It may not look like much, but this big red convertible is a very special car! At first glance, some of you probably thought it was a Mercury, but it’s actually a Meteor (Canada’s own take on Ford’s full-size). Quite a few were produced, but this is one of just four cars built specifically for car shows and press events. Those four convertibles were also the only ones equipped with the S-33 Sports Package, a 428 V8, and a 4-speed transmission! If that doesn’t get your blood pumping, nothing will. Find it here on eBay where bidding started at $19.67 with no reserve!

It’s hard to imagine that someone would leave such a special car for dead, but that is exactly what happened. After the car made its rounds on the circuit, it was purchased by a fellow who used it as their daily transportation for almost a decade. When they purchased a new car though, the Montcalm was negated to the backyard where the tin worm moved in and a tree grew up through the fender.

Here’s some of the proof provided of the car’s past. The Early Production Vehicle tag is still in place and there are some other features that would only be found on a show car like this. The seller has provided a scan of the Marti report which verifies the claim too. This also proves that the seller’s wife is very cool because she purchased the car as a wedding gift for him in 2005!

Luckily, he knew that they had something special and tried to preserve it the best they could. He got it running and stopping and although he didn’t get much further than that, he did save it from deteriorating even further. There’s the heart of this beast! It’s a 428 Super Marauder V8 and is the same high-performance engine that’s found in the mighty Mercury S-55.

And there’s the 4-speed! Just imagine how fun it would be to row through the gears in this big boat. For some reason manufacturers didn’t build a lot of big-block full-size convertibles with manual transmissions. I love the idea though and obviously Ford thought the combination was cool enough to use on their show cars.

This Canuck may look a little scruffy, but it truly is a gem in the rough. Just try to find a Mercury with the same spec. The early production car history makes this one even better. It’s going to need a lot of metal work, but the end result will be stunning and truly something special!