Molly the Mercury by Jonathan Mott

January-February 2025

The story of my 1955 Mercury Montclair convertible starts in 2009. At the time I was living in Indiana working with my father Glenn Mott. We would travel around the state selling insurance.

In July of that year I was in Cloverdale Indiana. I turned down a wrong street and as I was about to turn around, I saw an old-fashioned body shop. Setting out front I saw a 1956 Ford Sunliner project with a for sale sign on it. I immediately pulled over and called my father. I told him what I just discovered and told him where I was. He was on his way to look at the car.

While I was waiting for my father to arrive I went into the body shop and asked the owner if I could look at his ‘56 Ford that was for sale. He nicely replied “Absolutely” while he stepped out of a mostly-restored 1956 Victoria 2-door hardtop. The gentleman, Dick Snyder, was installing an interior in it.

I said thank you and as I started to head back outside toward the Sunliner I noticed a partially restored 1954 Ford convertible project and a lot of FoMoCo parts laying around.  I asked Mr. Snyder where he got all these cool cars and parts. He said, “That’s nothing. I got more at home.”

By that time my father was pulling up. My Dad and I was intently looking at the ‘56 Sunliner project. We spent about an hour going over it. After we finished looking at the project, Mr. Snyder, appreciating our enthusiasm for the cars, invited us to his and his wife’s home.

While pulling onto their property we saw several 1954-1956 Ford and Mercury cars. Crowns, Convertibles. Close to his shop I saw a green 1955 Mercury convertible, unrestored and complete sitting outside. It was pretty rusty and that made me sad. I said that I really liked the way the car looked.

He opened his shop and sitting inside was a long double row of restored cars. I remember about 25 cars. He had two 1956 Glass tops and a 1955 Glass top crown and a 1955 Mercury Sunvalley mixed with a 1955 Ford Sunliner and a 1956 Ford Sunliner.

Then near the back of the shop I saw it.

Sitting next to a red and white 1956 Mercury Montclair convertible was an unrestored red and white 1955 Mercury Montclair convertible. Solid original survivor. I, with Mr. Snyder’s permission, was inside and out of that car, around it, in the trunk, and under the hood. I asked Mr. Snyder about the car. He told me that “it was made in Los Angeles, California, and spent most of its life in Modesto, California.” The solid body and shiny original chrome spoke to it being the case.

The car had power steering and brakes, power seat, and power windows. It also had an option that I had never heard of before - a chassis automatic lubrication system. It had a button on the dash you would push and a blue light that lights up when the lube job was complete. It had a 3-speed on the column with overdrive.

I fell in love with that car and thought of it often in the following years.

Several years later my father and I traveled to Illinois to visit our good friend Danny Calton. The three of us drove down to Cloverdale, Indiana and visited Mr. and Mrs. Snyder. It was a great day. By this time Mr. Snyder had gotten sick. He was excited to show us his cars again and talk about Fords and Mercurys. A few months later Danny informed me of the sad news that Dick had passed. He and I spent a lot of time on the phone talking about memories of Dick and what a great contribution he and Jenny had made to the club and the hobby.

A few more months passed and Danny told me that Jenny was starting to sell off some of the cars they had acquired and restored together. I talked to my wife Mary and asked what she thought if we were to buy that Red Mercury Montclair convertible. She knew I liked it and being a great wife she supported me in it.

I contacted Jenny and asked about the car. She gave me a fair price, so I agreed to purchase it. This was in December of 2020. In April of 2021 my father and I drove from Idaho to Indiana with my 1977 Ford F-250 and my trailer to Indiana to meet Jenny and pick up the car. Before I arrived there Danny spent some time getting the car to run and figure out what I had. Danny being  a great guy was more than happy to help.

I got the car home in April of 2021. I called Dan Jessup and he walked me through how to rebuild the Tea-Pot carb. I changed the points and condenser, plugs and wires. I put on a new factory-style exhaust and a new convertible top and top motor and rams. I put new tires on it. I redid the brakes, wheel cylinders, lines, and shoes.

I got everything working and running great and have driven the car a lot. It turns every head about. My wife and I have enjoyed the car. We named it Molly the Mercury.