1956 Mercury
Mercury is a car bred for performance. Bowling for 1939, its mission was to get a slice of lower medium- price market that Ford Motor Company had been missing. Slightly bigger and heavier than Ford V-8,
it also got a larger 239-cid flathead rated at 95 bhp, so it developed a reputation as a hot car.
At Mercury, 1956 was the year of "THE BIG M". This was announced boldly on the hood, and there were changes underneath it to back up the advertising hype. The custom ragtop cost $ 2712
Displacement rose to 312 cubes for the facelifted '56s.Initially, 255 bhp was to be tops. This turned up as a mid-year option with a pair of four-barrel carbs and a kick in compresion to 9.75:1, which rendered 260 horsepower. Approximately named M-260, the setup was heralded by small chrome plates on the front fenders.
All '56 Mercurys were energized by a 312 V-8, which in the Custom shown here cranked out 210 or 225 horsepower, the first with the rerely chosen stick shift, the second with the much more popular Merc-O-Matic. In mid-year, the M-260, a 260-horse 312 with a 9.75:1 squeeze and twin four-barrel carbs became an option for all models. The brochure hyped "THE BIG M" -- in bold capital letters -- while ads talked about the "usable" power from its "SAFETY- SURGE V-8."
The '56 Merc held its ground as one of Detroit's hottest cars.