1media/1954_Mercury_Monterey-thumb.jpg2020-08-11T14:14:26-07:00Anne-Marie Maxwell326ac6eff123bb3f77fb517c66299be8b435b479375146plain2020-08-22T18:54:11-07:00Curtis Fletcher3225f3b99ebb95ebd811595627293f68f680673eHenry Ford’s son, Edsel, founded the Mercury division in 1939 to offer consumers a mid-level car that had more features than the entry-level Ford brand vehicles but was more affordable than the luxury Lincoln line. In 1954 the company began selling a limited-edition sports coupe called the Sun Valley that had a transparent, green-tinted Plexiglas roof. In addition to the aerodynamic hood ornament, a series of ribs on the side body evoked the Streamline Moderne architecture of the Pan-Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles, where many new cars debuted over the years.