1968 Mercury Park Lane Convertible Soft Top, 390 V8 4V, Original& Rare! MAINE

1968 Mercury Park Lane Convertible 390 Cu. In. (4V), Wood Grain Trim In & Out Description

One of only 1112 convertibles made in 1968Car has not been restored or modified& is stored inside. The owner, a local collector is making room for some new arrivals.
It just had a tune up including plugs, wires& a new fuel pump. Starts right up every time.
Maine does not require titles for cars this old so if you need a title we can get you a letter from the State of Maine providing proof of ownership that is used in lieu of a title.
The only paperwork with the car is pictured, owners manuals & build sheet from under the rear seat. The owner does not know if the mileage is 56k or if it has flipped. Not much wear on the pedals or the rest of the interior except for the driver's seat so you be the judge.
Priced right with a low reserve so have fun bidding& good luck!

Condition: As picturedTo try to capture all the details of the car, pictures were taken in direct sunlight& on an overcast day. Be sure to look thru the gallery below to see over 120 pics and a full walk around video.
Body:
Front right corner of the nose has some paint flakingCracked/broken trim piece around the left parking light.
Rear bumper has some damage.Paint is dull and looks to be original with no signs of repair.Random dings & dents

Interior:
Front seat has tearing in the drivers seat area, the rest of the seating thru out shows little to no wear. All the seat belts are there& working. Seat is manual not electric.
The high beam switch is stuck in the low beam position.Windows all roll up & down smoothly. The vent windows also both crank in/out.Heater works.AM Radio works& has the original 8 track that didn't work when tested, it might be just the 8-track I tried so will try again when I find another cassette.There are a few tears in the carpet.The rear view mirror is missing.It does not have tilt steering.

Top:Raises, lowers& latches as it should.
The rear window is glass with no cracks.
There are a few areas of wear and a hole above the drivers seat that have been covered with tape.
Original boot cover is included, the channel to slide it in has some dents so it's tough to slide the boot lip all the way thru the channel. It has also had some repairs& has @ a 4" slice on the passenger side.The zipper for the rear window is jammed so not able to currently zip the window closed, but almost a mute point since the top on this beauty is almost always down.

Engine& Drivetrain:390 V8, recent tune-up, idles smoothly once warmed up
3 speed automatic shifts smoothly thru the gearsHolds the road like it should as you float along
Original steel wheels are fitted with hubcaps and a set of radials except for the right rear is a bias-ply

Vin breakdown:Assembly Plant Code~ St. Louis
Engine code Z ~ 8 Cyl. 390 Cu. In. (4V)
Axle 2.75:1
Transmission Automatic (XPL)
District Codes (DSO) BostonInterior trim 6Y~ Lt. Nugget Gold Vinyl
Exterior~ Pewter Met.
www.mercurystuff.com/1968-ford-mercury-vehicle-identification.html
LOCATION:Columbia Falls, Maine 04623
SHIPPING:Check with Uship for a quote Photo gallery
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Park Lane's History:
Mercury's Park Lane was meant to fill a gap as well, but seemed to never truly find its place. The Park Lane, specifically, couldn't be figured out. Either it was a higher-priced Ford, or, a less-expensive Lincoln.
Mercury introduced the Park Lane to the public in 1958. The full-size car was part of Mercury's premium line of automobiles. In body styling, the car was similar to that of Mercury's lower-end car, the Monterey. Mercury unveiled the Park Lane as the Buick Roadmaster's competition.
All-in all, sales for the Park Lane weren't all that impressive. Only about 9,000 units sold in its first year. The Park Lane struggled to fill the gap. Many people noted its very close similarity to the cheaper Monterey. The only readily recognizable difference between the two was that the Park Lane had an increased level of trim applied to its exterior.
The Park Lane struggled on for another couple of years until it was 'put out to pasture' between 1961 and 1964. Poor sales and all-around lack of interest led Mercury to focus on its lower-end car models, like the Monterey and Meteor 800.
Then, in 1964, the Park Lane name was re-introduced to the public.
Again, Mercury was trying to fill a gap between Ford and Lincoln. The problem with being stuck in the middle is the general lack of inspiration and separation. The design and the car's features needed to be something of its own, and not borrowed and merely repackaged. One of those design features 'borrowed' for the Park Lane during the second generation production run was Ford's 'slantback' roof design. This was known as the 'Marauder Package'.

Mercury retired the Park Lane after 1968.
Though officially retired, the Park Lane name has continued to live on and has made some encore appearances, but as a sub-model. Mercury's Grand Marquis produced during the late 1980s and early 1990s carried the Park Lane name.
Mercury's rear-wheel driven full-size car never really caught on with the public. Mercury, itself, struggled in the minds of the customers. It was neither a Ford, nor a Lincoln. In the same way, the Park Lane was never truly able to carve out its niche in the car market. Customers could either make due with a cheaper Ford, or, splurged and bought a more expensive Lincoln.

1968 mercury ad
Funny old video of one of these '68 convertibles, times sure have changed ;p

BILL BOGGS with BRUCE JENNER with Bill's 1968 Mercury Parklane Convertible - YouTube

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[isdntekvideo] On Oct-31-18 at 11:38:32 PDT, seller added the following information:

10/31/2018Just so there were no surprises to you or us, we just took it to a local State Inspection shop to have them go thru it and here's the details and pictures.In order to get an inspection sticker today it would need:~License plate bulb is out~Left rear wheel cylinder is leaking, real likely just popped out when he was testing the E-brake which did work.
~**The rear left side of the frame rail has rust thru behind the rear wheel and needs to be patched. There was an area on the right side in the same spot that has already been repaired. He found the rest of the frame to be solid. See the last picture

*He also mentioned that there looks to be tranny fluid slowly seeping out from the shift shaft seal.
As a result of the findings today the owner has really reduced the reserve to help cover the costs of the needed repairs.
Photo gallery click to enlarge