Mercury Monterey XM-800: The short-lived star
The Mercury Monterey XM-800 made its debut at the 1954 Detroit Auto Show. At the time, it foreshadowed a second Mercury lineup that Ford would have used to rival Buick, Pontiac and Oldsmobile. The project never came to fruition, however.
Yet, the XM-800 generated a lot of interest among show goers, quite possibly because they had seen it in the movie Woman's World (20th Century Fox Film) or on the Grape Nuts Flakes cereal box (Post).
In 1957, Ford gave the car to the University of Michigan’s Automotive Engineering Laboratory for training and inspiration purposes. The new owners soon got rid of it by selling the XM-800 to a local farmer, who left it parked outside of his barn and exposed to the elements.
Fortunately, the futuristic-looking Mercury concept was recovered in the late ‘70s and has changed hands ever since. At last, full restoration was recently completed.
Cadillac Maharani: The kitchen sink
The Maharani limousine was one of four Cadillacs developed for the 1956 Motorama, the annual car show staged by GM in various locations from 1949 to 1961.
Nicknamed the "Kitchen Sink Cadillac", it featured an interior for the most demanding housewife. Believe it or not, inside this sumptuous red-colored concept was an actual kitchen sink with running water, plus a refrigerator, a hot plate, a pop-out table and storage for silverware and china.
The Cadillac Maharani was literally one of a kind and it found its way into Gene Zimmerman’s collection, one of the largest in the United States. Restored in 1990, it’s estimated to be worth up to $US200,000.
photo:RM Auctions, Shooterz.biz
The Mercury Monterey XM-800 made its debut at the 1954 Detroit Auto Show. At the time, it foreshadowed a second Mercury lineup that Ford would have used to rival Buick, Pontiac and Oldsmobile. The project never came to fruition, however.
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| Mercury Monterey XM-800 |
Yet, the XM-800 generated a lot of interest among show goers, quite possibly because they had seen it in the movie Woman's World (20th Century Fox Film) or on the Grape Nuts Flakes cereal box (Post).
In 1957, Ford gave the car to the University of Michigan’s Automotive Engineering Laboratory for training and inspiration purposes. The new owners soon got rid of it by selling the XM-800 to a local farmer, who left it parked outside of his barn and exposed to the elements.
Fortunately, the futuristic-looking Mercury concept was recovered in the late ‘70s and has changed hands ever since. At last, full restoration was recently completed.
Cadillac Maharani: The kitchen sink
The Maharani limousine was one of four Cadillacs developed for the 1956 Motorama, the annual car show staged by GM in various locations from 1949 to 1961.
Nicknamed the "Kitchen Sink Cadillac", it featured an interior for the most demanding housewife. Believe it or not, inside this sumptuous red-colored concept was an actual kitchen sink with running water, plus a refrigerator, a hot plate, a pop-out table and storage for silverware and china.
The Cadillac Maharani was literally one of a kind and it found its way into Gene Zimmerman’s collection, one of the largest in the United States. Restored in 1990, it’s estimated to be worth up to $US200,000.
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| Cadillac Maharani |
photo:RM Auctions, Shooterz.biz
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