The Mercury XM-800 is a concept car created by Mercury and first introduced at the 1954 Chicago Auto Show . In newspaper publicity at its 1954 debut, in Chicago and elsewhere, it was presented with its full name, Mercury Monterey XM-800. The XM, or experimental Mercury, "push car" (meaning that it was not drivable) went the 1954 US auto show circuit season. Although it was promoted by Ford as an "advanced design, engineered to go into volume production,” the XM 800 never passed the concept phase.
7-461: The show car was designed by John Najjar . He was also responsible for the 1955 Lincoln Futura show car and the mid-engine Ford Mustang I experimental sports car of 1962. Much of the car's appearance and styling cues were later used on the Lincoln Premiere , Lincoln Capri , Mercury Montclair , Ford Crown Victoria , and other Ford and Mercury products during the mid-1950s. The concept model
14-426: A designer for Ford for over 40 years. He worked with E. T. Gregorie, George Walker, Elwood Engel, Gene Bordinat, and Lee Iacocca . For many years his work was centered on futuristic show cars whose revolutionary features later appeared in many Ford , Lincoln and Mercury vehicles. The Advanced Styling Studio developed the 1962 Ford Mustang I concept car - so named because of Najjar's love for its namesake,
21-635: The North American P-51 Mustang fighter plane. His design contributions span decades and include the M4A3 Sherman tank and B-24 bomber in the 1940s, the 1957-58 Lincoln Continentals , the Mercury XM-800 , the LevaCar concept Najjar also co-designed jointly with fellow Ford Motor Company stylist Bill Schmidt the groundbreaking Lincoln Futura , a futuristic concept car, which debuted at
28-453: The campus's student newspaper gives details of the then-recent donation, stating that the vehicle "was styled by William Schmidt of Mercury." After the automotive school closed, the show car was auctioned to a private individual who stored in a barn, but never returned. It was sold again and stored for almost 30 years before being sold on 2008. The car was restored and made operational and finally drove under its own power in 2009. Subsequently,
35-493: The car was auctioned in 2010 for $ 429,000. It was shown at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show . John Najjar John Najjar ( Arabic : جون نجار ; ( 1918-11-11 ) November 11, 1918 – ( 2011-01-06 ) January 6, 2011) was an American designer and executive stylist at Ford Motor Company . He is credited for having co-designed the first prototype of the Ford Mustang known as Ford Mustang I with Philip T. Clark . Najjar
42-549: Was born to a Greek Orthodox Christian Lebanese family in Omaha, Nebraska . He joined Ford Motor Company's Apprentice School in Dearborn, Michigan . While working there as a machinist , he was approached by Henry Ford during a plant tour who asked him if he enjoyed his work. Najjar's response that he'd "rather be drawing cars" led to an invitation for him to add his talents to Ford's newly created Design Center. He continued working as
49-569: Was built by Creative Industries of Detroit on a modified Mercury frame with a 1954 Mercury 312 cu in (5.1 L) V8 engine with dual exhausts. It features a low fiberglass body with much of its trim was also made out of chrome plated fiberglass and an interior with four bucket seats. In early 1957 Ford donated the XM 800 to the University of Michigan 's Automotive Engineering Lab for use in training "future" automotive engineers. A March 1957 article in
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