For the car shoppers of 1956 who wanted the prestige of a premium car without the costly premium features, Mercury offered the stripped-down Medalist.

As we’ve noted before here at Mac’s Motor City Garage, all through the ’50s the Ford Motor Company constantly adjusted the product line of the Mercury division, searching for the sweet spot in the competitive mid-priced range. In 1955 the brand was shifted upmarket with the well-equipped Montclair (see our feature here). Then in September of 1955, Mercury reversed course and headed downmarket with the stripped-down 1956 Medalist.

Nowadays, the industry term is “de-contented.” Priced at $2,254 for a two-door post sedan, the Medalist came in at $60 more than a Ford Fairlane hardtop, but $100 less than a Mercury Custom, the next step up on the Mercury product ladder. “Now, it’s easier than ever for you to move up to Mercury size, power, and luxury at a new low cost,” the brochure declared.

The Medalist rode on the same 119-in wheelbase chassis as the rest of the Mercury line, powered by a standard 312 cubic-inch Y-Block V8 with a Holley teapot four-barrel carburetor and 210 hp. Also standard was a three-on-the tree manual transmission, with the Merc-O-Matic automatic available at extra cost. (The rated power then rose to 225 hp.) More than 90 percent of the Mercury owners  in ’56 chose the automatic,  though how many penny-wise Medalist buyers opted in is not known.

Where the Medalist distinguished itself from the rest of the Mercury line was in its plainness. Bumper guards were omitted and much of the exterior bright metal trim as well, giving the base model a look more like a Ford Customline than a Mercury. The all-vinyl upholstery was remarkably basic (see above), and in lieu of carpeting the floor covering was a rubber mat.

Traditionally, car salesmen had no love for the Motor City’s bare-bones base models with their thin markups. One slang term was ” a heater and keys,” though often, even the heater was an extra-cost option. Still, dealers heavily advertised the base models in radio and newspapers, hoping to lure in shoppers with the low price and then upsell them to a more respectably equipped model—the old bait-and-switch.

The two-door sedan was soon joined by a four-door sedan, and two-door and four-door pillarless hardtops were introduced to the line as well. (Mercury labeled its four-door hardtop the Phaeton, a term usually associated with open body styles.) Meanwhile, an extra slash of stainless trim was added to the front fenders and doors. Naturally, the pillarless body styles pushed the base prices north, to $2,389 for the two-door and $2,458 for the Phaeton.

In hindsight, Mercury didn’t really need four distinct trim levels in ’56, especially with the Medalist and Custom so similar—and the Medalist less profitable, one can guess. For 1957, the Medalist was dropped and the model line reduced to three with the Monterey on the bottom. However, the Medalist did make one furtive return to the Mercury lineup in 1958 (below), still as a stripped-down base model, but it too was discontinued after a single year.