1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser Two-Door Hardtop. Mercurys were all new for 1957, and their advertising campaign emphasized "Dream Car Design". Mercury's styling was in fact inspired by the XM-Turnpike Cruiser show car of 1956, and their new top of the line series bore the Turnpike Cruiser name. The Turnpike Cruisers were "Glitz and Gimmick" from beginning to end, featuring "skylight dual curve windshields", drop-down reverse slant rear windows, and dual air intakes over the A-posts housing little horizontal antennae. There were also optional "Seat-O-Matic" power seats adjusting to 49 different positions at the twist of two dials. Not to be outdone by Chrysler, another "Space Age" Cruiser standard feature was a pushbutton automatic transmission. A convertible Cruiser was chosen as the pace car for the Indianapolis 500 that year. The Turnpike Cruiser convertible was the most expensive Mercury that year at $ 4,103. The Cruiser Hardtop Coupe as shown in Ken's photo was $ 3,758. For comparison purposes, a Mercury Monterey Hardtop Coupe was $ 2,693, over a $ 1,000 less!!!!All Mercurys rode the same 122 inch wheelbase. The standard Mercury powerplant was the 312 cubic inch V-8 rated at 255 horses. The Turnpike Cruisers were powered by Mercury's 368 cubic inch engine developing 290 horsepower. All Cruiser production for the year was 16,861. Inspite of all the hipe and gadgetry, these "Space Age" Cruisers turned out to be a dismal sales failure for Mercury. However, as a Classic of the Fifties, all those gadgets and "space age" features today make these Cruisers very popular with Collectors.
