional. Features unique to the Park Lane series included a trip odometer, an automatic parking brake release (on automatic transmission models), courtesy lamps while an illuminated Mercury emblem in the padded dash was a neat touch. Popular options included the sports package, with bucket seats, tacho and a centre console, along with air conditioning, AM/FM radio, tinted glass, tilt-away steering wheel and cruise control. The Park Lane sold in reasonable numbers and records show 8,335 ?Breezeway? sedans rolled off the production lines in 1965, but only a handful have found their way to Australia over the years, making this a rare cruiser that really stands out on our roads.