For starters, we need to address the elephant in the room. Aside from the obvious jokes that we are presented with a Monterey (car) that is for sale in Monterey (city), the atmosphere is of utmost importance with this one. Never mind the pristine looks – these are a given since the consigner mentions it was rebuilt to mirror the original specs.

How about a Mercury Monterey Woody Wagon that screams relaxing summer road trips? Complete with a stroll down memory lane back to the long-gone decades when life was simpler? And with the autographs of The Beach Boys, Chubby Checker, Dick Clark, and Christopher Knight – the actor who played Peter Brady in the Brady Bunch.

Now that’s what you call an automotive star. And it’s up for grabs at no reserve if you can imagine that. It belongs to the Jim Zanardi Collection, which has all sorts of wonders produced in between the 1930s and ’60s. But aside from the 1961 Jaguar XK150 Fixed Head Coupe, which is an AACA National First Prize holder, the Monterey could be considered chief among them.

After all, it was Mercury’s flagship model for 1955, and this unit is seen here dressed up in Turquoise over a cloth and vinyl upholstery interior is also as rare as it gets thanks to an interesting detail. Probably just to make sure those summer road trips can be enjoyed alongside as many people as possible; this example was also fitted with the third-row seat option.

Right now, the estimate for the auction in Monterey (August 12th through 14th) isn’t exactly overwhelming. Perhaps a $50,000 to $60,000 quotation might sound like much, but let’s remember that we are dealing with an incredible piece of memorabilia that harks back to a bygone era.