Mercury Automobile Photo Gallery

Edsel Ford was the man behind the creation of the new line of Mercury cars. He wanted a vehicle to fill the price span between Ford and the Lincoln. similar to the Buick brand at General Motors (and the former Oldsmobile) and the Chrysler Dodge brand. He also wanted cars that were big, trendy, contemporary, and yet affordable.

Initially Edsel had numerous thoughts about a name for this new line of vehicles. After a great deal of deliberation, he settled upon "Mercury" a Roman god the winged fleet-footed messenger of commerce a symbol of eloquence, dependability, skill and speed.

Ford's first chief designer, Bob Gregorie worked hand in hand with Edsel in the development of the first Mercury, which he called the Mercury Eight. It featured a 95-horsepower engine which delivered 10 horsepower over the V-8 Ford, making it a strong machine. From a design point, this Mercury Eight was thought to be one of the most aerodynamic automobiles of the time. Also It was the first production car from Ford using a full-size clay model in the design process. Labeled as the Super Ford, this new Mercury Eight also featured the first double-spoke steering wheel in the industry. Production surpassed 17,000 vehicles in 1939.

By 1941, over 98,000 new Mercury cars were manufactured to meet the staggering demand, making 155,000 vehicles total sold since the Mercury Eight had been introduced. During the years from 1942 through 1945, Mercury halted almost all of its production because of World War II.

After the World war II, Henry Ford subsequently separated Mercury and Ford when he established the Lincoln Mercury division. It was the first time for Mercury to have its own separate vehicles. A consequence of the war, the 1946 Mercury's were only slightly modified versions of 1942 models. 1947 production increase to over 86,000 vehicles. Lincoln Mercury launched their first completely new Mercury vehicles on April 29, 1948.

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1950 saw Mercury with it's highest producing year to date building 344,081 vehicles. Mercury delivered its one-millionth Mercury during August of 1950, truly earning a name for both innovation and performance.

In 1951, Mercury introduced first automatic transmission called a Merc-O-Matic which was added to every model. Other trendy appointments followed suit, including "frenched headlights" (lights flush with the surrounding sheet metal), monopane windshields,, airfoil bumpers, aircraft-style instrument panels, jet-scoop hoods and hidden gas caps.

James Dean was seen driving a custom 1949 Mercury in 1955 in the "Rebel Without A Cause." movie. Mercury dominated the racetrack along with the sales charts as the 50's closed out. Today, all Mercury models are built upon Ford platforms.

1939 Mercury Sedan

1940 Mercury Coupe - The Sedan Coupe had bright metal frames for the door and rear side windows. Power was supplied by a 95hp V8 engine.

1941 Mercury Tudor Sedan

1942 Mercury Sedan

1946 Mercury Coupe

1947 Mercury Convertible

1948 Mercury 4 door sedan

1949 Mercury Coupe - Mercury Gallery
1949 Mercury Coupe - The 1949 Mercury was completely and dramatically restyled. This two door sedan is a great example of the new design. While the wheelbase remained at 118 inches the overall length grew about a few inches to roughly 206 inches. A 110hp V8 engine and manual transmission were standard.