Pick of the Day: 1956 Mercury Montclair Sun Valley

Fancy locations include Commonly used in car names. Sometimes they were faraway places, like Buick’s Riviera, while Plymouth gave us models named after famous hotels. But how many cars are named after two different locations? Our daily pick is one of those unusual cars: the 1956 Mercury Montclair Sun Valley. This car is for sale on ClassicCars.com from a dealer in Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada. (Click the link to view the list)

The Montclair joined Mercury in 1955, becoming a model above the Monterey. The name comes from a suburb of Essex County in northern New Jersey. If you’re not in the area, you might be inclined to refer to the Garden State as the “armpit of the country,” but I managed to spend my last two years of high school in the state and know that New Jersey is an eclectic place. Maybe images of Newark fill your paradigm, but there are a lot of expensive places in the northern New Jersey suburbs, and Montclair is historically one of them. Of course, when Montclair launched, jokes about Jersey weren’t much of an issue.

This particular Mercury model is also named after another quirky place, the Valley of the Sun. If you’ve ever been to Sun Valley, a suburb of Los Angeles, you might have wondered if it was ever a great place in the 1950s, because not so much anymore. However, of the dozen or so Sun Valleys across the United States and around the world, Mercury’s Sun Valley is most likely named after the Idaho resort city and its surrounding areas. Did you know that it was originally America’s first resort, developed in 1936 by the chairman of the Union Pacific Railroad? charming.

Also fascinating is Mercury Montclair Sun Valley. Originally introduced in 1954 as the Monterey Sun Valley, this particular model featured a Plexiglas front half of the roof, allowing sunlight to penetrate the interior while being protected by the hardtop roofline. Like its companion Ford Crestline Skyliner, no one other than Ford Motor Company offers this high-tech model. In 1955, both Plexiglas models received some tweaks, with the Ford being renamed the Fairlane Crown Victoria Skyliner, while the Merc moved to Sun Valley and introduced an all-new model called the Montclair. Interestingly, unlike the Ford, the Sun Valley is a true hardtop.

Although the Mercury was all new in 1955, it was 1956 that it really came into its own, especially the way it was decorated. While not on par with the 1955 Chevrolet or even Ford’s lineup, the 1956 Mercury was handsome, especially the side trim and the available two-tone and “Flo-Tone” paint, which included a pocket under the side window . The effect was dramatic, and it’s no surprise that customizers began to embrace the Mercury from this era.

This 1956 Mercury Montclair Sun Valley showcases everything that made this particular model one of the iconic cars of a landmark era. Featuring classic white and Lauderdale blue, this Sun Valley has “been lovingly restored by a rotisserie” and has “done less than 100 miles since its remodel.” What transformation? “Under the hood, it’s powered by a powerful Tri-Power 292 V8 engine paired with a Gear Vendors overdrive automatic transmission to deliver retro performance and modern drivability.” Also note the custom interior.

If you think about it, Mercury Montclair Sun Valley involves three locations, one of which is perfect for the atomic age. Is there any car that can overtake me? For $57,048, you can sit back and ponder the answer in this unique 1950s cruiser.

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