March 1953 – Grover’s Mercury Sports Coupe
March 17th, 1953 – Grover purchased a brand spanking new 1953 Mercury 53SL Sport Coupe.
Built by Ford’s Mercury division, the Sport Coupe was the debuting flagship generation of Monterey models and considered a full size near-luxury car. The Monterey’s styling was largely carried over from other Ford models including Ford’s Lincoln line. The Monterey became the car for those who wished for something more exquisite than a Ford but didn’t want to pay a Lincoln’s price. Considering the sales price in 1953 of $2961.26 as shown in the title below, in today’s dollars (2023) this same vehicle would cost $33,728.75!
Here’s a more recent picture of a restored Mercury Sports Coupe, though I believe his was black.
Lastly, here is another picture taken on the same day with Grover’s Mercury alongside another Monterey convertible sports coupe. Next to him is his good friend, Jim Hershey, and I suspect the purchased both on the same day possibly.
Interesting Factoid: The address shown on the title for the car dealership is no long a car dealership (not surprisingly). However, the home address listed is still standing and looks to be in decent shape: