The XM-800 from Mercury was an advanced design show car featuring daring styling elements including severely sloping front fender tips, forward-facing windshield posts, large bullet-tipped bumper tips, and full-width concave grille.

It sat just 55.6 inches high, was equipped with small fins atop the quarter panels (the first ever for any Ford vehicle) and had a functional hood scoop. Created in fiberglass, the Pearlescent White with Copper roof car had four bucket seats  (a dramatic feature for its time) and miniature XM-800s were found in boxes of Post Grape Nut Flakes cereal in 1954 and '55.