A ready to roll classic truck is always a treat much like this interesting ’51 Mercury M1 pickup. With a weathered appearance and shiny paint, this truck is a driver that is ready to be enjoyed. After spending all of its life with its original owner in Alberta Canada, this truck was purchased and brought to California where it has been tuned up and prepped for road duty. This sharp classic has generated a lot of interest with 16 bids just into the first day of the auction. The current bid price is $8,500. Take a look at this beauty here on eBay out of Norco, California.
The flat head V8 with its manual 3-speed transmission is fully operational and ready to roll. The engine and the bay are relatively clean for this trucks age and background. There are a few new items in the engine bay like a fresh fuel feed line, fuel regulator, ground strap, positive battery cables, coolant hoses, ignition coil, tires, and exhaust. I would guess that this truck was purchased and cleaned up to its current state, and boy is it appealing.
The interior is nicer than anyone could hope for, and truly is inviting. The bench seat and door panels have been reupholstered, and the dash is simply magnificent. The gauges are clean as a whistle with no fade or dirt present. A few cracks are present in the steering wheel, but in this situation, it seems to add more charm to this old truck. It appears that the floor of the cab has been painted and that a nice used condition rubber mat was installed. Despite the paint, I see no evidence of rust or rot.
Something that I find quite interesting and alluring is the shiny paint on this old ‘Merc. I believe that the remaining paint was buffed, as it was surely oxidized from its 67 years of life. As a whole, the truck appears solid, but there are some typical areas where rot is present. For instance, the side edges of the front fenders, the running boards, and the rear edge of the rear fenders all contain some rot. On a positive note, the cab looks very solid with no apparent rot in the jambs, or on the cab corners. Despite the rust and rot, the appearance of this truck is charming and maintaining this truck as a fair weather driver would preserve its current condition for quite a while. Are you a fan of this old Mercury Pickup?
Funny that us Canadians go to California to look for good rust free vehicles and you do just the opposite!
I love the look, I would just clear coat like it is and drive it.
This looks like a great little truck and the price is still in the ballpark. What is really neat, it looks like all the Mercury badging is still on the truck, which really ups the cool factor.
Wow, what a cool truck, flathead to boot.
Already up to nearly $10K.
Nice old truck.
Cue the “I’d pull the flathead and put in a Chevy 350” crowd in five…four…three…
Yeah. Leave it as is.
That thing’s been buffed to within an inch of its life to shine like that.
This screams “fake patina” to me. The paint is fried on the roof and hood, but the tops 9f the fenders look brand new. Then the vertical surfaces at the corners of the truck look worn down too. Makes no sense. I get thwt folks like the honest, weathered look but to create it artificially seems senseless to me. And whoever thinks “clear coat over it” is something that looks attractive, well; the best I can say is “invest in indoor plumbing and some dentures….”
I viewed this truck this afternoon and will be bidding. I can assure you that it is all real and original paint. There is certainly no fake patina here. I can’t even see why you would think that, you’re obviously not familiar with old vehicles.
too funny Grant, you’re killing me !
Really? I understand logic, and common sense. The evenly spaced, hard, triangular edges between the fried paint and the good paint on the forward edge of the hood looks natural to you? Looks like a pretty even sanding pattern to me. Same with the tops of the fenders. I could see some shade protection near the hood, but those puppies look cherry. Being 6 inches lower isn’t going to reduce UV damage that much.
Grant, I think you might be getting a little confused. It can easily happen when you try to discuss a subject you aren’t familiar with.
I’m just going to give you a “lol” there, John because you don’t know me. But if you have an explanation for what I’ve pointed out, I’d love to hear it.
And Mac, you’re assuming I’m not familiar with old vehicles, but you’d never heard of a Mercury pickup. Just saying…
Interesting to see a 3 spd. manual on a ’51 model. I thought that Ford (and Mercury) had switched to the column-shift by then. When I was a kid, the only light trucks of this vintage with floor shift, were 4 speed. Just looking at the size of the shift lever, I wonder if this is actually a 4 speed. You’ll find out quickly as soon as you put it in motion because those old T-9s were real howlers behind a flathead V-8. Check the heads closely because that might be a Mercury 255 engine (8CM/CM1). I was told by a good friend who worked for the Mercury dealership just north of the border that Mercury pickups after ’49 could be ordered from the factory with a 255. That seems to make some sense as I’ve never seen a Mercury pickup with a 239 unless someone put it in there.
Wiki claims Ford ( and Mercury that resonated with Ford) switched mid-year 1950 from floor to column. I’d have to think the owner would know just by where reverse would be on a 4 speed. Perhaps you could still get a floor shift 3 speed in ’51. I’m sure there were more than one would be buyer that complained about the change. Sure is a nice truck.
It’s definitely a 3 speed and looks to be original to the truck. I test drove it today when I viewed it. I always like to see a vehicle in person before bidding and I’ll definitely be bidding on this truck. Been looking for an all original 51 Ford F1 that hasn’t been messed with for some time now and found nothing. I had never even heard of a Mercury truck until I saw this.
I definitely wish you luck in purchasing this truck. You’ll likely be the only one at the show with a Mercury pickup. My brother was living in Logandale, NV and his neighbor drove a ’46 Mercury Tonner. It was almost impossible to go anywhere with it because everyone wanted to buy it….
The East Coast Version:
https://maine.craigslist.org/cto/d/1948-mercury-pickup/6567003985.html
That is such a great looking Truck, everything about it screams COOL!!!!