Okay, so it’s lowered just a bit. It still looks like Grandma Anne’s Mercury wagon has just seen the light of day after sitting in the garage ever since she stopped driving in 1991. Cream colored paint, tan interior, road trip stickers, a roof rack that wasn’t gonna hold jack squat and chintzy wheel covers…there was a Zephyr, Fairmont or LTD wagon just like this in every town I ever lived in growing up. Commonplace? Try ubiquitous…they really were everywhere for a long time, right down to the 3.3L inline six and C-4 automatic transmission.

Except that simply isn’t the case here. This Mercury is one of the sweetest sleepers we’ve seen in a while, simply because if it weren’t for the B&M Pro Stick, two auxiliary gauges, seriously wider rubber, and 302 V8 under the hood, you’d never know what hit you. And even where there is a modification, everything except the gauges and shifter is hidden under a stock veneer. Would you have noticed the tires if I didn’t point them out? Probably not. You might miss other interesting bits, like the line-lock that uses the column automatic shifter to work, or that the 302 looks dead-on stock, just polished up and pretty? Whoever built this car, kudos…it’s fantastic so long as it ain’t running. Because once the key turns, the ruse is completely up, cutouts opened or closed. Nobody is buying the sleeper trick after that.

(Courtesy: Bring A Trailer)