1955 MERCURY MONTCLAIR

Say, what was the first year of Mercury Montclair?
You're right if you say fifty-five,

It had little bitty bars across the bumper/grille --
Styling to make you glad to be alive,

This wasn't just an overgrown big brother of Ford,
But a full-blown, mid-size turnpike denizen,

It would satisfy owners with poetic thirsts
Like nothing since Alfred, Lord Tennyson,

No one can say how Ford contrived to build
A more formal car, but without sacrificing

The sportiness that the young or young-at-heart
Found in Monterey, so alluring and enticing,

I do opine while looking back over forty years
That fifty-five may have been the first four-door hardtop

With convertible-like looks -- we coveted them intensely --
I'll not grow old enough for green-eyed leering to stop.

by D. Edgar Murray 08/16/2000.