Back in the 1960s the factories could build just about any combination of components — if you knew someone. The gentleman that ordered this one-of-a-kind 1966 Mercury Parklane Q-Code, powered by the Police Interceptor 428 V8, with a multitude of options including the rare factory Child seat, didn’t have that advantage. So when his order was rejected by Ford, he called headquarters in Dearborn, and eventually spoke to Lee Iacocca himself. Iacocca finally relented and made a phone call, order accepted. This Mercury was recently purchased from that original owner, has just 43,300.9 miles on the odometer, and is completely original, right down to the factory windshield washer fluid. It is now part of The Automobile Gallery museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and will be a future Photo Feature in Collectible Automobile magazine.

We photographed this spectacular 1977 Ford LTD II for Collectible Automobile magazine in July. This beautiful Ford has only 24,000 miles (38,624 km) on it and is completely original, including the factory CB radio and antenna. The current owner just purchased this car from the original owner.

This was our first opportunity using the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 85mm f1.8G lens we recently purchased. The goal of automobile photography is to make the vehicle look as good as possible, and for nearly 40 years I’ve been looking for the perfect solution to separate the vehicle from the foreground and background. When we were photographing with a 4×5 view camera, I used 210mm and 305mm lenses, which are equivalent to 70mm and 100mm lenses in 35mm format. These came close to the “bokeh” I was looking for, but even with careful tilts and swings, I often had to stop down too much to fully blur the background while leaving the vehicle sharp.

Quite simply, the Nikon AF-S Nikon 85mm f1.8G⎘ lens is a dream come true! Look for these photographs in a 2023 issue of Collectible Automobile⎘ magazine.

On a 98°F (36.6°C) evening in June, we photographed this unusual 1974 Mercury Montego MX Station Wagon for Collectible Automobile magazine. With 66,886 miles (107,642 km) on the odometer, this unrestored wagon is very well preserved. Look for this Mercury Montego in the February 2023 issue of Collectible Automobile⎘ magazine.

Photos

Images © 2022 Tom & Kelly Glatch – All Rights Reserved