What do you do with an old sedan that is missing an engine and maybe other hard-to-find parts, and has some rust issues here and there? That is the question for this 1948 Mercury sedan for sale on Facebook Marketplace in Portland, Michigan. The seller is looking for a home for this wayward Mercury but is unsure of its exact year. Would you be willing to pay the $1,500 asking price for this forlorn Mercury? What would you do with it once you got it home? Part it out? Sell the trim and bumpers and make it a street rod? Find it a Flathead, clean it up, and get it back on the road somehow? Is there a right answer for this car? Thanks again Ted for the tip on this Mercury!
Okay, here is the text of the ad: “Believe to be a 1948 it is a mercury eight no motor does have a transmission unsure of what it is would be a really badass project car has the suicide doors frame is solid needs some body work and a good paint job. All four tires do hold air to push it around and get it on a trailer. Lmk if u have any question.”
While my universal translator is broken, I do believe we can get some information from that text. First off, it would make sense that there is no title with the car if they believe it is a 1948 Mercury. 1946 through 1948 Mercury cars were almost identical in appearance, and if you didn’t have a title, you would be just guessing. Not having the title is perfectly fine in some situations. A handful of states do not even title vehicles built before a certain date. Everything is handled on a bill of sale. Of course, it would be nice to hear some backstory on how they got the car, how long it was hidden away, where the motor went, etc.
The missing motor would not be a big issue either. While Flathead V-8s destined to live under the hoods of new 1946-1948 Mercury cars had the same displacement and horsepower as those in Ford automobiles, a Mercury block can be identified by the serial number at the rear of the block by the transmission. Finding a suitable engine if you were going the return to the stock route would be Facebook Marketplace easy, and anyone interested enough would have a difficult time figuring out the serial number on your replacement block was incorrect as long as you used a 1946 through 1948 block. Or you could use the missing engine as an excuse to put an entirely different block in the car. I think you would have to replace the transmission too, as 1948 was the last year that Ford cast the bell housing with the Flathead block. Maybe there is an adaptor out there to mount an earlier transmission to a different engine of your choosing. Are there any Ford experts who can comment on this?
The last major comment says that the frame is solid, but it needs some rust repair and paint. Here is where you come to a fork in the road and have to take it. Would you want this car to be a street rod or would you want to return it to stock? Sad to say that 1946-1948 Mercury sedans aren’t worth a whole lot even when completely restored. They are nice cars and make wonderful vehicles to tour with, but you will never come close to recouping any investment in this car. It may even have been a parts car with what we know.
It seems that you would get a pass from the authenticity gods if you made this one into a street rod. Maybe strip off the chrome and any other parts you could sell to generate some money to purchase formerly loved parts. Then, start looking for the proper junkyard donor car to provide an engine, transmission, rear end, and maybe a set of seats. Weld up the trim holes, lead out some of the seams, and make yourself a budget street rod. I wouldn’t do anything crazy, just a good drivetrain and some improvements to make it look nice. A $1,500 asking price could probably be whittled down a bit more, and there are a lot of old Crown Vics out there to serve as donor cars. Determined people have done a lot more with less.
What would you do with this Mercury? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
Maybe that engine wound up in my ’32 Ford five window. Had one in it. I’d go the street rod route but l sure wouldn’t go weld up all the trim holes. One thing unique about the Mercury was it’s vast trim package.
The hood and front fenders are a different paint scheme than the remainder of the car. It would seem probable that this too was a parts car with no intrinsic value to the owner.
Given the time and money this really would make for a neat restomod using the body with a restored dash on an updated Crown Vic platform and appropriate hot V8 drivetrain..
Looks like a car for Ian Rousell!
Very Volvo 444/544 styling!!
Can someone put me in touch with this person via text messaging at 423 470 9200. Please. Don’t do the Facebook thing.
Might be a good candidate to convert to a DIY electric vehicle.
Ok I get it some people just don’t really want to deal with things like this personally if I was the seller I would post it on barn finds auction or another auction site with the $1500 reserve and see what happens.
I would part with the money if it wasn’t in Michigan. That’s just too far for me.
As long as no one put a GM engine in her? I’m good with whatever way the buyer would want to go. These barrel backs are an interesting body style, for sure.
Wash and clean everything inside and out, salvage yard F150 Coyote V8, 8 speed automatic, 9” rear end and upgraded disc brakes..
Widened steel stock style wheels with fatter tires. And that’s it..
Maybe a Vintage Air A/C later.
It would be more ‘stealth’ than “sleeper” considering the weight but would still be a riot in green light getaways and hood popping at car shows.
I restored one just like this several years ago for a country western singer out of Colorado. Turned out beautiful but wasn’t worth what it cost to restore. Customer offered to sell it to me last year for $18000. but I just have too many cars now to purchase it, and not enough inside storage that it would deserve.
I forgot to mention I still have two of the parts cars out back that I used when restoring the 48 Merc. but I picked up a couple 47-48 Ford coupes and those sedans might come in handy for parts.
I never evaluated a classic/antique/vintage car based on what I’d get in return on my “investment”. If a car was a dream for me, and I had the money to spend to get it to how it should work be, I’d just do it. Many cars that mean EVERYTHING to me would not be “valuable” (Monetarily…) If I could, I’d pay MAD MONEY for a 1971 Buick Electra 225 FOUR DOOR hardtop in 100% stock,mint condition. This car “speaks” to someone..Even IF it gets a modern drive train, I hope it’s saved!
You could get the shockies off a Canadian Mercury and make a replica of the “Grey Ghost”, the car that “Gelignite” Jack Murray won the 1954 Redex Trial in!
I think Jack Murray’s car was a 46 Ford, not a Mercury. BIDSTBC
The caption to the photograph on page 17 of Phil Murray’s book reads: “… atop the Grey Ghost, a 1948 Canadian Ford V8 which had already done 54,000 miles when Jack bought it for £700 in early 1954.”
The Mercury part of it is derived from my memory; probably available in written form somewhere.
A 1946 Mercury (No.122) was driven by Angus Cameron and Gordon Wallace in the 1954 Redex
I am going to comment on this ,but I know I shouldn’t. Because I am going to be honest and tell you exactly what this car is and what you could do with it. It is junk ,rusted metal and a few salvageable early Mercury Parts and that if you were very lucky it might be worth 150 bucks, but probably not. I know you all think you are car guys and experts on all things automotive. It has become your mission in life to save all these “automotive things” for the good of mankind and to pass on this absurd dedication to others no matter the consequence or the cost. Even though none of you have actually restored or built a car.
Otherwise you would know that time and money are very real and they are key to if you can even begin to take on this project to save automotive history and the world.
This is all very frustrating, what I am trying to say is if someone actually reads your comments ,as I just did ,It makes one think what planet or universe are these folks in, that this could possibly make sense.
Maybe another reason I find this so strange and totally bat crazy is I just got home from 12 hours at Barrett-Jackson. Maybe everyone is crazy?