1962 Mercury S-55: the debut year

Mercury's first S-55 for 1962 was a bucket-seat Monterey Custom hardtop and convertible. Wikipedia describes it as offered with the 390-cu-in V8 as its base engine and the 406-cu-in V8 as an optional big block, the 390 rated at either 300 or 330 hp and the 406 at either 385 or 405 hp. That base-engine statement is contested by the factory's own folder, which prints the Monterey 292 V-8 as standard; the two are set side by side in this record's conflicts section. This record's own title and dek describe the S-55 as a bucket-seat variant of the Monterey Custom, distinguishing it from the plainer Monterey trims beneath it in the 1962 lineup.¹

Production is given as 2,772 two-door hardtops and 1,315 convertibles, figures on which two independent sources, Wikipedia's own S-55 table and a separate conceptcarz specification page, agree exactly for both body styles, an agreement this record's own production note describes as resting on what appears to be a single underlying lineage rather than two genuinely independent counts. This record's own production note states that the two body-style figures sum to 4,087 for the S-55 as a whole, since the hardtop and convertible were the only two body styles offered for the year, with no third variant to account for. Context from the same conceptcarz page gives all 1962 Montereys, including the Custom and S-55 trims together, at 106,809, a figure this record's own note treats as the denominator against which the much smaller S-55 total sits rather than a number the S-55 rows should be checked against directly, since the two describe different, nested populations rather than competing counts of the same cars.^1,2

Prices are given for both S-55 body styles: $3,488 for the two-door hardtop and $3,738 for the convertible, a $250 spread between the two, both figures tabulated as list prices rather than as-delivered or optioned totals. The 390 V8 carries two SAE gross ratings, 300 hp and 330 hp, and the optional 406 V8 carries its own two SAE gross ratings, 385 hp and 405 hp, with this record's own engine notes leaving the exact configuration distinguishing each pair of ratings undocumented beyond what the source itself states, so this record carries both figures for each engine side by side rather than assigning one to a specific carburetor or exhaust configuration.¹

A Lincoln-Mercury sales folder for the Monterey S-Fifty-Five, form LM62-132, now supplies part of the equipment picture as marketing material. It names the 292 V-8 with Multi-Drive Merc-O-Matic as standard, the 352 and 390 V-8s as extra-cost options with either a 4-speed manual or Merc-O-Matic, and a Marauder V-8 of 385 hp and a Marauder 406 V-8 of 405 hp as limited-edition engines on special order with the 4-speed manual. It also lists console-controlled power windows, a driver-side power seat and a concealed radio speaker in the convertible seat back, and prints a standard-equipment list that includes bucket seats, a console with the selector lever, an electric clock and back-up lights.

The folder gives no prices, no option codes, no dimensions and no production figures, so the options carry no price and the specifications carry only what it states. Its only named exterior color is Carnival red, shown with a red crush-vinyl interior on both models, and it says only that the S-Fifty-Five offers a choice of six interior color combinations without naming the others, so the paint and interiors lists hold one entry each. No performance-test data and no identification detail were found, and a folder describes what was offered rather than what was built, so a given 1962 S-55's actual drivetrain still cannot be reconstructed from this record alone.