Wide Load

Wayne Graefen is the CarPort's Texas ranger. He roams the range in search of interesting automobiles, and this time he's come up with a 1960 Mercury Park Lane Crusier hardtop coupe. It is, says Wayne, "one of those '60 Ford products that were federally illegal to be on the highway due to width."

Indeed, the full size 1960 Mercurys were, at 81-1/2 inches in overall width, tied with the big Fords (and short-lived Edsels) as fattest cars of the year. Wayne's recollection is that a Federal 80-inch width limit forced Ford Motor Company to put the cars on a crash diet. Slimmer, 79.9-inch '61 Fords and Mercs were the result, supporting this line of thinking.

It's not so simple, though. Ford and Mercury were not the only 1960 cars to break the 80-inch barrier. According to the annual Statistical Issue of Automotive Industries, there were five other over-80 makes: brother Lincoln at 80.3, Imperial at 80.5, Olds at 80.6 and even Chevrolet (80.8). Interestingly, Wide-Track Pontiac, while keeping the industry-unique 64-inch tread dimension first seen in 1959, was, at 80.7 inches, a tad narrower than Chevy. Moreover, Mercury, Lincoln, Imperial and all GM cars except Chevy were 80-plus in 1959.

All FoMoCo makes retreated below 80 inches in 1961, Lincoln to 78.6. Chev and Pontiac were 78.4 and 78.2 respectively (and Pontiac, while advertising "Wide-Track" well beyond 1961, actually narrowed the tread dimension to 62.5 inches). Imperial, however, was not to be constrained, shamelessly puffing up its cars to an unprecedented 81.7-inch width from 1961 to 1963.

Trivialists my wonder what was the narrowest car of 1960. Automotive Industries tells us that, too: Corvair at 66.9 inches. Interestingly, Corvair also had the least overall height, 52.8 inches. Tallest cars were Lincoln and the Pontiac Catalina, tied at 58.4 inches. (Note that by March 15, 1960, AI had already forgotten the Edsel.)

I'm not quite sure what to make of the Federal limit. Although today we have Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, administered by the US Department of Transportation, in 1960 there was no such thing. Most motor vehicle regulations were administered by the states. The only 80-inch stricture I've found is a requirement for clearance lights and identification lights on certain wide vehicles. The lighting regulations have been around for a long time, the nickname "ICC lights" coming from the US Government body, the Interstate Commerce Commission, that required them.

I'm not sure if you'd be ticketed for driving a 1960 Mercury on the road today. I've worked out a remedy, though, for those who may be apprehensive. Wayne, your street legal '60 Merc is ready!