Farm fresh, and featuring the unique touches that make this truck a Mercury, this M series pickup is a neat and fairly solid project. This truck looks as if it could be a driver again with a few good weekends and some elbow grease. Bidding has risen to $2,600 with the reserve not met, but the buy it now option still lingers for $4,500. Find it here on ebay out of Audubon, Minnesota.
Clearly having been hibernating for a while this Flathead V8 does still turn over by hand! Although that antique battery won’t be offering any juice to get this one started. Despite some surface rust on the engine and some components, the engine bay is rather tidy. There is some dirt on the fire wall as well as the inner fenders. A good washing would probably give a surprisingly clean engine bay. After a good cleaning, the fuel system and brake system will need some attention to get this one going and stopping once more. The seller mentions that the manual transmission shifts, and that the steering functional.
Inside of the cab is actually pretty nice. Granted, the bench seat needs some work, but the interior paint is in nice shape, as it the dash, gauges, and steering wheel. The dash looks to need a good cleaning, and the steering wheel is cracked, but is not the worst I have seen. Wrap or reupholster the bench, clean the interior, straighten the horn button, and you will be left with a pretty sharp interior.
From the outside, there is some patina and paint, but there is little that can be seen in the way of rot. The truck bed wood planks are rotted, but the hardware appears to remain. At some point in history someone added the wood bed extensions to this old truck, as well as a winch mounted between the bed and the cab to lift the bed. I would assume these modification would have been implemented by a farmer for his crops. The subtle Mercury details appear to be complete and in place, but one thing I have to point out are the very cool space age like taillights on this Mercury. Unique and interesting for sure, this old truck looks like a solid beginning to preservation, if you appreciate the patina. What would you do with this Merc? Restore or preserve?
Brings back memories. In the late 79’s I bought a 1950GMC with a green grain box on it very similar to this. Drove it for a couple of years and then someone came knocking on the door. He offered me double what I paid for it so I let I go. Always regretted selling it as I can never replace it.
Too bad the nearly irreplaceable “Mercury” tail gate appears missing.
Those sideboards were so common when I was a kid. Most small farmers lifted the bed and installed a hoist then used them for hauling grain. Those trucks were worked hard….
These old trucks were workhorses.
It seems the glovebox has a huge dent in it! Or am I missing something?
Well, this certainly is the “other side of the coin” compared to the Studebaker. Really, the only thing this truck has going for it, is it’s rarity in the states. I’m sure, in Canada, this is just another old truck. I like this style Ford, but this one is pretty fried. Still, try and find another, especially ’round here. Cool truck, but prices are killing it for the person on Social Security. BTW, there’s your bench seat. What would you rather sit on ( and bouncing) for 3 hours? People get a rude awakening when they actually drive these things.
What is the yellow Truck hidibg in the pictures?