1970 Mercury Montego

Coupe

8 - Cyl.

Manual

OH01F560100

Gasoline

Here we have a genuine desert survivor. If you are looking for a unique resto mod that is solid, complete and you can drive it while you work on it - all the while looking absolutely Mad Max tuff. This is it!. Or if you want a great old muscle car to restore that you actually have some solid history on, this is it! It was bought from Thomas motors in the Dalles in the Oregon desert April 10 1970 by a woman who owned the car until at least 2007. We believe we are the third owners of the car. This car basically had one option: The 220 hp 302 2v V-8. It has no power steering, no power brakes, Fords indestructable 3 speed top loader transmission with the "three on the tree", it was a radio delete car (Actually a pretty cool "option"). I personally think the Torino/Montego of 1970-71 handles best set up just like this , the 302 with no power steering. It's still easy to park and it actually has pretty good road feel too! and Fords "non intregal" power steering systems are a TRAIN WRECK. As you can see in the pics this car is super rust free and extremely straight. There are two 1.5" long very shallow dings on the rear quarter up high behind the left rear window that I didn't even notice for the first month of ownership and they don't show up in photos. (maybe a ladder fell on it??). I am sure blocking it out would reveal more but this thing is STRAIGHT, very nice sheet metal. The bumpers and valances are really nice too. The paint is fried but there isn't any surface rust bleed thru going on. We took pics of the bottoms of the doors, some surface action in the seams but again,pretty darn good!. The cowl is solid, no leaks into the cabin, nice!. The floors are SUPER solid very clean. it looks like at some point the splash pan behind the left front wheel got bonked in (improperly jacked up??) so we cut it out and had a small piece of galvinized steel professionally welded in. It really wasn't affecting anything I just didn't like it. As far as an unrestored 41 year old car goes I would have to call the body and underbody: EXCELLENT. The glass is very good. The windshield has a windshield wiper 'rub' on the drivers side, out of the field of view. Not worth replacement of the windshield unless you are going full resto. Really good driver quality glass. ALL windows roll up and down as intended (rears are stiff from not being used , but they work fine). The door latches and locks all work great. The left door has some hinge pin drop and at some point it wore the metal around the door latch so some one used... I don't know what to shore it up (some sort of epoxy). At any rate that is very common and you can buy the door latch patch from Dearborn classics to properly repair that and it's holding up very well any way. The door does work fine and lines up nice. When we bought it the dash pad in it at the time was "mummified". After a long search we located one (@$375.00!!). It is very nice with one VERY small pencil tip sized hole in it and it would be an easy vinyl repair, or leave it alone the thing looks good now. the headliners a goner, needs a new one ($110.00). The front seat needs to be re apholstered or replaced as well. The lights ,blinkers, emergency flashers, dome light, dash lights, heater (brand new heater core, fun!), cigar lighter ALL WORK! The horn and wiper blades do not, the wipers need a new motor and the drivers side wiper arm needs to be repaired or replaced, the switch and wiring are fine,the horn button needs to be replaced, easy stuff, I have had bigger fish to fry. (it's been a rain X summer!). The ash tray has never been used. I don't see the tell tale signs of smoking in the car either. The car starts right up, no ticks, knocking or smoke. Runs really well and strong. Not a fresh motor by any means but still running good.It has stock single exhaust complete out the back with a turbo muffler on it. It's quiet but it's very throaty, the thing sounds really tough!. Funny enough the 302 likes this type of exhaust in stock form, so it works out really good. Ticker shows 10,000 miles so 110,000 miles looks about right to me. The clutch had been replaced by the guy I got the car from, however he didn't re surface or replace the flywheel, so it has a good case of "Ford shuttering clutch" on launch. It grabs great no slippage at all. Personally I would just install a C-4 Automatic in it. The brakes work great, no pulling, pulsating or other nonsense. All in all the car is a blast to drive. It's suprisingly quick, handles great (in a muscle car kind of way :D !) and I can't get through town with out some one stopping me to talk about it. I now know everyone in my town!. This thing turns heads! Also included in the auction are the ORIGINAL:Powertrain warranty card, powertrain warranty registration form, warranty facts booklet,"helpful hints for a safer ride" fold out with "send help" fold out sign. 1970 ford consumers guide, and the original REGISTERED owners manual. Very cool stuff. This is everything I know about this car. No suprises. It has current registration and is being daily driven. It's the real deal. Thanks for looking. See pics!!