The ’55 is finally home in the shop after spending last winter under a tarp in Klamath Falls, Oregon. I’ve included some pictures to show what it’s initial condition is upon embarking on this project. This car was purchased in San Jose, California where the original owner had parked it in 1979 upon buying a new car. I obtained the car from a neighbor who acquired the car shortly before the owners passing. The story goes that a tree had to be cut down in order to remove the car from the original owner’s back yard. The car is a time capsule, with everything left in it’s original state including the oil bath air cleaner and bias ply tires.

Unfortunately, the car was left under a tarp for many years, destroying the floorpans from moisture trapped inside the car...

Our goal here with this project is to take a bone stock 1964 Mercury Montclair Marauder 2dr Hardtop Fastback, run it down the dragstrip at nearby Spokane County Raceway to get a baseline timeslip, then make continual subtle improvements so we can monitor progress and see how much the mods are really worth on the strip. We’ll even leave the 8.55-14 snow tires on for the maiden run.

The car still has it’s original H-code 266 horsepower 390 2-barrel. It is backed by the original Merc-O-Matic three speed automatic transmission. This engine was rated at 378 ft-lbs of torque by the manufacturer.

We will have to do some maintenance to the car to make it safe before hurtling it down the tarmac...

See all of the Full Size Fords in attendance in the Photo Gallery!

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