I don’t remember which was my first exposure but vividly recall my first memories of the 1942-1948 Mercury and Ford cars – Biff Tannen’s 1946 Ford convertible in Back to the Future or one of my dad’s “fat fender” issues of Hot Rod or Rod & Custom Magazine from the 1980s. Regardless, I immediately fell in love with these cars. This 1947 Mercury Coupe was found here on eBay by an anonymous Barn Finds reader. The car is located in Fresno, California. This appears to be a no reserve auction where there has been only 1 bid at the $9,999 starting price.
All original. Never restored. Kept in dry storage for 35 years. I like the sound of that. The seller offers just a brief description of this car, including that it’s rust-free and that they’ve owned it since January 9th, 1974. Hopefully, they can answer any questions you have, because there’s not much to see in the pictures aside from 35 years of dust accumulation. Since this is such a popular hot rod platform, maybe the new owner will want to embrace the seller described nice patina.
Only one interior photo raises even more questions, but I’m keen on that presumably long ago recovered plaid front seat. There’s no indication if the back seat matches, but let’s hope it does. The driver’s seat shows some wear, but nothing so excessive to deem it unusable. Again, the dark and undetailed photos would direct me to the seller to answer some questions.
Assuming the “all original” claim is true, that should be a 100HP 239 cubic-inch L-head V8 under the hood. The seller says the 3-speed column-shifted manual transmission is equipped with Columbia overdrive. We are told the Mercury ran when parked, so hopefully, that makes for a simple mechanical restoration.
This seems like a great “drive it as you found it” candidate. Aside from a thorough mechanical inspection (including associated repairs/upgrades) and cleaning off the windows for safety’s sake, you could be driving a very original barn find. What would be your plan for this 1947 Mercury coupe? Hot rod? Drive it as you found it? Full restoration? Park it indoors for another 35 years?
Nice car! If it came my way I wouldn’t do much other than clean it up and check it over so it could be a reliable driver. It looks like someone has converted to an alternator. I would verify if that is also a 12V conversion as well. I’m not a big fan of converting electrical systems over unless I was also planning on doing some serious powertrain changes. They ran on 6V just fine back in the day, and my 6V vehicles aren’t leaving me at the side of the road. Give it the basics and get it running, then plan what to do next. But before you do anything else, give it a BATH!!!
Dry storage in a dry climate. Amazing condition.
FYI they make 6 volt alternators
But did they make them before this beautiful car was stored?
I don’t know about the comment about a 12V vehicle leaving one by the road – – -I’ve converted 3 and never had a problem – – done correctly there shouldn’t be a problem. And yes, 6V alternator (alternators in general) were developed for more efficient charging. If i still had my 1942 Mercury I’d probably leave things alone as long as the wiring etc was all in good condition.
Story: Back when I owned that ole’ beauty as an 18 year old and didn’t have a clue about possibility of collectability of autos later on in history, I installed dual exhaust laying on my back in the Royal Coachmen Car Club Garage.
About 2 weeks later (in traffic) all of a sudden smoke from under the dash and I’m out in the middle of an intersection disconnecting the battery.
(tools box always hand even back then). Luckily the smoking stopped and a fire didn’t get going.
What had happened is I didn’t notice the wires for the brake lights from the master cylinder which was under the drivers floor had been in contact with the exhaust pipe off the manifold and melted and shorted out.
That cost me just short of $60.00 for the shop to repair the wiring, Here’s the kicker – – I paid $300.00 for her about a year previous and was a ladies fur coat salesman at the time earning $65.00 / month plus a small commission.
Tough expensive lesson. Price comparison – – butter back then was 28 cents / lb.
No one said a a 12V vehicle was leaving someone on the side of the road.
I fitted a 12 volt alternator to my ’51 Buick Super, fitted an 8 volt battery and had the charge rate cut down to 10.4 volts and have never had a problem from that day onwards.
Really nice condition and looks like it wouldn’t take much to get her running again!!!
I,m like Geomechs—-check everything out, Fix what needs fixed.Wash it and drive it and enjoy it.
I’d bet the seller would get more money if he’d spent a few hours with a bucket of soap and water plus a few rags.
I’m not sure why they think advertising a dirty car will make it easier to sell. At least this one was parked inside rather than the typical pile which was left outside to rot and is full of leaves and rodent poo.
Steve R
This is a great find that would be a shame to hot rod. Leave it as is and preserve it’s originality. Again, the seller isn’t doing himself any favors by not cleaning the car and getting it started. Offering a clean, running car would probably generate more interest and certainly increase the sale price.
I just checked eBay – – – I suspect this could be a shill bid – aka. (free cycling) – – – $9999.99 pretty suspicious given the bid history of the bidder and what his bidding history is. Why would any one start there??
I buy antique clocks from around the world and the few auctions that I’ve been #1 (first) out of the gate I started at $5.00 & never have paid attention the the reserve note on anything I’ve bought – sometimes when the seller really wants to move a product or item he’ll lift the reserve because the last bid close to auction close is close to what he wants in the reserve.
Note: I could be wrong about the likelihood of a shill bid but don’t think so.
Shill bidding is an unfortunate fact of all online auctions. sometimes it’s pretty obvious, sometimes it’s not.
Way too original to “hot rod” ! this car was purchased new in Fresno, CA. and is still in Fresno. I’ll bet if the seller had bothered to wash the car he would get a much higher bid on it.
I’m with you guys–clean it up, do the maint and drive. it would have behooved the seller seller to wash and buff to get the maximum bang for the buck. 10 k is a little ambitious?? Anyhoo good luck and stay safe.
Cheers
GPC
The layer of dust, some dents and worn interior sure add credibility to an old timer of a car that it has been here in service since new. Before and after pictures have the effect of producing the 4th of July Ooo and Ahh responses that add to value. The potential!
I cleared off half a bucket of El Paso/west Texas dust on top of, inside of and deep inside of the chassis of my ’57 Bel Air to get to the dents and rust. I found a 1941 Mercury dime inside the right rocker panel near the rear wheel – all the proof I needed that the ol’ Chevy had been in use for a long time.
First project car I ever gave up on…Ah the memories!
If you plan on driving at night 12 volts are safer. They are much brighter. If you just want a day light driver 6 volts are fine.
clean electrical connections + a good alternator + the right bulbs + polished reflectors= very bright 6v lights at night……
@Vince H – My first car in 1974 was a 1951 Ford Custom. V8 FH with 6 volt positive, Converted to 12 volt neg Because I wanted to add a cassette deck and CB Radio with Linear Amplifier. I do not remember what the Linear amp put out, but when you keyed the mic at night the headlights dimmed, so you did not talk very long. lol. Also, left the 6 volt starter in place and all you had to do was bump the starter button and the engine fired right up.
My dad had a 46 Ford 4-door, and my uncle had a 46 Merc Coupe, Maiz Yellow and I just couldn’t understand why my dad had this ugly sedan and my uncle had this cool coupe. I agree, clean this car up see what you have and then decide what you want to do with it.
As I commented earlier, but for some reason it didn’t get published, I fitted an 8 volt battery and a 12 volt alternator to my ’51 Buick Super. I then had the output reduced to 10.4 volts and never had to change ANYTHING. The dash, headlights etc. were all much brighter and the starter motor kicked that straight eight over at a far higher rate than the 6 volt battery ever did and it started immediately. It never even blew a fuse for the remaining 6 years that I owned it
Actually your comment DID make it on here. I know a few people who went to an 8V setup. It seems that most of them fared out just fine. I helped a friend do that to his ‘50 Imperial so his power windows would work better. I never noticed much of a difference but what I DID find was the difficulty finding a battery charger…
Here’s my story. Back in the 50’s I had a friend named Jerry, we were both born on the same day. Well Jerry had a half brother about ten years older than us. His brother owned a Mercury just like this one, that he washed and waxed every weekend. He kept that car immaculate inside and out. Their driveway was dirt, but not very long. Jerry and I would stir up dirt with our bikes which riled his brother, he’d cuss us out and throw rocks at us every time we got anywhere near his car.
Just reminiscing, that’s about all I do anymore.
God bless America
20 comments? Arithmetic refresher anyone? The modern school system needs an update to 1970 standards.
For sure I”d just give it a major clean up and drive it. I’d bet money though that all the brake cylinders would need replacing after sitting that long. Maybe the rubber lines as well.
My 57 Dodge D-100 has a generator. I get a little thrill watching the needle as it is running.
The fact of the 6v matter is; Optima 6v battery, Powergen 6v alternator (looks like a generator), cleaned (all of them, not just some of them) electrical connections with large gauge ground wires is what it takes to make a 6v system, literally, shine. My ’52 Packard is proof. Starts fast, lights are very bright. Guys say it’s too much work… but it’s a lot less work than a 12v conversion. This Merc has potential for being a real knock out!
With 5 minutes left on the auction, the bidding is 10,600.00… WHAT A DEAL!!!
SOLD!!! $11,600.00 in the last few seconds… Still, heck of a deal!
Biff’s ’46 Ford convertible, a ’46-’48 Ford Tudor (the exact year escapes me anymore) sitting at a closed gas station along old US-31, and a hot rodded ’47 coupe that belonged to the father of a classmate were my introduction to these cars too. I love them.