Forgive yourself if you’ve never heard of the Kissel Motor Car Company, originally known as KisselKar, with the curious moto of “Every Inch a Car.”
Sorry for the hand reflection, it was a SUNNY day. Or is that the ghost of Louis Kissel?
Founded by Louis Kissel and his sons back in 1906 when cars were still a new-fangled means of conveyance, Kissel cars lasted until 1930 when the Depression sunk it in a sea of red ink. The firm made more than 27,000 vehicles in its 25-year run.
While its factory in Hartford, Wis., about 35 miles northwest of Milwaukee, was out in the sticks, its cars were known to the elites of society from coast to coast. Most notable was the Gold Bug, a speedster with good power and a spiffy Chrome Yellow paint job that became its iconic color calling card. Continue reading History: Kissel Motor Car Company→
So this past weekend, I was up with my buddies in Oconto, WI putting on an airshow with our radio controlled airplanes. Our gig was actually just part of a bigger event they held at their local airport. Well one of the other parts was a classic car show. I saw the shiny bright objects right away and when I was in between flights took a walk over. All kinds of cool cars and they pictures I’m sharing here are just a sample of the cars there.
The Cougar was Motor Trend magazine’s Car of the Year for 1967 and helped Mercury sales quite a bit when it was introduced in 1967. A Mustang twin? Well sort of except that unlike a lot of other cars built on the same platform that make minor changes, Mercury did a lot. This with the Eliminator package was high performance. The owner wasn’t around but if it had a 427 in it, would be worth some serious cash.
The Duster everybody wants
There basic model was kind of…eh. It was built for economy and they don’t have a lot of value to collectors, however this one with the 440 is and are very affordable muscle cars. I found one on Hemming’s for around $15 grand. Not a lot of dough for a very fast car.
OOOOOOh…Barrracuda
The Plymouth Barracuda was a two-door car that was manufactured by the Plymouth division of the Chrysler Corporation from 1964 to 1974. This is a third-gen Cuda and the redesign for the removed all its previous commonality with the Valiant. I love the color treatment on this one.
A rare Firebird
This is a first-gen made from 67-69. I believe this is a 68 and what makes it rare it the 440 and its a convertible. Hemming’s trend guide showed that it would go for about $117,000.
The classics of classics
This 1957 Chevy convertible was pretty cool. I also love the drive in touch. Depending on the package it had pricing goes up to $120,000. What’s not to like about a car show? Two of my loves, cars and planes.
I hate to see a car company go out of business, or car line dropped, especially being such a big AMC guy. Most likely the cars they produced utilized several innovations to separate them from their competition. The rear engine Chevy Corvair, Unibody Construction by American Motors, and Electroluminescent instrument panel lighting by Chrysler. Of course there are tons of others. One that Mercury utilized was the The Breezeway window in the mid 60’s. Mercury did this in an attempt to differentiate itself from the the Fords they were based on. The thought behind the concept was that a driver would open the vents in the dashboard then the back window and have fresh air flowing through the car. Because the roof was slanted, no rain would get in. Hmmm, I’m thinking air conditioning would have worked better here.
The concept got good reviews
The automotive trades liked the Breezeway. Motor Trend pointed out in a test of a Monterey Custom sedan for its March 1963 issue, “The window has three primary advantages, all equally valuable as far as we’re concerned. There is, of course, more head room for rear seat passengers than with the window sloped in the regular manner. The window’s roof overhang provides a generous sunshade for the rear seat. … Finally, the window opens, operated by a dash control, and is very handy as a ventilation aid.” Car Life liked it too. “About the styling of the current Mercurys, we can only say that the ‘notch-back’ rear window provides the best ventilation and rearward visibility we’ve yet found on a ’63 car,” it said, but added, “It does make the rear-end appear abnormally long.”
But then they kind of mucked it up.
Guess the smokers would have loved it.
It did differentiate the Mercury line from the Fords but then for the 1963 model year Mercury added a more conventional-looking Marauder hardtop to the line, sharing the sleek “slantback” roof of the 1963-1/2 big Fords. The slantback roof had been introduced for the benefit of Ford’s NASCAR racers, and its appearance on the Marauder was intended to support Mercury’s own return to racing in 1963. I remember Parnelli Jones driving one at the Milwaukee Mile. Yawn…Mercury buyers weren’t blown away by the looks of the Breezeway, and Mercury’s total 1963 sales were down nearly 40,000 units from 1962; the compact and mid-size lines outsold the big Breezeway cars by a significant margin. Sales were little better the face-lifted ’64s, which deleted the four-door hardtop Breezeway in favor of a four-door version of the Marauder hardtop. Business rallied a bit for ’65 and ’66, but model-for-model sales of the full-size cars were depressing; only the four-door sedans broke into the five-figure range. Off into the sunset the Breezeway went.
A tough car to find now
On my search for Breezeway now I found the pickings slim but not expensive, mostly around 8 grand, but these would essentially be project cars and not show cars. Not that they couldn’t be and if you’re looking for that, there are some good deals. Good examples of the promotional model cars are also hard to find but of course a lot easier on the finances although not cheap. You can find plenty of restoration projects for well under $100 on the action sites and if you’re good at modeling, they would be pretty easy to fix up and maybe even take it to the next level like in this previous post.
But for you who want the car, maybe just one like you owned, or are that collector looking for that one last color be prepared to pay around 300 bucks and up. Going to one of my favorite places to shop for cars (please don’t tell my wife) is Wheat’s Nostalgia. Joe has a couple of cars up for sale. This 1964 above is one of the best examples around. Graded a 10 out of 10, just like it left the factory. Besides having the box, this one has no scratches (tough to find) no warping, chrome and class are outstanding. While your dad may have given you one like this back in 1964 and maybe paid 2 bucks for it, this one is going for $610. Think about it, 2 bucks in ’64 and 610 now. Not too bad. Joe also has (or had) a couple of other Breezeways, also 1964’s. This white one is a 9. Most collectors would be quite satisfied with a model which has this grading as it is near mint. A “9” might have some rather minor chrome rubs, re-plated original chrome, or possibly a tiny paint imperfection but nothing broken or missing. $525 and it’s yours to take home. This black one, again a hardtop, went for $315. Finding one in black is difficult. I really like the look of the 2-door hardtops. So if you’re in search for another project, there are plenty of them on eBay. No worries because there are tons of resources to help you out and you will see in the links below. If you’re stuck, shoot me the question and I’ll do my best to connect you with the people who can help make your project a perfect 10.
That’s pretty much the story of the Mercury Comet. Why did I pick this car? Well, for two reasons, my uncle had one and I’m partial to orphan brands hence my affection for American Motors. OK, so now here’s the first handicap. Ford had to purchase the name “Comet” from Comet Coach Company, a professional car manufacturer in which the term belonged to a line of funeral coaches, and the second is that it was originally planned as an Edsel model. It was reassigned to Mercury dealerships after the demise of the Edsel brand (Oops), where it was marketed as a standalone product for 1960 and 1961 as the Comet. And lastly, it was developed concurrently with the Ford Falcon, well duh, so which car do you think is going to get more attention? You guessed Ford Falcon, right? Just checking. Continue reading 1963 Mercury Comet Convertible: The Falcon’s step-sister→
Savage On Wheels 