), Mercury offered a range of different paint schemes. For the most part, customers could order their choice of colour or colour combination and a vehicle would be custom painted at the factory and delivered to to the customer's local dealership. This section of The Big M outlines the exciting and interesting paint schemes available to Mercury customers in 1958.
The service manual devotes a whole section to identifying the various sections of the vehicle's body and outlining what colour each would be under the various paint schemes. The following paint colours were available:
Solid-Toned Mercurys were painted all over in the primary colour with the option of flash along the side being painted in a contrasting colour. According to the service manual the contrasting colour could only be white or red. This option of the flash in the contrasting colour was not available on Medalist models since these did not have a flash, only a strip of stainless steel trim, and on Monterey convertibles and Commuter Wagons. It was also not available on Colony Park wagons, which had "Maple-Grain" wooden side panels.
|
 |
 |
| Monterey painted in Solid-Toned Golden Dust Metallic. |
Park Lane painted in Solid-Toned Marble White. |
 |
 |
| Montclair convertible in Solid-Toned Vineyard Blue with optional Marble White flash. |
Park Lane painted in Solid-Toned Tuxedo Black with optional Marble White flash. |
 |
 |
| Colony Park in Solid-Toned Tuxedo Black with Maple-Grain side panels. |
Voyager in Solid-Toned Marble White with optional Flamingo Red flash. |
Two-Toned Mercurys were painted with all areas except the roof in the primary colour and the roof area in a contrasting colour, with the option of the flash along the side being painted in the same contrasting colour. This option of the flash in the contrasting colour was not available on Medalist models since these did not have a flash, only a strip of stainless steel trim, and on convertible models since they have no hard roof. Two-Toned paint schemes on wagon models consisted of the roof centre panel and lower back areas in the contrasting colour, with the option of the flash along the side also in the contrasting colour. This option of the flash in the contrasting colour was not available on Colony Park wagons, which had "maple-grain" wooden side panels.
|
 |
 |
| Monterey painted in Two-Toned Holly Green and Parisian Green Metallic. |
Montclair in Two-Toned Rose Pink and Tuxedo Black with contrasting flash. |
 |
 |
| Monterey painted in Two-Toned Mayfair Yellow and Marble White with optional contrasting flash. |
Voyager painted in Two-Toned Jamaican Blue and Marble White with optional contrasting flash |
Perhaps the most dramatic of Mercury's colour schemes for 1958, Flo-Toned paint schemes had the flash and the areas below the flash painted in the primary colour and the areas above the flash and the roof in a contrasting colour. This gave a "top-half bottom-half" effect. Wagon models also had the roof centre panel and lower back areas in the contrasting colour. This paint scheme was not available on Colony Park wagons, which had the "maple-grain" wooden side panels.
|
 |
 |
| Monterey in Flo-Toned Mayfair Yellow with Oxford Grey Metallic. |
Montclair painted in Flo-Toned Emerald Green with Marble White. |
 |
 |
| One very special Park Lane, now resident in Australia, painted in Flo-Toned Tuxedo Black with Marble White. |
Commuter in Flo-Toned Mayfair Yellow and Marble White. |
The 1958 Mercury sales brochure shows pictures of a number of vehicles with what is described as "Silver Applique" along the flash only. The body parts catalogue provides diagrams of and part numbers for this exterior trim option but also depicts the same material as being available to fill the Flairlite jet stream area. The salesman's manual makes no mention of it in the body trim section. Interestingly, of all the pictures of real 1958 Mercurys gathered off the Internet, only two have the "Silver Applique" bejewelling their exterior and in both cases it covers both the flash and the jet stream area. Was this a case of Mercury producing the literature at different points in time, perhaps before the offerings had been finalised ?
|
 |
 |
| Montclair in Solid-Toned Jamaican Blue Metallic with Silver Applique. |
Park Lane convertible in Solid-Toned Flamingo Red with Silver Applique. |
 |
 |
| Monterey painted in Two-Toned Burgandy and Marble White with Silver Applique. |
Commuter in Two-Toned Autumn Beige and Golden Dust Metallic with Silver Applique |
Interestingly, every scheme comprises Marble White, Tuxedo Black or Oxford Grey Metallic as one of the two colours. Therefore the Monterey shown above in Two-Toned Holly Green and Parisian Green Metallic and the Commuter in Two-Toned Autumn Beige and Golden Dust Metallic should not exist. These pictures are taken from the sales brochure. However, photos of real examples of Autumn Beige and Golden Dust Metallic combinations have been been seen on the Internet.
