Join us for a scenic tour of Kingston, Jamaica and the area in the 1960 Mercury, the machine FoMoCo modestly called “the best-built car in America today.”

What does your car dream about on a dreary winter day? A vacation getaway to the sunny Caribbean, of course. Or at least that’s what one family’s Mercury is mulling over, according to the Lincoln-Mercury division of the Ford Motor Company. With this fun, if somewhat corny gimmick, we are treated to a travelogue-style introduction to Mercury for 1960 with Kingston, Jamaica as the scenic backdrop.

After several years of multiple-wheelbase platforms at Mercury, the ’60 lineup was simplified with all three models—Monterey, Montclair, and Park Lane—now sharing  the same perimeter-frame chassis with 126-inch wheelbase. The exterior styling was new, too, and credited to A.B. “Buzz” Grisinger, an industry veteran who’d  previously worked for Chrysler, Willys, and  Kaiser-Frazer and eventually became chief stylist at Lincoln-Mercury division. Mercury called the ’60 look “Sleek-Line Styling.”

Buyers could choose from three available engines for ’60: a 312 cubic-inch Y-block mill with 205 hp in the base Monterey, joined by 383 and 430 CID V8s from the unusual MEL engine family (see our feature on the MEL V8 here). The big 430 CID V8 with 315 hp featured a 10:1 compression ratio and required premium fuel, but curiously, it was equipped with a Carter ABD two-barrel carburetor—a combination shared by Lincoln as well. In those days, Mercurys were marketed under the modest slogan, “the best-built car in America today.” Check out all the attractive features in the video below.