1950 Mercury Eight Coupe

Description

1950 Mercury Eight Coupe
Second-to-last year for Mercury’s original nameplate
Car originally made at Ford’s Hazelwood, Missouri assembly plant
Custom blue exterior and pastel gray/dark gray interior
255 CID flathead V-8 engine with Offenhauser aluminum heads and intake manifold and dual carburetors
Three-speed on the floor manual transmission
Dual exhaust and triple-exit side pipes
Vintage air conditioning
Power steering, power brakes, tilt and chromed steering column
Frenched headlights
Digital instrument panel
Wide whitewall radials and rear wheels skirts
Mercurys always represented a step up from the Ford models on which they’re based and this particular car has been taken beyond what any stock post-war Mercury offered. Here at MotoeXotica Classic Cars, we’re proud to offer this custom 1950 Mercury Eight Coupe that is still powered by a gorgeous 255CID Ford Flathead V8!
This car started life at Ford’s Hazelwood, Missouri assembly plant, which was relatively new itself in 1950. This car’s custom blue paint is brilliant and in excellent overall condition, as is its chrome trim. The only minor paint blemishes are near the fuel filler door, on the driver’s side where the hood and fender meet and on the driver’s side cowl. The car’s lights are in near perfect order and the car rides on wide whitewall radials surrounding full moon hubcaps. This car’s body panels are solid and straight, as are its bumpers. Car includes rear wheel skirts. The trunk is finished to a high degree with gray carpet and lighter gray front and side panels and includes a full-size spare tire. The engine bay that houses the Flathead V8 is very tidy.
Under the hood is a 255 CID flathead V-8 engine with Offenhauser aluminum heads and intake manifold and dual carburetors. The engine breathes through dual exhausts. Linked to the engine is a three-speed manual transmission on the floor. Driver assistance features include vintage air-conditioning that reportedly still blows cold air, power steering, power brakes and tilt steering. Currently the parking brake is inoperable.
Inside is a stunning pastel gray interior with stitched cloth bench seats fore and aft, a dark gray carpet, a headliner done in the same pastel gray as the seats and a silver metal dashboard that is complete with digital gauges, all in excellent condition. There’s a four-spoke aftermarket billet steering wheel and chromed steering column with tilt that fits the interior’s vibe. The door panels, mirror glass and shift lever are in very good shape and there is no radio in this example.
The first postwar Mercury was introduced in the 1949 model year. The engine was a flathead V8 that produced slightly more power than the then also newly designed 1949 Ford. A new overdrive system was optional, activated by a handle under the dash. The styling of the Mercury Eight, when it was released in 1949, adopted the "ponton" appearance, and was successful in both ending the monotony of warmed-over pre-war style, and differentiating Mercury from its comparable Ford cousin, a trick that spelled sales success. Sales figures for both Ford and Mercury broke records in 1949. The new approach to styling was also evident on the completely redesigned Lincoln and the all-new Lincoln Cosmopolitan. The Mercury Eight used full instrumentation. An eight-tube radio was an option.
Within its era and beyond, the Mercury Eight was popular with customizers. In 1949, Sam Barris built the first lead sled from a 1949 Mercury Eight; the Eight became the definitive lead sled, much as the Ford V-8 (as the "deuce") was becoming the definitive hot rod. The Eights were among the first models to receive an aftermarket OHV engine swap, since Oldsmobile and Cadillac developed the first high-compression OHV V8 engines in 1949, whereas Ford was still using a sidevalve engine. Sam and George Barris also used the 1949 body style to build "the most famous custom car ever," the Hirohata Merc, for customer Bob Hirohata in 1953. Setting a style and an attitude, it had a "momentous effect" on custom car builders, appeared in several magazines at the time and reappeared numerous times since, earning an honorable mention on Rod & Custom's "Twenty Best of All Time" list in 1991. The Eight remains a very popular subject for car modelers.
In 1950, a high-end two-door Monterey coupe was introduced in the same vein as the Ford Crestliner, the Lincoln Lido coupe and the Lincoln Cosmopolitan Capri coupe in order to compete with the
hardtop coupes General Motors introduced the previous model year. The front suspension was independent with stabilizer bars.[
This car is currently located at our facility in St. Louis, Missouri. Current mileage on the odometer shows 3,171 miles. It is sold as is, where is, on a clean and clear, mileage exempt title. GET OUT AND DRIVE!!!
VIN: 50SL17492M
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