Some of the best looking trucks were designed and built in the early 1950s, obviously style is subjective, but just take a look at this 1951 Mercury M1 survivor. Now try and tell me it isn’t a great looking rig with some fantastic styling! This Mercury is based on the Ford F1, but with a few minor changes to trim. It is one of only 3,809 built for the Canadian market and chances are it’s one of only a handful still remaining. The previous owner restored it a few years ago and it still looks to be in great condition. It’s being offered here on eBay in Cavalier, North Dakota with a current bid of $8,900 and no reserve.
Powering this sweet truck is a flathead V8 which is said to be the original engine. It’s received a full rebuild already and is in working order, as is the 3-speed column shift transmission. The seller states that they have about 1,500 miles on them since the rebuild, so they should have many years of use ahead of them!
The interior is spartan, but that’s how ’50s trucks are meant to be. It’s in beautiful condition and ready for use. Besides there Mercury badge on the steering wheel, I don’t see any real differences from its Ford sibling. This truck should prove to be a great conversation starter, as there aren’t many of these floating around here in the States.
Given the rarity and overall condition, it’s surprising the bidding isn’t higher but there’s still a day left to go. It will be interesting to see how much it goes for! It might end up being a fantastic deal for anyone looking for an awesome truck! Think, you’d have the only Mercury M1 around, but you could get parts at just about any parts store in the country. So would you hit the road in this truck?
One difference would be that the Mercury trucks had the larger displacement Mercury family engine.
Nice truck! From ’51 onwards the Fords and Mercurys were nearly identical with the exception that Mercury came std. with the deluxe cab and paint scheme (black fenders). If you didn’t want those things then it was a delete option. I recently found out that you could actually get a Mercury pickup with the 239 but it was a ‘delete’ option as well. Very few took advantage of that. In the south part of Alberta and northern Montana I saw lots of Mercury pickups but never saw one with the smaller motor. I got into some discussion with a couple of Canadians in an antique truck publication over that so I did some research which put me in touch with a former mechanic who worked for the Mercury dealership 10 miles north of the border into Canada, and he told me about the delete option. Mercury wanted to retain its edge over Ford….
Gorgeous truck! I’ll be highly surprised if this sells under $20k, probably closer to $25, and worth every penny.
Not so sure. Trucks don’t seem to be doing very well at any of the auctions except B-J. I have a 1950 Ford F-1, restored and I can’t get anywhere near what I put into it. Not that that’s a bad thing, as I use it as my daily driver. Just sayin’
Sold for $17,150