Some of the biggest names in motorsport will be descending – or maybe that should be ascending – on Pikes Peak in Colorado this weekend for the 2023 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Not every car attempting the climb will come away unscathed. It’s a tough event, and some cars will suffer mechanical failures, and others will crash, just like this Mercury did exactly 60 years ago.
Mercury won the stock car class that year thanks to the combination of Bill Stroppe’s car-building expertise and the driving talents of legendary wheelman, Parnelli Jones. But things could have turned out differently if an accident Jones caused driving this car during a practice run had been worse than it was.
Stroppe built several Mercs for Jones to perfect his technique up the 12-mile (19 km) hill, which was still a dirt road in those days. And this 1963 Monterey S-55 was one of those cars. Ordered new with a 390 cu-in (6.5-liter) V8 and automatic transmission, it was upgraded to a 427 (7.0 liter) motor and four-speed manual ’box, together with uprated suspension.
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Jones managed to get the Monterey up the hill at least once, but on the way back down he hit another car coming the other way, causing damage to both cars and injuries to his passengers, which resulted in that year’s Indy 500 winner getting a ticket for reckless driving.
The wrecked Mercury was later professionally repaired and the car was sold. Since then it’s obviously had a proper restoration, so you’d never know from the pictures that it was once smashed up by one of America’s greatest racing drivers on one of the country’s toughest race courses, though Jones’s signature on the console armrest (added in 1999) is a clue to its interesting Pikes Peak past.
Like other early muscle cars, this one is far more discreet about its 400+ hp (406 PS) potential than the machines that would be on sale by the end of the 1960s. We might spot the low ride height and wide rubber, but many people would just see the Peacock Turquoise paint, steel wheels, and funny reverse-angle rear window (with roll-down “Breezeway” glass) and just think it looks like a quaint old car.
If you want to shock some modern drivers with this particular quaint old car you’ll find it up for auction on Bring-a-Trailer with no reserve.
