Cool Classic Fords: 1962 Mercury Meteor vs 1963 Ford Fairlane

Good morning! By the time you read this, I’ll be on my way to pick up a U-Haul trailer, getting ready to head east. But I’m going to leave you with two more Portland cars to check out, both early-60s Ford products, and both dripping with cool – and maybe some vital fluids.

Yesterday’s cheap beaters told me something interesting about this crowd – more of you are cat people than I realized! We have three little “house panthers” ourselves, after years of having dogs, and I’m mighty fond of them, except at five o’clock in the morning when they start jumping on me to wake me up. Anyway, I didn’t expect that Nissan to get votes because of the cat-print headliner. You folks are all right in my book.

Oh, and a fun fact about that headliner: If you stare at it long enough, a sailboat appears. You just have to relax your eyes.

All right. Today is all about FoMoCo, and we’re going to look at a couple of cool old cruisers with alliterative names. Both of them go just fine, but one needs a little help stopping. Let’s see what you make of them.

1962 Mercury Meteor – $4,600

Engine/drivetrain: 170 cubic inch overhead valve inline 6, three-speed manual, RWD

Location: Clackamas, OR

Odometer reading: 67,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives well

The ’62 Mercury Meteor, and its sister model the Ford Fairlane, were Ford’s first “intermediate” models, larger than the Falcon and Comet, but smaller than the full-sized Galaxie and Monterey. For the first time, Ford’s main vehicle lines were available in three sizes, an arrangement that continued for decades, and even persists today, though the vehicles in question are now crossovers and SUVs instead of sedans – and of course, the Mercury nameplate is long gone.

This Meteor is powered by an inline six, the same basic engine that powered midsized Fords all the way up through the Fairmont/Zephyr years. Here it displaces 170 cubic inches and sends power to the rear wheels via a floor-shifted three-speed manual. It runs and drives very well, and has new brakes, a new clutch, new tires, and a recent tune-up. The seller calls it a “dependable driver.”

It’s in reasonably good cosmetic shape as well. The upholstery looks all right, as does the interior trim. The parking brake handle is wrapped in tape, and I’m not sure why there’s what looks like a can of spackle sitting on the seat, but otherwise it’s actually pretty nice. The floor shift could be original, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it originally had a column shifter and the floor-mounted lever is aftermarket.

It’s got a couple spots of rust here and there, but hardly anything worth mentioning. Or fixing, really. It’s just a nice old classic car that you can enjoy without getting too fussy about the details.

1963 Ford Fairlane 500 – $4,995

Engine/drivetrain: 260 cubic inch overhead valve V8, two-speed automatic, RWD

Location: Tigard, OR

Odometer reading: 22,000 miles (probably rolled over)

Operational status: Runs great, should have brakes done before driving

This Fairlane is a variation on the same theme. It’s a year newer, and powered by a 260 cubic inch Windsor V8, along with a two-speed Ford-O-Matic transmission, but it rides on the same 115.5 inch wheelbase. It’s a Fairlane 500, which was the fancy model, though in those days I think that mostly just meant more chrome.

The engine has been rebuilt, and runs well, according to the seller. They’ve replaced the exhaust, fuel tank, and fuel pump, so that side of things is all ready to go. But they didn’t get around to the suspension or brakes yet. That’s not expensive or complicated stuff to fix, just messy and time-consuming. The seller says it is technically drivable, but “should be trailered.” Considering how sellers typically downplay a car’s problems, I’d get a trailer.

Inside, there’s nothing to worry about – it’s all been redone, and it looks really nice. It looks like a custom tuck-and-roll job, but it could be pre-made covers from one of the mail-order shops selling reproduction parts.  Either way, it looks great, and the carpet looks new as well.

Outside, the two-tone paint has become four-tone: Blue, white, rust, and primer. It’s mostly surface rust, from where the paint has simply been lost to time. This is the sort of patina that has become fashionable to just clearcoat over and preserve, and really, the only other option is to refinish the whole car – not worth it for a run-of-the-mill Fairlane sedan.

I don’t know about you all, but I get a little tired of seeing the same classic cars over and over again. There are so many old cars out there that get overlooked because they aren’t fast, or special, or considered cool. And that’s a shame, because tinkering with an old car is therapeutic, and driving something around on a Sunday afternoon that you know how to fix, because you’ve fixed it all already, is a powerful feeling. It’s important to realize that you don’t need a Mustang or a Camaro or something to get that feeling; any old car that grabs your attention will work. So which one of these grabs your attention?

(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)