The following car is one of the most beautiful show cars ever made by the Ford Motor Company and designed in the Mercury pre-production studio by John Najjar (studio manager) and Elwood Engle (a consultant assigned to Ford by George Walker's design firm). The concept car is later known as the Ford Mercury XM 800 is first appeared at the 1954 Detroit Auto Show.
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| 1954 Ford Mercury XM 800 sat on display at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3e8paYZ) |
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| 1954 Ford Mercury XM 800 sat on display at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3e8paYZ) |
The body of this car is made of fiberglass and is 5 inches wider than the usual production car model made in 1954. The interior offers four bucket seats, each separated by a stationary armrest. And one of the characteristics of the Mercury XM 800, is dominantly glass use that allows the car passengers to see almost 360 degrees around.
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| 1954 Ford Mercury XM 800 sat on display at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3oGCUyU) |
Although the XM800 was never intended to be a production car, turn-out its profiles such as forward-slanted hooded headlights, sleek covered front wheels, canted taillights that blend nicely with the rear bumper and exhaust are reinterpreted onto the 1956 Lincoln. The XM-800's style also features a concave front grille, wide windshield, and flat-type door handles. Furthermore, for the drivetrain, this concept car uses a 5.112 cc or 312 cubic inch engine which is combined with the Ford-O-Matic transmission system to deliver about 266 PS of power to the rear wheels.
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| 1954 Ford Mercury XM 800 sat on display at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3e8paYZ) |
During 1954 and 1955, the concept car had traveled to various exhibitions and also briefly appeared in the 1954 20th Century Fox production 'Woman's World' titled-movie. Then in 1957, Ford Motor Company gifted the concept car to the University of Michigan's Automotive Engineering Lab, as training material and inspiration for future car designs. Unfortunately, after that the Mercury XM 800's fate dimed when it stranded for years (some said almost ten years) in a farmer's barnyard in a small rural town about 50 miles west-side of Detroit.
Its fate changed suddenly in the 1980s, when Dan Brooks, a classic car enthusiast, discovered and restored every part of the car, including bolts and nuts. Finally, the figure of the XM 800 concept car re-appeared in public and was sat on display nicely among the modern cars on display at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show. Now, the Mercury XM 800 is known to be one of the collections of the Bortz Dream Car Collection and considered one of the most attractive concept cars and could be sold for the US $ 429,000 (approx Rp. 3.85 billion) in an auction event. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | CARSTYLING.RU | AUTOBLOG | ROD AUTHORITY]
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